1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help? 2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lordis your keeper; The Lordis your shade at your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. 8 The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.
I Will Lift Up My Eyes
Isn’t it wonderful to know where to go for help in any situation that we find ourselves in? Maybe you are starting a new job and you are very nervous, because you are not sure where to go when you get there. You don’t know anyone. You know you are qualified for the job, but you don’t know the ropes yet. Then, when you walk in the door on your first day, there is that one person who seems to just take you under his/her wing. This person says to you, “If you need anything, you just come to me. I have got your back.” You breathe a sigh of relief! That person has no idea what they just did for you, right? You think to yourself…..”okay, I got this. I’m going to be okay”. I have had people do this for me in new situations, and I have tried to do this for other people as well. But sisters in Christ, don’t we have someone who has our back 24/7? We have the Creator of the universe in our corner on our side in every situation we come up against. He is our ultimate help.
“I will lift up my eyes to the hills– From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1-2) How comforting those verses are to me!! I look out at the beauty around me and I know with all my heart who is in control of all things. The leaves are getting ready to change color just like they do every year at this time and the air will eventually get cooler. The smell of fall is in the air and I know that my God is in control of all of it. I can count on Him to keep everything on this earth going for as long as He sees fit. It is all on His terms and in His time. Our planet will stay on its perfect invisible path around the sun, turning on its perfect invisible axis for as long as He allows it to do so. How can anyone say there is no God with all this perfect order? How could an explosion or big bang cause anything except destruction? An explosion causes chaos. Our planet is organized in all things. Can you imagine the mind that it takes to keep our earth going? To keep every living thing going? To keep us going?
Sisters, let’s never forget that God never sleeps. He watches over us day and night. What do we have to fear? Nothing that happens to us here on earth will matter, because when we leave this earthly home, we will be with God. And if we fully put our trust in Him while here on earth, He will not allow us to stumble. “He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” (Psalm 121:3-4) When I read this, I picture Jesus holding my hand as I am hiking down a steep trail, with slippery rocks. I picture the trail to be narrow. I have to walk carefully or I will stumble and fall. But my Jesus is beside me all the way, holding my hand, helping me keep my balance so I won’t fall. The side of the trail drops off like a cliff. But He keeps me away from the edge. He keeps me away from danger as long as I hold on to Him. The trail that I am on represents my life. It is slippery, steep and rough sometimes. It can be exhausting. It is not an easy road to travel. Jesus tells us what road or trail we need to travel in Matthew 7:13-14. “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” And ladies, we can all walk it with Jesus. I know that as long as I am holding on to Jesus, I can walk down that trail. Sometimes Jesus may even have to carry me down that trail in some seasons of my life. Believe me, He has carried me many times. But you know, I am human, and sometimes I let go of Jesus’ hand, because I get the idea that I can walk this trail on my own. I don’t lay everything at His feet. I don’t allow Him to help me. Or maybe I want to go in a direction that Jesus doesn’t want me to go. Maybe I step a toe into that easy wide way of destruction where Jesus will not travel with me. This is when I stumble and fall over the edge of that narrow trail. But am I completely lost and without hope because I stumbled and fell? No, of course not. This is why I have Jesus. And like Peter, when he was sinking into the sea, I needed only to reach toward Jesus and He would lift me up and we would keep going down that narrow way…together. You see we may get off the path and stumble if we let go of Jesus, but with Him, we will not stumble. Hang on to Jesus for dear life, my sisters.
Sisters, God is our keeper and protector every single day of our lives. “He is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.” (Psalm 121:5-6) When I read those verses, I picture Jesus as my right hand man. He will be there whenever I need Him and He will never let me down. I also picture God shielding all of us from the sun by giving us the ozone layer to protect us from its rays. I picture Him placing our planet at the perfect distance from the sun so that we have just enough heat for survival. He keeps the moon at the perfect distance from us for its gravitational pull to somehow help keep the ocean tides in check. Tell me an explosion did that. No way. Now think about this ladies, if God protects the entire earth from the sun, while at the same time using the sun to sustain us with heat and light, don’t we believe He will be with us individually every day? Will bad things happen? Yes….they will. But God will be with us and keep His promise to save us for eternity. We just have to keep our commitment to Him. The suffering that we go through now is only for a short time. And then……paradise. Hang in there ladies. It will be worth it.
Sisters, our God preserves us in every way. All we have to do is cling to Him. “The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.” (Psalm 121:7-8) When I read these verses I think of how my mom and both my grandmothers would can vegetables and fruits from their gardens. They would preserve all of their vegetables so that none would go to waste. Inside the sealed jar, the vegetables’ original state would be preserved, to keep them from becoming rotten and decayed. God begins preserving our souls the moment that we are baptized into Christ. He will continue to preserve our souls if we remain faithful in our commitment to Him. Jesus’ blood will continually preserve us from the sin that can cause our lives to become rotten and decayed. His blood will keep us in our original sin-free state that we were in the moment we came up out of the waters of baptism. We will remain new and preserved if we remain faithful. What a beautiful thought. God also watches our comings and goings. He is concerned about where we are going in our lives. Just as we as parents are always watching our children’s comings and goings, God is always watching ours. I could never rest until my children were home safe and sound. Even now that they are married adults, I still like to know that they are home safe from wherever they have been. That will never stop for me as a mom. As long as I’m breathing, I’ll be a momma to my babies. My babies, they will forever be. God never stops watching over us. When we are faithful, He is watching. When we are wayward, He is watching. He is with us through all our ups and downs and everything in between. He never stops. He is interested in each one of us as individuals.
I’m so thankful for my God. He is so faithful to me. He is my helper and my protector. He preserves me through His Son’s blood. He watches over me in every stage of life that I go through, even the stages that, I’m certain, have not been pleasant for Him to watch. He has seen me through it all. He has seen me at my very best, and He has seen me at my very worst. And He will continue to see me through the rest of my days here on earth until I get to be with Him. Sisters, He is our Heavenly Father, our God, our Creator and our sustainer. Let’s not let life get in the way and keep us from recognizing how wonderful God is and how lucky we are to belong to Him. Slow down, take in each moment and be still and know that He is God. (Psalm 46:10)
This chapter really spoke to me and made me really think about how much God loves all of us. It is such a beautiful chapter. I hope this has been an encouragement to you today. Thank you for reading!! Love you all!!
God’s Plan of Salvation
If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)
Hello sisters in Christ and friends!! Have you ever heard someone quote Matthew 7:1, “Judge not, that you be not judged”? I am sure you have, because it is one of the most misused verses in the Bible. We live in a “don’t judge me” society, don’t we? Matthew 7:1 is almost always used when someone is committing a sin willfully and they know that the Bible says what they are doing is wrong, but they don’t want to stop the behavior, so they spout Matthew 7:1 to make themselves feel better. Think about it. Why else would they quote a Bible verse to justify sin unless they already knew that the sin was condemned by the Bible? This is the verse that people like to “cherry pick” when they are approached by someone else about the sin in their lives. I myself may have even repeated this verse myself, in my head, while at worship on Sunday, when the preacher said something that stepped on my toes. Of course, that was in the past, when I didn’t like for my toes to be stepped on and I was being stubborn. I knew better! But now…..I actually welcome my toes getting stepped on, because it helps me examine myself and grow. But anyway, Matthew 7:1 is the verse that people will use to justify themselves when they don’t want to change. They say things like, “How dare you judge me when Jesus says no one has the right to judge” or “no one is perfect” or “God is the judge, not you” or “I’m ok. I’m not as bad as most people”. Of course, if they would continue reading through verse six of that chapter, they would understand that Jesus isn’t condemning all judgment. He is saying that we have to judge in the right way and with the right motives if we are going to judge at all. And when we do make a judgment about someone’s behavior, we need to put ourselves in their position in order to handle the situation in the right way. How would we feel? Do we like being called on the carpet? If we are being honest, none of us like to be called out or “judged” by another person for something we have said or done. We might even be attacked as a Christian for our belief in and adherence to God’s word. It is human nature to be defensive, but as Christians, we have to stop and examine ourselves and ask some questions before we react to the person who calls us out. Is this person a member of the Lord’s church? Do they have our best interest at heart? What perspective is the person coming at you from, the scriptures or the world? Whether it is something we need to be called out for or not, we will show who we truly belong to by how we respond to the situation. We need to always respond in a way that shows Christ living in us. We will talk more about our response to others later in the post. However, on that note, aren’t we as Christians accused of being judgmental all the time in today’s society, all because we follow the standard of God’s word? But I am certain that using God’s word as our standard for determining right from wrong is not being judgmental. It is called righteous judgment when we do this in the right way, and Jesus tells us exactly how to do that in Matthew 7:1-6. Of course, we also have to use God’s word in a loving, kind, and merciful way all while being careful not to compromise the truth. And I won’t sugarcoat it! It’s hard! People in the world do not understand, because they don’t believe the way that we as Christians believe. God’s word doesn’t mean to them what it means to us. And because they don’t understand, we are called intolerant and unloving, and even bigots and haters. Of course, this is so far from the truth. If only they could see that we stand against sin because we love their souls and we don’t want them to be lost eternally. But have you noticed that the very same people who are calling us judgmental, are being judgmental themselves by calling us judgmental? The only difference is that they are using a different standard to judge us. They are using the world’s standard of judgment on us. With all that being said, let’s take a deep dive into Matthew 7:1-6 and truly see what Jesus means in these verses.
First of all, Jesus is not condemning all judging, only hypocritical judging of which He accuses the scribes and Pharisees of many times. In Matthew 23, Jesus spends the entire chapter calling the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for their unrighteous judgment on others. Several times in that chapter, Jesus makes the statement, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” So we definitely learn from them how not to judge! But throughout the New Testament we find many verses that support the fact that we as Christians are to judge with righteous judgment. Jesus was not saying that we as Christians are not allowed to judge if a behavior is sin or not. How would we fulfill our commission in Matthew 28:18-20 to go and make disciples if we can’t help them understand what behaviors in their lives are sinful? How would preachers ever stand in the pulpit and preach the truth, which includes pointing out sin?
In Matthew 7:15-16, Jesus says, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.”
Don’t we have to judge someone’s words to see if what they are saying is the truth from God’s word? 1 John 4:1 says that we are not to believe every spirit, but we are to test the spirits to see if they are of God. Why? Because many false prophets have gone out into the world. The word test could be substituted with the word judge. We have false teachers everywhere we turn today. We have to use God’s word to expose their lies.
Paul, when speaking to the churches in Galatia in Galatians 1:8 says, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”
Paul uses some strong language here. I am certain that Paul means for the Christians at Galatia to judge whether what they are being told is the truth. Paul even says that if we are truly spiritual, we will judge all things that are going on around us to make sure we are doing what is right.
Paul, when speaking to the Christians at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 2:15 says, “But he who is spiritual judges all things…..”
So if we are in Christ and we are faithful Christians trying to walk in the light and fulfill God’s purpose for our lives, then we can judge with the righteous judgment that Jesus is speaking about in Matthew 7:1-6. What is our measure that we use to judge right from wrong? The measure is God’s word and God’s word only. Judgment can only be righteous if God’s word is the measuring stick.
Jesus said in Matthew 7:1-2, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use , it will be measured back to you”.
So how do we want to be judged? How do we want our children/family members to be judged? If one of my children gets into some kind of trouble like possibly getting a DUI, how do I want my child to be treated or talked about/judged by my brothers and sisters in Christ? Will they judge me as a parent because my child made a mistake? How do I want others to judge him/her? Harshly, unmercifully, and critically? Or with love, mercy and forgiveness? I’m sure there are many of us who have experimented with alcohol when we were young, but…..the truth is…….we just didn’t get caught. And that’s only one example of something that could happen. Let’s put ourselves in others’ shoes and determine how we would want to be judged or treated. And let’s try and help that person overcome their problem by encouraging them, visiting them, or sending them a card, not by shunning them or treating them like they have the plague. Maybe we haven’t been involved in the same type of sin as someone else. But we cannot be self righteous by thinking we are better than other people because we haven’t been involved in the same sin as they have. We all have our own sin. (Romans 3:23) Jesus was the opposite of self-righteous. He ate with sinners. He forgave the woman who was caught in adultery. He talked to the woman at the well. He even took the time to listen to and forgive the thief on the cross when He himself was in more agony than we could ever imagine. He didn’t shut Himself off from the world. And He, of course, didn’t allow the world to influence Him. He never condoned anyone’s sin, but He was ready to forgive them if they had the right heart. Oh how wonderful it is to have Him as our example!! Are we trying to be like Him? How did He judge? How do we want to be judged by God? We want grace and mercy from God, don’t we?
James 2:12-13 is plain and simple friends. “So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
If we want mercy, we must show mercy. We will be judged by God in the same way that we judge other people. Jesus is simply warning us right from the start by saying, “don’t judge if you aren’t ready to be judged in the same way by someone else or by God.” He is saying, if you can’t judge in the correct way, then don’t judge at all. Think hard about that before we move on. Do you want God to judge you in the same way that you judge other people? That might be a scary thought! Do we want to be judged on our physical appearance, our race, our hometown, our family, etc.? What about our past? Let’s be honest…..most of us would not want to be judged on our teen years, our young adult years or possibly even our recent past.
Let’s remember Jesus’ words in John 7:24, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
So what does righteous judgment look like? Just a few verses down from Matthew 7:1-6 is the verse we call the golden rule. I would think that the golden rule would have a little something to do with righteous judgment.
In Matthew 7:12 Jesus says, “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
Think about this verse. How does it apply to our judgment of others?
In Matthew 7:3-5, Jesus goes on to say, “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
Jesus clearly wants us to do some self-examination in these verses. We have to examine ourselves if we are going to judge righteously. And Jesus uses some very strong language. Anytime Jesus uses the word hypocrite, it makes me want to sit up and take notice, because I know it is some serious business! However, it is almost as if Jesus is using a little humor here to get his point across. Imagine someone looking for a tiny speck on someone else when they have a huge beam sticking out in front of them that is completely blocking their sight. How would we ever help that person if we can’t get around our own beam? If we can’t see clearly our own flaws, how can we see someone else’s flaws? And seeing our flaws does not mean us saying, “well, I’m not perfect”, but then not really working to get rid of them. Yes, we all have flaws. And we can all say that we have flaws, but are we working on getting rid of them? God intends for us to work on getting rid of them. Jesus says very plainly for us to remove our beams, whatever they may be. As Christians, we should always be working to try and better ourselves throughout our entire life. This will help us to be able to judge with righteous judgment. So….first, we have to admit that we have flaws, which is hard for some people. That is a flaw in itself. It is the flaw of self-righteousness. Second, we have to specifically identify our flaws and be real about it friends!! We may have some we don’t mind admitting and others that we would rather not face at all. And last, we have to intentionally work on those flaws with God’s help through prayer and through His word. We have to be intentional. I have never had a problem admitting my flaws, however my problem was working on them. I couldn’t work on them because I wasn’t putting God first in my heart. I wasn’t praying like I should have been. And I most definitely wasn’t in His word enough to allow God to help me work on them. It takes both prayer and Bible study to truly change. I could pray and pray and pray some more for God to help me, but if I wasn’t listening to God through His word, and if I wasn’t being intentional in trying to change, then He couldn’t help me. That is my personal issue and I don’t care to admit it if it helps someone else with their struggles. I don’t mind sharing my past struggles. If my testimony helps others to not feel alone, then it is worth telling. With that being said, Jesus says for us to examine ourselves before we try to help someone else with their struggle with sin. We can’t help them if we are involved in the same type of sin that they are involved in. This is when we become hypocrites. For example, maybe we hear a friend using bad language and we automatically want to go talk to them about this behavior. But, what if we turn around and talk about other people in a negative way or gossip about others. Isn’t that a beam that Jesus is talking about that we should get out of our own eye? Bad language and gossiping are in the same family of corrupt communication, right? Another example might be a father being hard on his daughter about her clothing choices, but when he is alone, he gets on the internet and looks at pornography. Isn’t he holding his daughter to a standard that he isn’t holding himself to when he is looking at women who are degrading themselves online? These are just a couple of examples of unrighteous judgment.
We also have to have the right motives behind our judgment. What is our true purpose for judging? Righteous judgment also includes having the right purpose and motive for judging. Our purpose has to be solely to help the other person get on the right path to heaven. It can’t be for any glory for ourselves. And it can’t be to just make ourselves feel better about our own sin. I also don’t believe we can call people out in an embarrassing or “holier than thou” way. The context of the verses in Matthew 7 is referring to approaching other Christians about sin in their lives to try and help them get themselves right with God and back on the straight and narrow. However, whether they are fellow Christians or not, we have to go to them gently, in love, with mercy and forgiveness in our hearts and in our voices. Sometimes it is not what we say, but how we say it. And also, is there a difference between how we handle each other as sisters in Christ and how we handle friends who are non-Christians? I personally believe there’s a huge difference. Most fellow Christians should understand your reasoning behind coming to them. They should know that you are just doing what Jesus has told you to do in His word. Whether they respond positively to you or not, deep down they know why you are doing it. They know you love them and that you are concerned about their souls. But non-Christians may not understand your reasoning and may see you as thinking you are better than they are no matter how you approach them. Like I said in my opening paragraph, they don’t see God’s word the way that we do. I firmly believe that we will make a more positive impact on a non-Christian simply by being a good example when you are around them. Just be Christ-like in front of them and wait for doors to open to talk to them about Jesus and the Bible. Show them the life you live by how you talk, where you go, what you watch, and what you find important. Treat them with kindness and respect even if they aren’t making all the right choices. Show them respect even when they don’t show you respect. Stand up for the truth at all times, but always with respect and never stoop to their level by losing your temper. Friends, were we not once where they are? Yes! We were. And I always try to keep in mind that everyone hasn’t had the upbringing and opportunities to learn God’s word that I have had and I haven’t walked in their shoes. And this brings me to the final verse of our study. I have always found this verse out of place because I didn’t truly understand what it meant. But after I have studied it, I get what Jesus is telling us.
Matthew 7:6 says, “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.”
When we are trying to help someone, we have to know when we have done all that we can do. Sadly, there are some people who don’t want to be helped. They do not value God’s word. It means nothing to them. When we make an effort to make a righteous judgment in order to help a person who doesn’t want to change, it is like throwing what is holy to dogs and and throwing pearls to pigs. Pigs were considered unclean in the law of Moses and dogs were considered savages at that time. They only want the scraps of food that are thrown out onto the ground. They get the leftovers. In comparison the people Jesus is comparing to dogs and pigs only want the scraps of the world, not the pearls of the gospel. They may want no part of the Bible at all. Or, they may only want the parts of the Bible that suit their lifestyle, or they may want to twist the Bible to fit their way of life. Hence the term, scraps. They don’t want what is good, right, and whole. They don’t want the full truth. They want scraps. This comparison is not to degrade a person and call them dogs or pigs. They are human beings that God loves just like we are. It is only an analogy about how they treat God’s word. They treat God’s word the way that dogs and pigs treat scraps of food. If we keep coming at them with God’s Holy Word (pearls) and they keep pushing it away, eventually they may turn on us, attack us and try to destroy us in some way, either by taking advantage of us or possibly slandering our name. We have to decide if a person just has no interest in the truth of the gospel. It is a judgment call. We can’t force a person to change no matter how hard we try. It is ultimately up to them. We should not feel anger towards them, but rather, pity, because of the state of their soul. At that point, all we can do is treat them with kindness and respect, and pray for them.
Remember what Jesus told His twelve disciples in Matthew 10:14, “And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.”
Jesus knows that sometimes we are just spinning our wheels with some people. He wants us to spend time and effort helping those who want to be helped. Sometimes it may even be someone we love dearly. Does that mean we are giving up completely? No, of course not. We can keep praying for the person. We can keep showing kindness. We keep being a Christ-like example. But we have to protect ourselves and concentrate more on those who are interested in learning the truth. I’m so happy that Jesus loves us so much that he added verse 6 to his teaching on
righteous judgment. Even though it seems out of place, it actually ties in perfectly. Jesus wants us to protect ourselves. He doesn’t expect us to work a miracle with people who are obstinate towards God’s word. Thank you Jesus for Matthew 7:6.
In closing, let me ask myself all the questions. You can do the same. Was Jesus condemning all judgment? No, He was condemning unrighteous judgment. As long as we are following Jesus’ rules for righteous judgment, then we are always going to be in the right. Do I want God to judge me in the same way that I judge others? If I want mercy and compassion, then I have to show mercy and compassion. Do I examine myself before judging someone else? Do I have a beam in my eye that I need to remove? I can’t help anyone if I myself am not right with God. Am I a hypocrite? Self righteous? I don’t want to be like the scribes and Pharisees whom Jesus called hypocrites over and over in Matthew 23. What is my purpose for judging a person? Am I doing it to save the person’s soul or to ruin their reputation? Am I trying to make myself feel better about my sin? Motives are everything. And finally, does the person want to be helped? Have I done all I can do? I have to protect myself from being attacked by the person I am trying to help. If they have no interest in changing, then I have to stop throwing my pearls to the pigs and move on. One more question, my sisters in Christ, does Jesus imply through these verses that we need each other? Absolutely, He does!! How would we be able to help each other if we don’t get to know one another, and make connections with each other? It is so important that we as sisters in Christ are there for one another. I need my sisters in my life, and I want to be present and available for my sisters. I need to do better in this area and I’m challenging myself to do that. That is my challenge to us all, myself included. Get to know one another and make those connections with each other. I know we will be blessed for it.
I hope I have done this subject justice. I love God’s word and want to make sure that I am thorough in everything I write. I also want to put myself into it and make it personal to all of you. I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Thank you for reading!!
God’s Plan of Salvation
If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)
God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Hello Sisters and Friends!! When I first noticed Numbers 23:19, I thought……now that is a verse that makes me want to write!! It tells me so much about God in just a few words. But then I asked myself, “who said this?” and after reading just a little, I realized that Balaam said this. Of course, the first thing that popped into my head was…..THE TALKING DONKEY!! I hadn’t really thought about that story in years. Then I asked myself a few questions to get my brain thinking. “Who was Balaam? Why did Balaam say this? Who was he talking to?” Now I have heard the talking donkey story since my childhood, but have I really studied it? No I haven’t. I didn’t even know that Balaam said it until I began to read and study the context of the verse. Since I started writing for this blog, that is how it has worked for me most of the time. I start with a verse. But then….. I realize that in order to explain the verse, I have to put the verse in context with who said or wrote it and why it was said or written. You see, if I don’t put the verse in context, I could completely misunderstand the verse’s true meaning. Plus, I don’t go as deep as I could go in its meaning and I miss valuable connections that the verse makes with other verses and characters in the Bible. Maybe that is why my posts are long. I like to dig deep. Think about it. Would you ever open a novel in the middle and read one sentence or one paragraph or one page or even one chapter and be able to understand the entire book? Of course not. Then, why do so many people think that it’s ok to do this with the Bible? With that being said, context is everything. On the surface, by reading this verse only, you may think that whoever said it, is a devout follower of God. However, we find out as we dig deeper that he is really not devout at all. He is evil and is against God and His people. I believe this verse is probably being said in a spiteful and disrespectful way towards God. I thought the verse was a tribute to God when I first read it. Then I began to dig deeper. I found out that even though the verse all by itself contains wonderful truths about God, the context around the verse makes me see it in a whole new light. Now that I know the context, I can just hear the contempt for God in Balaam’s voice. Let’s go back to Numbers 21 to see what events lead up to our key verse and let’s take a look at the verse in context.
At the end of Numbers 21, we see God’s people defeating the Amorites in a big way. God is giving His people the victory as long as they are trusting in Him. Then in Numbers 22, we meet Balak the son of Zippor, the king of the Moabites. Balak had observed all that Israel had done to the Amorites to defeat them and now the entire nation of Moab was afraid. This fear leads to the introduction of the person who spoke the words of our key verse in Numbers 23:19, Balaam the son of Beor, a non-Israelite prophet. Balak wants Balaam to come to Moab and curse Israel. Here is the message that Balak sent to Balaam. “Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me! Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” (Numbers 22:5-6) I wanted to quote what Balak said verbatim, because it shows that Balaam has a reputation for doing this. He has supposedly “blessed” people and “cursed” people enough in the past to gain this reputation. Balaam is an evil prophet and is called a “diviner” in Numbers 22:7. (NKJV) The elders of Moab and Midian were prepared to pay Balaam a fee to curse Israel. The princes of Moab were sent to get Balaam and bring him to Balak. Balaam, of course, was a greedy person who was willing to do it, however, he would not agree to it without first seeing if he would get a word from God on the matter. This shows that he knows who God is and knows about His power. This is where the story can be a little confusing because in Numbers 22:8, Balaam says, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the Lord speaks to me.” Obviously, Balaam recognizes God’s power. Why would he think God would allow him to curse His people? In Numbers 22:12, God tells him not to curse the people for they are blessed, so Balaam did not go with the princes of Moab. But Balak was not giving up. He sent more important princes than before to Balaam, and offered him even more honor and riches to come to Moab and curse Israel. Balaam keeps saying that God will not allow him to curse them. He literally says that he cannot say anything except what God tells him to say. Now keep in mind that Balaam really wants to curse Israel and become rich, but God is using His power to keep Balaam at bay and protect his people. When Balaam comes to God the last time and asks if he can go with Balak’s men to curse Israel, God finally says for him to just go, but also warns Balaam that he will not allow him to say anything that He has not told him to say. God is angry with Balaam because he went, even though He told Him to go. This could be confusing but if you think about it, it is really not. Think about it this way. Have you ever gotten so aggravated with someone who keeps asking you if he/she could do something over and over? You have said “no” over and over and this person knows how you feel about it, but they don’t really care how you feel. They just want their way. You get so tired of it that you finally say, “just go ahead and do it then!” That is not really permission is it? You were not happy about it, but you were just “over” being asked about it! That is what was going on between Balaam and God. Of course, Balaam chooses to go with the princes of Moab and this journey is what brought about the story of the talking donkey. As the donkey was traveling, he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the path holding a sword and came to an immediate stop. Only the donkey could see the angel. Balaam began to beat the donkey and then God allowed the donkey to speak to him. The funny thing to me about this story is that Balaam didn’t even act surprised that his donkey was talking to him!! He literally answered the donkey when he asked Balaam why he was beating him!! So all this led to Balaam eventually getting to Moab and trying in every way possible to still be able to curse God’s people, but God would not allow it. More than once he had Balak build altars and offer sacrifices in an attempt to curse them, but instead he ended up blessing God’s people three times instead of cursing them. Balak is very angry. All these events finally lead us to our key verse, Numbers 23:19 where Balaam responds to Balak’s anger, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” It is as if Balaam is saying, “come on Balak, what did you expect? I tried to tell you! God is not cooperating!” So, how does the context affect how you see this verse after studying the people and events that surround it? Do you feel differently about it?
For me, I still love the verse itself, and I am eventually going to write an article breaking down the actual verse more in depth. That was my intention to begin with. The meaning of the verse is awesome. However, it bothers me that I almost overlooked the context of this verse. I almost missed out on studying this amazing story of God’s faithfulness to His people. Our God is so great. And as long as Israel was faithful to God, He took care of them and they prospered. Let’s think about our lives and compare for a moment. If we remain faithful Christians until death, then God will be faithful to us and give us that crown of life. (Revelation 2:10) God knew every single one of us even then, when He was dealing with the Israelites, Balak, and Balaam. All that God did for Israel then, was also for us today so that Jesus could come and be our Savior. All of it led up to Jesus and it was all for us……every single one of us who are willing to follow His plan to be saved and be added to His church. The experience that I have had with studying this verse makes me realize how much I have missed out on by not having good Bible study habits in the past. And I still fall short some days. Sometimes I let life get in the way. We all do. I’m so thankful for the forgiveness that I have in Christ.
So how does this verse make me feel? Well…..it makes me feel grateful that I have a heavenly Father that, as the key verse says, cannot lie. Hebrews 6:18 says it is impossible for God to lie. This tells me that I can count on God to never let me down. However…..it also makes me sad because the person saying these words of truth to describe God was not saying them to honor God. He meant them in a disrespectful way. It makes me think of all the people in our world today who know that God is in control but they choose to follow the world. They have no respect for God. There are others who say they love God, but they don’t obey His word. How can that be? Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Some say that they believe in God, but they don’t believe His word is inspired. They say it is an outdated book written by men. But the Bible is the only way that we even know that God exists, so how can we separate God and His word? If we didn’t have God’s written word, we would just be here on earth wondering how we got here. We would have no true purpose. If I don’t believe His word to be the truth, then I don’t truly believe in God Himself. And how can I believe in Jesus, my Savior, if I don’t believe that the book in which I have learned about Him is the inspired word of God. It does not make sense. There are so many who don’t believe in God at all. They claim to believe in a “higher power”, but they won’t call it God. Balaam knew who God was and saw His power, and still chose to go against God. How sad! You would think that Balaam would have turned to God after all that happened in this story, but that is not the case. We find out in Numbers 25:1-3 that the children of Israel went against God and committed harlotry with the women of Moab and the people bowed down to their gods. Israel was joined to Baal of Peor and God was angry with them for this. Would you like to know who counseled King Balak to teach the women of Moab to seduce the men of Israel which then led them to worship Baal? Let’s go to Numbers 31:16 and you will see. It reads, “Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.” So Balaam found a backdoor way to “curse” Israel with his evil counsel and I’m not surprised. Balaam had no respect for God and he was angry, because God wouldn’t allow him to line his pockets with riches at the expense of His people. This incident even carries over into the NewTestament where Jesus is speaking to the church at Pergamos. Listen to our Savior’s words in Revelation 2:14, “But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.” So now do you see why our key verse takes on a deeper meaning when we know the context around it? Do you see why the entire Bible has to be read in this way?
Over the next few weeks I will be looking at some verses that are taken out of context by not only the world, but by the religious world as well. The practice of taking Bible verses out of context is very dangerous and can cost us our souls. I leave you with two passages that are crucial to our understanding of the Bible. I believe the first one is the hub of the entire Bible because of one three-letter word….”all”. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man (woman) of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” We have to believe that “all” scripture is inspired by God or we will take scriptures out of context and make them mean what we want to mean, and we will ignore scriptures that we simply don’t want to follow. The second one tells us what we have to do if we want to learn how to put verses in context, how to be saved and how to live a faithful Christian life in one word……”study”. 2 Timothy 2:15 says for us to “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” If we want to put verses in the right context and help others get to heaven, then we have to study or we will misunderstand and misuse God’s word and that would be a tragedy.
The next post will be on Matthew 7:1. I will look at how it is taken out of context and misused in our world today. Thank you for reading!! Have a wonderful Lord’s Day and week ahead!!
God’s Plan of Salvation
If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)
Not in the Wind, Not in the Earthquake, Not in the Fire……
God is in a Still Small Voice
A Still Small Voice
Part 2 (Just a heads up. This sight is also on facebook and I am breaking this post up into five segments over the next five days if you would rather read it that way. I’m just trying something new for people who like shorter posts.)
Have you ever felt the way that Elijah felt in 1 Kings 19? Elijah said, “It is enough!” in verse 4 of that chapter. By “it is enough”, he meant that he didn’t want to live anymore. What happened after his victory over the prophets of Baal to bring him from the heights of God’s glory to the depths of despair? Elijah’s story shows us that, no matter how great things may be going for us, things can turn on a dime, do a 180 and go in the complete opposite direction in the blink of an eye. I have experienced this first hand in my life, and I have witnessed this happen to some of the most faithful Christians that I know. Even the most confident, faithful Christians have moments where they feel defeated, depressed, anxious, worried to the point of being physically sick, disappointed, grieved, traumatized, and the list of emotions goes on and on that we can have as human beings. I really want us to take a look at how God responds to Elijah when he is at his lowest point. Does God act disappointed in Elijah? Is God disappointed in us when we let life bring us down? Does God respond to us in the same way today? How do we allow God to care for us?
Before we dive into chapter 19, let’s look at all the ways that God took care of Elijah in 1 Kings 17-18. After Elijah went to King Ahab and told him about the drought and the famine, God sent Elijah to hide next to a brook where he would have plenty of water to drink. He also provided bread and meat for Elijah which was delivered to Him by ravens twice a day. Just look at how God took care of His servant. This reminds me of how God sent manna and quail to the Israelites in the wilderness and brought water from the rock. As the drought began to get worse, the brook that Elijah was getting his water from dried up. When this happened, God sent Elijah to the widow of Zarephath for food and water. This was not only a blessing for Elijah, but for the widow and her son as well. God knew this woman’s heart and knew that she would give the last of her food to His servant if he asked. This woman’s story is a post all in itself. Her selflessness is immortalized forever in this story. We can learn so much from her. Bless her heart! She had already resolved that she and her son would die of starvation when their meal and oil ran out. She was about to make their last loaf of bread, yet she was still willing to share with God’s servant. This is why God blessed the widow with the meal and oil that would never run out until the rains came. God took care of Elijah and this widow and her son. Then, God’s power allowed Elijah to raise her son from the dead when he became sick and died. Just think about how God worked in this situation with Elijah and the widow. He provided for His servant Elijah through this widow, and in turn, provided for her. God knew what was happening to the widow and her son because of their lack of food and He knew that her son was going to get sick and die. He made sure Elijah was in place to help this wonderful woman during her time of need. Doesn’t God work in our lives this way today? Doesn’t He put people in our path at the perfect moment to help us or for us to help them or both?
I firmly believe that God works in our lives in the same ways as he did in Elijah’s day. Someone may come into our lives at just the right moment when we need that person. That is God!! First, I want to say that I have been blessed with a wonderful family who has loved and supported me beyond measure. My parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles have been amazing throughout my life. They helped mold me into who I am. I have been blessed with: a wonderful Christian husband and two wonderful Christian children who both married wonderful Christian spouses. What more could I ask for? They have helped me be a better person and I wouldn’t be where I am without them. But there are other people who came into my life, who had such an impact on me and I have only just recently begun to look back on my life and see that impact. They are partially responsible for me being where I am today. I will always say that God put me at Morrison school as a young 22 year old to teach with some of the finest Christian ladies that I have ever known, because He knew that I needed them in my life. You ladies know who you are but I am naming names, Jill, Wanda, Judy, and Sandy. I love you ladies!! I was not in a good place spiritually at that time in my life and I needed older Christian ladies to help me, not only as a teacher, but as a Christian. What an example you all set for me!! He then sent me to Boyd school to teach at just the right time in my life, and put people in my path to help me through some things that I needed a special kind of help with. You know who you are, but again, I’m naming names, Allison, Amanda, Donna, and Shelley. I love you ladies!! You all helped me in ways that were life-changing. And now I believe God has put me at Bobby Ray for whatever His purpose is for me there. I also believe that I have been put in other’s paths to help them, whether it be colleagues or students. Because of the people God has put in my path, I am where I am today. It is all because of Him and for His glory. I thank God every day for putting people in my life at the perfect time when I needed them, but I also thank Him for pruning people that I didn’t need out of my life at the right time as well. Think about your life. Can you think of anyone who seemed to show up out of nowhere and become a blessing to you at the perfect moment?
God also took care of Elijah in 1 Kings 18 by allowing Him to defeat and kill the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel. God provided the power that Elijah needed at just the right moment. Don’t we know that He will take care of us just like He took care of Elijah? God doesn’t work in a miraculous way like He did with Elijah, but He provides for our every need. We are His servants also and we are no different in God’s eyes than Elijah the prophet. Remember what Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:25-34? He tells us not to worry about what we will eat or wear and that our life is more than the food we eat and our body is more than the clothes we wear. He says that God provides food for the birds, therefore He will provide for us. He says for us not to worry about tomorrow because today will provide enough for us to be concerned about. Does this mean we don’t have to lift a finger to take care of ourselves? Of course not. It simply means that God will provide a way for us to have what we need through our jobs and means of income. Am I trusting God to take care of me? Am I thankful for all the ways God provides for me?
So, let’s move on to 1 Kings 19 to see what happens next in Elijah’s story. How did King Ahab and Queen Jezebel respond to what happened on Mount Carmel with the prophets of Baal? Did they turn from their evil ways and start following God? I’m sure that Elijah believed that they would begin following God after such a great showing of power on Mount Carmel. Everything that Elijah had done up until this point had seemed to go the way he thought it should. I think this was why he didn’t handle it so well when things didn’t go the way that he expected them to. He probably thought that everyone would just fall down and worship God, including the king and queen. But that is not what happened, and Elijah was caught off-guard!! In 1 Kings 19:1-2 it reads, “And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ‘So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.’” When Elijah heard that he was on Jezebel’s hit list, what did he do? He ran! The Bible doesn’t say anything about him asking for God’s counsel to know what to do next before running. He just ran! And when he did talk to God in verse 4, he didn’t ask God for help in the situation. He just asked God to allow him to just die. “It is enough!”, he said. Elijah was done!! Or so he thought at the time. Elijah was not wallowing in self-pity. Obviously he wasn’t afraid to die, or he would have not asked God to let him die. He was simply admitting defeat and He wanted God to take his life rather than have Jezebel take it. He was disappointed and let down. Elijah was probably thinking, “how could they not follow God after all that He did at Mount Carmel to show His power? What else could I have done?”
Have you ever had such high hopes for something great to happen, and then it didn’t turn out like you thought it would? It’s disappointing and disheartening isn’t it? We may have all felt this way on some level. It may not have been at the level where Elijah was, but I’m sure we have gone from great happiness and joy to great sadness and despair in a short amount of time before. It can be a whirlwind and really get us off-track spiritually until we turn to God for help and comfort. Maybe it was a job interview that you think went so well for you and you were so sure that you were going to get the job, but then you didn’t. Or maybe it was a relationship that you were deeply invested in, possibly even someone you were in love with, but the other person just didn’t feel the same way that you did or maybe he wasn’t right for you spiritually and wasn’t helping you get to heaven. Maybe it is a physical illness that you or a close family member have dealt with and thought you were over, but it turns out that it is not gone, and not only that, it is now worse than it was before. It can be anything in our lives that we were on top of the world about, and then all of the sudden, the rug seems to get pulled out from under us. We all have had these times in our lives. We know that God causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on both the just and the unjust. (Matthew 5:45) So what do we do when we have this roller coaster of emotions that is out of our control? We turn to our God. We find comfort in His word. I like to put my name in verses and let them speak to me in that way. For example, I might think of Psalm 42:11 and I add my name, Greta, why are you cast down? And Greta, why are you in turmoil inside? Greta, you have hope in God and you need to praise him! Greta, He is your only help right now! I encourage you to pray through scripture in this way. Make it personal to you. I promise it really helps. Friends, let’s never forget that “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)
So, how did God handle Elijah’s meltdown? Well first God knew that Elijah needed his physical needs taken care of first. Elijah was physically, mentally and emotionally drained. He needed to regroup. So before He responded to Elijah’s request to take his life, God allowed Him the time to rest. Elijah slept for a while. Then an angel gently woke him and God provided food and water for him. Then, Elijah slept some more and then the angel gently woke him again and had him to eat again, because the angel told him that he had a long journey ahead of him. God did not show anger or disappointment towards Elijah. He showed compassion and grace to Elijah. So Elijah’s physical needs were again taken care of for him just like they were earlier when he was hiding by the brook in 1 Kings 17. Then, 1 Kings 19:8 says that Elijah went “in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.” The mountain of God is Mount Sinai. Wow. That food sustained him for forty days and nights!! That is a long journey without food. God was certainly with Elijah. He found a cave and spent the night there. And then God came to him and asked him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:9) However, the angel of God told Elijah to go to Mount Sinai, so why would God ask him that question? Well, it was not a question in the physical sense, because Elijah could answer that easily by saying, “because Your angel told me to come here.” It was more of a question in the spiritual sense, like, “ok Elijah, what’s next? Are you giving up? Because I’m still here with you. What are you going to do now?” And now in 1 Kings 19:10, we finally see Elijah’s reason for wanting to die. He says, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” Do you hear the frustration in Elijah’s voice? Have you heard this type of frustration in your own voice about things in your life before? Life can be so frustrating for us sometimes, especially when we are trying so hard to live for God and His purpose, and it seems like the world just laughs in our faces. Elijah felt like he was the only one left who was following God. Do we sometimes feel like we are the only one following God in certain situations in our lives? Maybe it is at school, if you are a younger reader in high school or college. Maybe it is at your place of work. Maybe it is even in your home if you are married and your spouse is not a Christian. God doesn’t want us to feel alone. He is with us when no one else is. Let’s learn from Elijah’s story and know that our Father is with us in every situation we are in.
Then comes my favorite part of chapter 19. God tells Elijah to go stand on the mount and stand before Him. Then God begins to reveal Himself to Elijah. First, He shows His power by passing by Elijah and then “a great and strong wind that tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces” came by, then an earthquake came, and last, a fire. (1 Kings 19:11-12) These verses also say that God was not in any of these three manifestations of power. He was not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire. He caused them to happen with His great power, but He was not “in” them. God was, however, in “a still small voice” that spoke after the fire. (1 Kings 19:12) God speaks to Elijah in a calm and comforting way. God shows Elijah that He is a God of power and of comfort. God is letting Elijah know that He is with Him and there is nothing to fear. All the men in the world standing with Elijah, would never compare to having God beside him. We can have that same comfort today, ladies!! I love Romans 8:31-39. If these verses don’t comfort us, then I don’t know what will. Read the verses below and think about Elijah’s life. He was never alone. Think about your life. You are never alone.
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 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.” (Romans 8:31-39)
After His still small voice, God asked Elijah yet again, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” and again Elijah answered Him with the same thing as before, “I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” What does God do next? He immediately begins giving Elijah instructions on what to do next. He tells him who to anoint as king of Syria and king of Israel. Then in verse 16, God tells Elijah to anoint Elisha as the new prophet to take his place. He seems to be done trying to convince Elijah that he is not alone. He is preparing to grant Elijah’s request and take his life. It turns out Elijah wasn’t the “only one left”. In 1 Kings 19:18, God says, “Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” God is saying, Elijah, you are not the only one! I have 7000 more who belong to me. Elijah is on earth with Elisha for a while, probably preparing him for his new role as prophet. In 2 Kings 2:11, God granted Elijah’s wish to take his life. It reads, “Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” God took Elijah in such a powerful and dramatic way. Elijah had been a wonderful servant to God. God granted his wish to be taken from earth into heaven. We will see Elijah someday if we have obeyed the gospel and remained faithful. We will see all those wonderful men and women from the Bible. Won’t that be amazing? But more amazing than anything, we will be meeting God, Our Father and His Son, Jesus Christ face to face. I can hardly wait for that day!!
In closing, let’s go back to the wind, the earthquake, and the fire that God showed to Elijah through His great power. Let’s remember how the Bible said that God was not in those things. God had control over them but He was not in them. God was in a still, small voice that came after those things. Let’s think of the wind, earthquake and fire as trials in our lives. God is not in those trials. But God is still in control of all things. He does allow us to suffer trials. But God is here with us. And he will take care of us if we belong to Him, if we have obeyed Him and been faithful to Him. God is in a still, small voice in the midst of the winds, earthquakes and fires of life that seek to consume us. But we will not be consumed if we listen to God’s still, small voice. How do we hear God’s still, small voice? We open His word and let it do its work on us every single day. We talk to Him in prayer every single day and ask Him for help. I promise you, His word has healed me so many times that I can’t even count them. “O Lord my God, I cried out to You, and You healed me.” (Psalm 30:2) And when I didn’t open His word, guess what? I remained in turmoil, unhealed, and alone. Open His word friends. Dig into it. Pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17) You will never regret the time you spend with God.
Thank you all so much for reading my blog. I have truly enjoyed studying about Elijah’s life and applying it to my own life. I hope you all have a blessed Lord’s Day and week ahead!!
God’s Plan of Salvation
If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)
Part 1- Where did Elijah find his confidence? Where do we go to find ours?
Have you ever felt like you had so much going on around you and inside of you, that God’s voice seemed to be muffled? Maybe you pick up your Bible to read, but you are having trouble focusing on the words. Maybe you bow your head in prayer, but can’t find the words to say. You may be in a place like this right at this very moment that you are reading this article. It is not that you have lost your faith in God, but life is just wearing you down. You are physically and mentally tired. You know deep in your heart that He is there, whispering to you, but you are so disoriented by life, that His voice is very faint and hard to hear. You are simply at a loss. It may be grief, sickness, marital trouble, trouble with your children, problems at your job, or any number of things that could be filling your mind and causing you to lose your focus. You may feel overwhelmed, anxious, depressed or all three of these at once for one reason or another. It may be multiple things that you may be dealing with all at once. Oh have I ever been there, friends. And I’m sure I’ll be there again. During times like this, we can look at Elijah’s life and what he went through in 1 Kings 19. He was most definitely at a loss. He never lost his faith in God, but he suffered from all the same feelings that we have suffered from in our lives. But God knew Elijah’s heart…… just like He knows ours. Life is hard……..BUT GOD……
To understand the Elijah in 1 Kings 19, we have to go back and meet the Elijah of 1 Kings 17 and 18. Isn’t that how it is with us? In order to truly know the Greta Hoover of right now, you need to know the Greta Hoover of the past. Some may ask, “Why did she suddenly start a blog?” Well, you have to know what brought me up to this point to know my “why” behind what I do. Some of you who know me very well do know all the “whys” that brought me to this point in my life. The bottom line is that Jesus is my number one “why” and that is all that really matters. It is all for Him and His purpose. Our past, whether good or bad, makes us who we are, no matter what we have been through. I firmly believe that all the things that we go through in our lives mold us into who God wants us to be, that is, if we allow ourselves to be molded. I’m thankful for my past, because it has led me to right now, writing this article. My past is leading to my future……my future in continuing to allow God to use me for His purpose and ultimately my future in heaven with my Creator. I am a work in progress for sure, but all I can do is keep moving forward for God.
How many of you have heard the saying, “You do you!”? Well, “I’ve done me”, and trust me, it doesn’t work, friends! This statement may work in sports in getting players to present their talent and give it their all in a game. My coach would say to me, “you do you, girl”. I was a basketball coach and I’m pretty sure I have said that very thing to my own players and my own children. However, in life, we cannot “do us” and make it to heaven. We have to “do our lives” the way that God wants us to do them. We have to be those “living sacrifices” that Paul tells us to be in Romans 12:1 (see earlier post from May 2). Well, Elijah had done things God’s way, no questions asked, he had done what God told him to do. And now we find him at the lowest point that any human could be at. He wanted his life to end. In 1 Kings 19:4, we read, “But he himself (Elijah) went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom (juniper) tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said ‘It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!’” What brought this great prophet of God to the point where we would ask God to take his life? Maybe some of you have been at this point in your lives. Have you ever said, “it is enough!”? If you have, you are not alone, because I have. Let’s dive in and look at Elijah’s life up until this “it is enough” point in his life.
I would like to start by looking at the confidence that Elijah seemed to exude. Where did he get that confidence? It seemed in 1 Kings 17-18 that he had the confidence to face anything. Do we know people in our lives who seem this way? They seem like they just have a natural air of confidence that is God-given. God will use people like this for His purpose if they will allow it. Friends, God will use all of us for His purpose if we will only allow Him to. God used people who were naturally confident, like Elijah, and people who were not so naturally confident, like Moses. God is so wise, isn’t He? I believe God did this so we could see that no matter what our personality is, we can be a leader and a vessel for Him in the capacity of the role God has given us in His word.
What stands out for you about Elijah? The thing that stands out the most about Elijah for me, is the fact that no matter what God asked Him to do, he did it, without hesitation it seemed. He didn’t argue or try to bargain his way out of what God wanted him to do, like Moses did when God told him to go to Pharaoh. When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, he tried every way possible to get out of having to lead Israel out of bondage. He had no confidence in himself at that time, but with God, he sure gained confidence, didn’t he? Elijah also didn’t doubt God’s power, the way Abraham did when God told him he would have a son in his old age. Abraham’s doubt showed a lack of confidence in God. But then later, when God asked him to sacrifice His son Isaac on an altar, he had the confidence in God’s plan to go through with it, simply because God told him to. So what do we learn from Moses and Abraham? If we let Him, God will grow our confidence in ourselves as we grow in our faith in Him. Let that sink in, friends. Elijah actually reminds me quite a bit of Noah when he built the ark. He simply just did what God said for him to do. Noah followed God’s instructions on building the ark to the letter all the while being made fun of the entire time. Now that takes some natural-born confidence (1 Kings 17:1, 5, 10; 18:1-2; 19:11, 19:15-19). When natural-born, God-given confidence comes together with faith in God, that is a powerful combination!! I encourage you to read 1 Kings 17-19. Elijah’s life can teach us so much about God and how He takes care of us in every season of our lives. From our highest points to our lowest points, He is with us. It can also teach us to have confidence in God’s power to affect change in our world through us, His vessels. Elijah seemed to have so much confidence in himself just like so many seem to today. But we know that his confidence was really coming from God, just like ours does.
We first meet Elijah in 1 Kings 17:1-6. We see God immediately telling Elijah to go see King Ahab to tell him some bad news. Evil kings don’t like bad news. How did Elijah know that the king wouldn’t kill him on the spot? Think about the confidence that it took for Elijah to go to the evil King Ahab and tell him that God said there would be no rain for years and this would cause a great famine. After this, God sent Elijah to hide from King Ahab. Next, God sent Elijah to a widow’s home, which we will discuss more in part 2. The climax of Elijah’s story starts in 1 Kings 18:1. God tells Elijah to go to King Ahab and tell him that He would send rain. Ahab responds in verse 17 with these words, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?” So we can tell that Ahab is not happy with Elijah and he blames Elijah for the drought and the famine. But then we see Elijah’s confidence come forth when he says, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals. Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” Wow!! The courage of Elijah is amazing in that statement!! Think about how much confidence He had in God to go up against the king like that. He basically said, “I’m not the problem, King Ahab, you and your evil wife are the problem.” King Ahab’s wife Jezebel had killed the prophets of the Lord. She was way more evil than the king if that was even possible. Now, what Elijah does next is one of the most powerful stories in the Bible. He challenged the prophets of Baal to a standoff between their gods and the one, true, living God. In 1 Kings 18:20-21 the Bible says, “So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. And Elijah came to all the people, and said, ‘How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.’ But the people answered him not a word.” Why do you think that the people spoke not a word? I would say that they were afraid of what might happen to them after Jezebel had murdered God’s prophets. They didn’t have any confidence in God’s power. Elijah challenged the people of Israel to make their choice, follow God or follow an idol. Then Elijah built an altar and the prophets of Baal built an altar. What happened to the prophets of Baal’s altar? Well nothing of course. They danced and yelled to no avail. They even cut themselves to try to get their god to respond, but of course nothing happened. What happened to Elijah’s altar? Well, to make a long story short, God sent fire down to burn up Elijah’s entire altar, even the stones, plus the trench of water around it. How did the children of Israel, who had spoken not a word earlier, respond after all this happened? 1 Kings 18:39 tell us, “Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” Then Elijah instructed the people to “seize” the prophets of Baal so they couldn’t run away and then he killed all of them (1 Kings 18:40). Then the rain that God had promised came after all this happened (18:45). The confidence that Elijah shows can be parallelled with many in the Lord’s church today. We can’t perform miracles, but we can do great things with God by our side.
In this post, I want to focus more on our confidence and trust in God and our confidence in ourselves because of God. There are so many that have this same confidence in the church today. It is so encouraging to me to see so many in the Lord’s church, both women and men, and younger and older, that have so much dedication and confidence in their abilities to work for the Lord. In their appropriate roles of course, it may be in preaching the gospel, being a youth minister, leading prayer, leading singing, teaching a class, speaking at a ladies day, launching a Bible podcast, or it could be inviting people to worship, visiting the sick, taking food to someone, sending cards of encouragement, or simply just speaking to visitors who attend from time to time. The possibilities are endless. Everyone has talents. It is so wonderful when members of the Lord’s church listen to that “still small voice” of God. That voice is what gives us the confidence to step out of our comfort zone and be His vessel. Why? Because we allow it!! It is not miraculous, though it may feel that way at times. We allow His word to penetrate our hearts to want to be a better servant to Him. How do we hear that “still small voice”? How do we allow Him to mold us? We hear it when we are truly in His word. We hear it when we put Bible study first in our priorities. We don’t hear it any other way. Because we have Bible study as our top priority each day, we have His word hidden in our hearts so that we can meditate on it throughout our day. Psalms 119:11 says, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” I want this to be me, friends. I want to have confidence in my abilities that I use for God’s purpose, whatever they are. Why? Because God gave them to me. I just bet that God has given all of us talents and abilities we haven’t even discovered yet, that can be used for His purpose. To be honest about myself, I have only recently started allowing God to truly use me as a vessel for Him. I pray every day for Him to use me in whatever capacity He needs me, within my role as a woman in the church, of course. It’s been a bumpy ride for me spiritually. And I am not there yet. We don’t ever get there. We have to keep reaching upward for God until our last breath. On the outside I have always looked fine, but on the inside I haven’t been. I wasn’t allowing God to give me the confidence I needed because I wasn’t in his word and I wasn’t praying the way that I needed to. But God has gotten me here where I am at right now, and He will take me further and further if I allow Him to. If we have complete trust in God and allow Him to use us for His purpose, then we will gain confidence in ourselves and in our abilities. This can be in anything we do!! We can bring glory to God and be God’s vessel in every aspect of our lives. This goes for any age group. Just remember, no matter what age you are, whether you’re 15, 18, 24, 52, or 80, it is never too early or too late to start being God’s vessel and letting Him use you for His purpose. If you are a member of the Lord’s church, you have a special purpose in His kingdom. You just have to step out of your box and resolve to do it. I ask myself, “am I listening to the “still small voice” of God? Is His word hidden in my heart so that I can have the confidence I need to be a vessel for Him? Ask yourself those questions. God needs us all. We are this world’s only hope. Let’s remember Romans 10:14-15, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” How will people who have never been taught the truth ever learn the truth without someone helping them to understand? Ladies, we can’t preach in a pulpit at a worship service. That is definitely not our role. God has said that plainly in His word. But as women, we are so important to God’s purpose of teaching other women the gospel, encouraging women who are younger than us in their Christian walk, loving our husbands by being supportive of and submissive to them, nurturing and loving our children, teaching the children in Sunday school, and these are only a few things. It is really endless…. the things we can do for His purpose ladies. Here is a challenge for myself and for you, “How can I do more for God and others? How can God use me?”. I give that challenge to say this, I need my sisters in Christ every day of my life to help me remain strong. We need each other. And let’s all encourage and support each other in the work that we do so that we can show a united and loving front to the world.
In closing, I’m sure Elijah was on top of the world in that moment that God defeated the prophets of Baal through him. But let’s go back to the statement from the first paragraph of this article in 1 Kings 19:4 where he asked God to take his life. He says, “It is enough!” Can you just hear him? He goes from the highest point in his life to the lowest point in the span of about 24 hours. In part two of this series, we will look at what brought Elijah to his lowest point and how God responds to him in that moment. I hope everyone has a wonderful Lord’s Day and a great week!! Dig into your Bible this week!! You’ll be glad you did. Thank you so much for reading!!
God’s Plan of Salvation
If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)
The Bible was, is, and always will be the most important, precious, and valuable book in history no matter how far away our country steers away from it. By valuable, I mean spiritually of course, not materially. It is beautiful and has the words of life. Jesus said in Matthew 24:35 that his words would never pass away and here it is, the year 2023 and guess what? His words have not passed away and they won’t. This piece of history below shows where our country was less than a century ago. It was written to our armed forces by one of the greatest presidents in our country’s history. Can you just imagine if our leaders had stayed true to God and His Word all down through history? I wonder…..what would our country look like today? But I can’t sit and fret about all that is wrong in the world. Like Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun. I can only control what I do. And you can only control what you do. And personally, I will always stand for God’s Word above any other words written by any other person. Why? Because His Word holds the answer to the ultimate question, “how do I get to Heaven?” And no matter what happens in this country, no matter what laws pass that are against God’s word, no matter how bad things get, I’m following what my Creator says because He is the one in control, no matter what happens this side of eternity. Now that statement has nothing to do with my love for humankind. I write these things because of my love for humankind. My life is in His hands and no one else’s. So is yours. He decides when everything on this earth is over. I want to be ready when that happens and I want everyone else to be ready also. God is love. Love is truth. Truth is God’s Word.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man (woman) of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
The verse above is my “why” for believing every word of the Bible with all my heart and soul. To me, it is the hub of the entire Bible.
Thank you for reading!! Dig into your Bible this week!! You will be glad that you do!! I actually had something else written for this week, but this historical document sparked something inside of me. Thanks to the people who posted this document. Several people have posted it, and it made words just pour out of me.
God’s Plan of Salvation
If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)
In parts one and two of this series, we have looked at what Jesus meant when He told the disciples they needed to become as little children in Matthew 18. Let’s look at two more ways that we can become like children in God’s eyes. I don’t believe these ways are what Jesus was referring to in Matthew 18. He was simply answering the question that He was asked by His disciples. But let’s look at the idea of becoming like children a little further. How dependent were we on our parents when we were babies, toddlers, young children, and even teenagers and college age? Imagine a newborn baby, who is totally dependent on his/her parents or caregivers for his/her needs. Newborn human babies are probably the most helpless of all creatures. They are completely at the mercy of their parents or caregivers. Toddlers and young children are still solely dependent on their parents to watch after them, teach them things they need to know, discipline them when need be, and give them unconditional love. How about teenagers? Well, they may think they don’t depend on their parents as much, but in reality they actually depend on them as much as ever in a lot of ways. Actually, I’m 52 years old and I still depend on my parents for things such as unconditional love, advice, wisdom, and honesty. I still and will always need my parents. Even more so, we have to depend on God the way we do our earthly parents. He is God, Our Father, hence the name of this post. When we were sick or hurt or needed something as a child, who did we turn to? Momma or Daddy, right? Or Grandma or Grandpa if we were with them at the time? Or whoever our parental figure was when we were children? Whatever the problem, we knew we could take that problem to our parents and they would give us the help we needed. That is, if we were lucky enough to have the kind of parents that all children deserve. In the same way, when we are hurting, struggling, worried, or grieving, whether it be physical pain, mental anguish, or emotional distress, we should be totally dependent on God, our heavenly Father. How do we depend on Him? Through opening His word and letting His precious word soothe our souls, and going to Him in prayer and laying everything at His feet. When worry or negativity creeps into my mind, it is always because I haven’t been in His word or in prayer enough for a few days straight. This is another way that we can become like children, by turning to Him in our time of need before we turn to anything else. Proverbs 3:5-7 is still one of my “go to” verses to remind myself that I need to completely depend on God. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” I want to always remember that it is not in me to direct my own steps. (Jeremiah 10:23) Just like I kept a close eye on my children when they were little and first walking, I want to allow God to watch my steps and guide me in my life every day. My babies knew no danger at that age, so I had to watch them all the time. As teenagers and even young adults at times, we don’t see danger the way the older adults in our lives do. We are inexperienced in life at that age. We think we are indestructible, some of us even on into adulthood tend to think this way for one reason or another. Our parents try to warn us about things we shouldn’t get involved in, people we should steer clear of, and places that could be dangerous for us or get us into trouble. Isn’t this what God does for all of us in His word? I want to hold God’s hand, through His word, and let Him guide me, just like I used to hold Rhiannon’s and Jordan’s little hands and guide them across busy streets, and through crowded places like, for example, the Warren County Fair. I would say, “Guys, do not let go of my hand!”. And…… I know they got tired of me giving them the third degree when they were teenagers, “where are you going?”, “who else will be there?”, “what time will you be home?”, “will their parents be there?”, and the list goes on. Luckily, my kids have been much better behaved than I was. They have both been a blessing to Jeff and I. You’ve heard the saying, “You pay for your raising”? I haven’t paid for mine. God is good. He knows what we can handle!! Those of you who knew me many moons ago can chuckle because…. “you know”!! But just like our parents question us, God does the same thing through His word. He warns us over and over about sin and the destruction it will bring to our lives. In Romans 6:23, Paul puts it very plainly, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” How do we know if something we are doing is a sin? We look in His word and it tells us. God gives us example after example of people who allowed sin to either destroy them or cause them great anguish and grief. God gives us these examples to teach us, because He doesn’t want us to ruin our lives like some of the people from the past ruined theirs. I love Psalms 1:1-2, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.” This is God’s warning to us through an inspired Psalm of David to stay away from sin and to “delight” in and “meditate” on His word. If we truly intend on being completely dependent on Him, then we need to be in His word daily and in prayer daily. His word will, in turn, cause us to question ourselves. “Should I do this? Should I go here? Should I wear this? How should I handle this situation?” His word convicts, teaches, and chastises us if we allow it to. But we have to be in God’s word for it to convict, teach and chastise us. We also have to be present at bible study and worship services, not only because we are commanded to do so, but also so that we can hear God’s word explained in a way that we can understand. We also have our brothers and sisters in Christ to support us if we are actively attending services. Plus we are able to support them when they need us. I ask myself, am I totally dependent on my Father in heaven? Is He who I turn to first? Do I allow Him to guide me?
The second way that I believe we can use children as an example is in our enthusiasm. Children are so curious and enthusiastic about their surroundings. They have an enthusiasm for learning that is amazing to watch. I used to order a caterpillar to butterfly kit for my classroom in the spring. The kids were so excited about every stage that the caterpillar was going through. They were questioning, analyzing, predicting, etc. For my readers who are teachers…..you know the term……they were using critical thinking skills without even realizing it!! Also, have you ever watched a child when they first learn to sound out words and begin reading? It’s amazing to see that enthusiasm and that light come to their little eyes. Friends, what if we were to have a child-like enthusiasm when it comes to God’s word? Think about how much we would learn and grow!! Here are some synonyms for enthusiasm: fervor, zeal, eagerness, and passion. God loves to see our enthusiasm for His word and His purpose. Romans 12:11 says we are to not be slothful (lazy), but to be fervent (enthusiastic) in spirit, serving the Lord. Titus 2:14 says we are to be people who are zealous (enthusiastic) for good works. And one more, Colossians 3:23 tells us that whatever we do, we should do it heartily (enthusiastically) for the Lord. How enthusiastic am I for God’s word? Do I delight in His word? Do I meditate on it? How enthusiastic am I for His purpose? Do I study and analyze His word like my students analyzed the caterpillar to butterfly stages? Am I excited about His word like a child who has first learned to read?
On a side note, as parents and grandparents, we don’t want our kids to make the same mistakes that we did. We don’t want our kids to experience the heartache that we caused ourselves. We want our kids to be “all in” when it comes to their Christianity. We want them to be in heaven on that great and terrible day. This is the ultimate goal for us as Christian parents and grandparents. But if I want my kids and grandkids to be on a path to heaven, then I first have to be on that path. I have to be “all in”. They have to see me giving my all to Him. They have to see me totally depending on Him and putting Him first. I have been far from the perfect parent. I didn’t have Him first all the time. I wasn’t totally dependent on Him and I’m sure my kids saw it. I tried very hard, but I know I fell short often. But friends, it is never too late to change. It is never too late to do better. I truly hope that my children can see that I am trying to do better. I am trying to do better for God and His Son, for His church, for my husband, for my four children, for my grandson, for my future grandchildren, for my parents, for my aunt and uncle, for Jeff’s family, for all of my extended family and my friends. Equally as important, I am trying to do better for my brothers and sisters in Christ. But most of all, I should be trying to do better for the lost. That is my commission from Jesus found in Matthew 28:18-20. He says for me to GO to them. I have to ask myself, am I going to them? In what way am I going to them? We all have our own ways of using our talents to grow Jesus’ kingdom here on earth. There are different ways that we can GO to them. What is your way of going to them?
To end this post, I want to point out something that I found to be humbling while I was studying this subject of becoming as little children. In the book of 1st John (KJV), John, through the inspiration of God, refers to the church as a whole as “little children” nine times. Of course, just like every word of the Bible, God, through John, is also speaking to us today. He talks to us in such a tender and kind way, like a mentor or a father figure. In six of these various verses, He gives us profound fatherly reminders and advice. He says, “little children”, your sins are forgiven, “little children”, you have known the Father, “little children”, abide in Him, “little children” if you do righteousness, then you are righteous, “little children” let us show love with our actions and not just our words, and “little children” you are of God. (1 John 2:12, 2:13, 2:28, 3:7, 3:18, 4:4) In 1 John 2:1-2 he writes, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” John is telling us, the little children, that we should do our very best to keep from sinning, but ultimately, because we are human, we will mess up, make mistakes, and fall short. But….. because we are in Christ, we have Him as our advocate with God. If Jesus is our advocate with the Father, then that means He will have our backs on judgment day if we have obeyed the gospel and remained faithful. He bears our sins before the Father so we don’t have to. Amazing right? Just a question for you to think about, have you obeyed the gospel? Are you in Christ? The plan of salvation is at the bottom of the article with scripture references for you to study. In 1 John 2:18, John warns us, “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” The antichrists that John is talking about are false teachers. John is warning us, the little children, to be aware that there are false teachers everywhere. We see these false teachers everywhere we look in our society today. Let’s be sure that what we are being taught is the truth by digging into His word for ourselves. Have you made sure that what you have been taught is the whole truth? And finally, John’s last words to the church in this epistle are in 1 John 5:21, which is the very last verse of 1st John, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” What is an idol for us today? Friends, it is anything that we put ahead of God and His kingdom, the church. It can be anything, from our jobs, to our hobbies, to even our own families. I have to look at myself here for sure. Am I putting God and His kingdom first in my life in all things?
To end this three part series, here are my questions to challenge myself first and then my readers. Are my motives for everything that I do for God pure? Have I put others ahead of myself? Have I lowered myself as a little child? Am I totally dependent on God as a little child is to a parent? Do I have the enthusiasm of a little child for God’s word and God’s purpose for my life? Ask yourself these questions this week. After diving into 1st John and seeing all the references to us as “little children”, I have a feeling our attitude of humility is very important to our Father. I hope this series has sparked some thoughts and feelings inside you during the last couple of weeks. It certainly has sparked some conviction in me. I know I can do better. I hope everyone has an awesome Lord’s day and a wonderful week ahead! Thank you for reading!
God’s Plan of Salvation
If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)
In part 1 of this series, I looked at the question that the disciples asked Jesus in Matthew 18, “who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Comparing ourselves to others in our Christian walk was the subject. I ended with the challenge to not compare ourselves to anyone except Jesus. This week, I want to focus on Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question. “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” This is the question that Jesus’ disciples asked Him in Matthew 18:1. I can just imagine Jesus thinking, “nope, they don’t get it. I’m going to need to show them an example that they can understand.” The disciples needed a lesson in humility. Would anyone who was truly a humble person be worried about who is the greatest? Let’s think about this in regards to a team. On any sports team, all the players are, or they should be anyway, of equal importance to the coach. They each have different levels of ability and different sets of skills that are valuable to the team. The quarterback of a football team cannot win the game all by himself, nor can any other member of any team. It is the coach’s job to find each player’s strengths and build on them and use them for the success of the team. Everyone cannot be in the starting lineup of a basketball team, as there can only be five on the court at a time. However, those players who start the game on the bench, are every bit as valuable and should feel as such. That is….ifthey have a coach who truly cares about all of his/her players and has his/her priorities right. And…..everyone cannot be the leading scorer on a basketball team. However, can that leading scorer win the game all by himself or herself? Do you see where I’m going with this?
In comparison, the disciples were Jesus’ ministry team. To tie in with the above examples, Jesus was their “coach”. He had handpicked each one of them to be by His side throughout His ministry, up until His death, His resurrection, and ultimately up until the birth of the church and the spreading of the gospel to the whole world. All of these men had characteristics, abilities, and qualities that Jesus was looking for. Even Judas. Jesus could see inside each one of them, into their heart, and know that each one of them would ultimately help Him fulfill His purpose here on earth. He was also training them to be His vessels after He ascended back to heaven to be with His Father. After His ascension, He would appear to Saul of Tarsus, later called Paul, on the road to Damascus, and handpick Him to be the apostle to take the gospel to the gentiles. All of the disciples were equal in Jesus’ sight, just like we are all equal in His sight. Each disciple probably had his own special talents and abilities, just like we do today. They were all equally important to Jesus’ ministry, just as we are. They probably each had specific responsibilities or roles in the work of Jesus’ ministry, just as we do in the church today. Just like on a sports team, they all should have been working together for a common goal, instead of being concerned with who was the greatest. Shouldn’t we also be working together for a common goal in the Lord’s church today?
So……how did Jesus answer them? He brought a little child to Him and set that child before the disciples. (Matthew 18:2) Then Jesus answered them. He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3-4) Let’s begin with “unless you are converted”. Some synonyms for convert are: turn, change, transform, and metamorphose. Jesus is telling His disciples that they need to convert or transform their way of thinking. They are completely missing the mark. Their concern for greatness is wrong and is hindering them from humility. Of course, they weren’t talking about “greatness” in the physical world. They were talking about “greatness” in heaven, in the spiritual world, when their physical life was over. It doesn’t matter though. Instead of being concerned with each other’s souls, they were trying to see who could be the best in Jesus’ eyes when they got to heaven. They were turning Jesus’ gift of eternal life into a competition!! They didn’t realize at that point how wrong they really were. If the disciples were desiring to be more important than someone else in heaven, then they would not be in heaven. We talked about this in my last post, about turning our Christian life into a competition. We can’t do this. The bottom line is, if I have the desire to be more important than others in the kingdom here on earth, the church, then I won’t get to be in the kingdom of heaven when Jesus returns. The disciples were commissioned by Jesus in Matthew 28:19 to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. How would they have been able to do that with their attitude in Matthew 18? This commission by Jesus is still ours today and we have to have the right mindset as well. Jesus said in Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” You can substitute humble in place of “poor in spirit”. And to end this section on being converted, I give you these beautiful inspired verses written by Paul, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4 NASB) Wow. There is nothing I need to explain about those verses. God’s word says it all, friends.
Why did Jesus use a child as an example? What did He mean by “become as little children”? Children had no status during the time when Jesus was on earth. Even in today’s society, children are minors and don’t have all of the rights that we have as adults. It is not a morality issue. It is an issue of significance. He doesn’t want us to act like children and never mature in our thinking. This is about our attitude in regards to ourselves and others. Jesus is saying that we have to lower ourselves, not elevate ourselves. Imagine a doorway that only a child could fit through easily. As adults, we would have to stoop, or lower ourselves, maybe even crawl, to fit through that door. Use this analogy to illustrate us getting into heaven someday. We have to lower ourselves and put others ahead of ourselves if we want to “fit” through the door of heaven. This is the definition of humility. If we look at Matthew 18:4, Jesus says if we humble ourselves as a little child, then we will be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Well, if we look at this logically, verse 3 says we won’t enter unless we become as a little child. Therefore, we will all be equally “the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”, because all of us who are there spending eternity with God, will be those who lowered ourselves so we could “fit” through heaven’s doorway. Isn’t this what Jesus did? Jesus is the ultimate example of lowering oneself. After Paul tells us to lower ourselves and put others ahead of ourselves in Philippians 2:3-4, he explains to us how Jesus put Himself ahead of us. Just listen and ponder what He did for us. I know that we all know what He did, but do we really know? Do we really truly understand how what He did for us should affect how we live our lives and treat others today? Listen to these verses and truly think about them. Read them out loud. “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8 NASB) I want to key in on the phrase “emptied Himself”. Other translations of this phrase include, “gave up everything” (CEV), “made Himself nothing” (ESVUK), “made Himself of no reputation” (KJV), and “gave up His place with God” (EXB). Let those words sink in, friends. He gave up everything for us. So I ask myself, what have I given up for Him? Have I emptied myself for Him? Have I lowered myself to become as a little child? Am I doing what Jesus told the disciples to do in Matthew 18? Everything Jesus said to them applies to me today.
These are the questions that I leave with you this week, my friends. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and week ahead! Thank you so much for reading my blog!
God’s Plan of Salvation
If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)
Part 1- “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
In Matthew 18, the disciples came to Jesus asking Him a question, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Matthew 18:1) Did you ever wonder why the disciples were debating over this question? They were all Jesus’ chosen disciples so why were they asking Jesus this question? Jesus had just begun to explain to His disciples in Matthew 16:21-23 and 17:22-23 of how He would be killed and raised the third day. He was beginning to prepare them for what was to come. Then, they heard Jesus scold Peter and refer to him as Satan for simply saying that he would defend Jesus and not allow Him to be hurt. (Matt. 16:23-24) Imagine what they were thinking at this point! I’m sure they were confused. Why would Jesus not want them to defend Him and save Him from harm? Wouldn’t you be confused if you were them? I know I would. After this happened with Peter, they heard Jesus say those famous words, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever will save his life shall lose it: and whoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” (Matthew 16:24-27) Wouldn’t you like to have been a fly on the wall when the disciples were discussing these words of Jesus? I bet the part about God “rewarding every man according to his works” is the part where they got into a debate about who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. In their human minds, they all wanted to be the greatest in Jesus’ kingdom. It was a human reaction. They may have each been saying all the good things they had done for Jesus, and trying to see who had done the most for him. Or maybe they were comparing what each of them had done for others or how many people they had told about Jesus. Who knows what they were thinking? My question to us is, “don’t we do this today?”
To relate this to us as Christians today, don’t we look at ourselves sometimes and think that we are not doing as much as someone else. Or…. maybe we complain that we are the only ones doing the bulk of the work. This reminds me of the infamous sisters, Mary and Martha. (Luke 10:38-42) Maybe we start thinking that we are “greater in the kingdom of heaven” (the church) than someone else, like the disciples did in Matthew 18. Or….. equally as bad, we start thinking less of ourselves because we think someone else is doing more than us. Maybe we feel like we aren’t “the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”. Also, do we sometimes feel like we aren’t as good as someone else in the kingdom, a.k.a. the church, because of our past or our upbringing? Maybe you were raised in the church, but you don’t have as pristine of a past as others for one reason or another. I have to admit, this would be me! Maybe you weren’t raised in the church at all, and don’t have the Bible knowledge that someone else has. You simply didn’t get the opportunity to learn those precious Bible stories that children who are in Sunday school their whole lives have the opportunity to learn. Or vice versa, do you feel better about yourself, because you were raised in the church and were always well-behaved, and didn’t get into any mischief while you were growing up. Maybe you are a Christian who has had to go forward for prayers and forgiveness often over the course of your Christian life, for things that you did that brought shame on the church. Maybe you have had to rededicate your life to Christ over and over because you struggle to stay faithful to the church and keep God first in your life. Can I just say that God/Jesus doesn’t care about any of those things? He doesn’t care about our past or how we were raised. He doesn’t care about our level of Bible knowledge at any given moment. He doesn’t care how many times we have allowed ourselves to be caught up in sin or fallen away from the church. He only cares about the fact that we are doing something about our situation now. He only cares about the condition of your heart and my heart right now. He knows if I am truly trying to overcome my past. He knows if I am giving it my all in my personal Bible study no matter my level of knowledge. He knows if I am trying to apply it to my life. He knows all of my struggles, because He walked on this earth and was tempted in all points just as I am. The only difference is, because He is God, He walked this earth without committing a single sin. (Hebrews 4:15) God definitely wants all of us to grow in our knowledge of His word, but He doesn’t keep a graph of everyone’s Bible knowledge. All He asks is that we study and grow at our own true pace. 2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Study to show thyself approved unto God….” It does not say that you need to make sure you study as much or more than anyone else! God does not compare us to others!! So we shouldn’t compare ourselves to others!! Now let me be clear, looking at other wonderful Christians as examples is fine. We are all supposed to be Christian examples for each other and the lost in a positive way. But we can’t cross that line and turn it into a competition to try and be better than someone else. At that point, the good that we do becomes all about us and not God. The Christian life is not a contest to see who is the “greatest in the kingdom.” Let that sink in friends!!
And let me just give us this reminder, it is not always about how much of the Bible we can recite or Bible facts that we know. It is more about application. Do we know enough about the Bible to understand how to truly be saved? This is the most important question. If you need this information, you will find it at the bottom of this post with scripture references. Also, for we who are Christians, do we apply what we know about God’s word to our everyday lives? It does us no good to know it and not apply it. Knowledge without application is useless to us. All the Bible knowledge in the world will not help us get to heaven. We have to apply that knowledge to our lives if we want that heavenly home.
So what does God look for in us? What will he be looking for when we stand before Him on that wonderful and terrible day? I say “wonderful and terrible” because it will be both……wonderful for some and terrible for others. When we stand before God on judgment day, He isn’t going to compare us to others. 2 Corinthians 5:10 tells us, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” He is going to look directly at our lives and our hearts. No one else’s life or heart will be on our Father’s mind except for ours in that moment. Each of us will have God’s complete attention. 1 Corinthians 4:5 says that when the Lord comes, He will “bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of human hearts.” So what is our motive for the things we do? What will our life and our heart show God? Will it show a life and a heart of devotion to God and His purpose of saving souls and serving others? Or will it show a life and a heart of us worrying about whether we are as good as someone else? Will it show a life and a heart of thinking we are doing “better” than most of the other people around us? Do we have the “I’m good enough” syndrome? Or the “I’m ok” syndrome? Friends, we can never be “good enough”? What is our mindset? The bottom line, my Christian friends, is that God is only going to be comparing us to one person, and that is His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The only person we need to be concerned with being more like, is Him. Are we making every effort to be like Him? My friends, this post is certainly making me look long and hard at myself. I hope this helps all of us realize that we are all special in the eyes of God and we all have so much to offer His kingdom here on earth. The challenge for the week? You guessed it! Let’s not compare ourselves to others in a negative way. Let’s simply work on being more like Jesus.
So…..with all that being said, let’s go back to the disciples’ question for Jesus, “who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” How did He answer them? I will continue with this study next week. I hope you all have a wonderful Lord’s Day tomorrow and a wonderful week ahead! Thank you for reading!
If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
In part 1 of this study on the grace of God, I looked at how God’s grace has been here since before time began. I used 2 Timothy 1:9 as my key verse for this statement. I also looked at how God’s grace touched the lives of people in the Old Testament leading up to Jesus, and how His grace back then, has been reaching forward to each of us today. In part 2, I looked at Romans 6:1-4, 15 which proves that grace does not give us a free pass to sin over and over willfully. I also used Titus 2:11 to show that God’s saving grace is available to every person on earth, however only those who follow God’s plan of salvation will be able to accept God’s gift of grace. I will now look at Titus 2:12-14 and answer the question, “how and what does grace teach us?”
First of all, does grace teach us without any effort on our part? Titus 2:12 says that grace teaches us to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. But how does grace teach us to live this way? The word teach has many synonyms: train, instruct, educate, discipline, and chasten. When I look at all these words that go along with the word teach, I realize that to teach someone something relevant to their lives is one of the greatest gifts we can give someone. Let’s say someone tries to teach us how to swim. In my opinion, I feel that this is a good example of something relevant, because I feel that everyone needs to know how to swim for their own safety. You never know when you will wind up in some water and have to swim to survive or you may have to save someone else from drowning. Will we learn to swim if we don’t follow what we are being taught by the instructor? No we won’t. We won’t learn anything if we ourselves don’t put forth effort into what we are being taught. There are certain things that go into learning to swim. First, you have to train yourself to not be afraid of the water. You have to train yourself to have the courage to put your head under the water. You have to learn how to hold your breath. Putting my head under water was my biggest fear when I was learning to swim. But no one could make me overcome my fear. I had to do that on my own. I could have all the adults around me cheering me on and telling me I had nothing to be afraid of. However, until I talked myself into not being afraid, I was still holding myself back from learning. This example ties in perfectly with how grace teaches us. I was holding myself back from learning to swim because of my fear.
Can I hold myself back in my Christian walk? Can I keep grace from teaching me how to live the Christian life? Absolutely I can! If I don’t deny myself some things, then I keep God’s saving grace at bay, meaning I don’t gain access to it. I’m literally keeping God’s grace at an arm’s length from me. I’m not allowing myself to be molded into the kind of person that God wants me to be. And this is all because I don’t want to give up or deny myself certain things that are worldly. But I can’t expect to have my cake and eat it too. I can’t continue in whatever sin tempts me, and still receive His grace anymore than I could learn to swim without getting my head wet. So what are we supposed to deny in order to live the Christian life? Paul tells Titus that if we deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, then we will be able to live soberly, righteously, and godly. Of course, the world doesn’t think we should deny ourselves anything. The “live for the moment” and “live for self” mantra is what the world continually tries to teach us. So ask yourself, do you want the world to teach you or do you want God’s grace to teach you? Do you belong to the world or to God? Jesus expects us to deny ourselves if we are going to follow Him. Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 16:24, “that if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me”. We have to say “no” to sin or we deny Jesus. 2 Timothy 2:12 says that if we deny Him, then He will deny us. That is a scary thought since He is our Savior and our mediator between us and God.
Ok……my sisters in Christ…. I’m going to get more personal for a bit. It might be a bit of a soapbox. The thought of Jesus denying me before God is horrifying and heartbreaking for me to even think about. But more than that, the thought of intentionally harming Jesus with my sin is even more heartbreaking to me. I mean God has this amazing plan to save me with His grace through His Son, that started before time began, and I couldn’t deny myself of ungodliness and worldly lusts so that I could live for Him? I don’t know what I’ve been thinking in my past with how I have acted at times. You may be saying to yourself, “wow, she’s hard on herself.” Yes I am! Well…. maybe not hard on myself anymore, just aware of myself and the temptations that I have struggled with in the past. I keep my guard up all the time, because Satan is just waiting for me to let it down. Now don’t get me wrong, I have forgiven myself of past sins which was hard for me to do, believe me. We all have to forgive ourselves for things we have done in our past, either before we were baptized or possibly after we became Christians, and let ourselves be pulled back into the world. Maybe this has happened multiple times for some of us. But if we don’t forgive ourselves, then we won’t allow ourselves to grow spiritually through God’s grace. I firmly believe that I had stunted my own growth for a pretty good while just by not being able to let go of some things from the past. I had gotten things right with God…. at least I thought I had. I was denying ungodliness and worldly lusts like I am told to do in our key verses. However, I was also denying myself grace because I wasn’t forgiving myself. I wouldn’t be able to write this blog if I had kept that kind of thinking up, because I didn’t think I had anything to offer God’s kingdom. I didn’t think I was worthy to put my words out there. I had to show myself grace. It’s taken lots of soul searching, lots of Bible study and prayer, support from my wonderful family, and support from some very special sisters in Christ. You know who you are ladies! Letting myself feel God’s grace and know that I am truly His and knowing that He has really forgiven me has been the most wonderful experience that has ever happened to me. It took me years. Don’t wait years to figure this out my friends. If this is you and you are feeling like I have in the past…… like you just aren’t good enough to receive God’s grace, you need to KNOW that God has wonderful plans for you. None of us are good enough for God’s grace, am I right? Because of Jesus we don’t have to be “good enough”! It’s a gift! Let go of the past and fully accept that God loves you and wants to save you through His amazing grace. Then let Him transform you into a vessel for His purpose. And one more thing, if you are like I used to be, you might have looked at someone else and thought……”Wow, she is such a wonderful Christian lady. I could never be as good as she is”. Or…..”I wish I was as good of a Christian as she is”. Let me just say a big ole “NO” to this kind of thinking! If we compare ourselves to others in a derogatory way toward ourselves, we are only holding ourselves back from what God’s purpose is for us. And all the good that we could do for God’s kingdom will stay hidden, because of our feelings of inadequacy. Is it ok to pattern after a person who is a wonderful Christian example to us? Absolutely! Just don’t put yourself down in the process. Friends, we are here to support each other and encourage each other in our talents for God’s kingdom. Everyone has talents that can be used to spread God’s word to the lost.
Let’s look at Paul and his ugly past for a bit. Do we think he would have been as successful as he was in his ministry if he had kept looking back at his past in a negative way? Of course, he did tell people about his past and about his conversion story in order to relate better to his audience. We can do this also. Our past and our conversion stories could help someone else open up to us and could even open a door for us to teach them the gospel. Our past could make someone feel less alone in what they are going through. But this is the only way we should be looking back at our past, to show people that we were once where they are. We should not look back so that we can continually beat ourselves up again and again. What if Paul had compared himself to Peter and thought, “I’ll never be as good as Peter’? Let’s all remember what Paul was in his former life as Saul of Tarsus, a persecutor and murderer of Christians. In Philippians 3:12-14 Paul writes some of the most encouraging words for me personally, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Wow. He says I don’t have heaven yet, but that is what I am pressing forward towards. And I’m not looking back to where I was, only forward to where I want to be. He tells us in verse 15 that if we are mature, then this is the mindset that we should have. So if I really think about what God’s grace has done for me through Jesus Christ, then why wouldn’t I want to deny the things that will hurt me as a Christian, hurt Jesus, hurt the church that He died for, and cause me to abuse and lose God’s grace? This is how grace teaches us. When we fully realize what God has done for us and understand that our actions have hurt our Savior again and again, this is when we start allowing grace to teach us how to live. Grace is what teaches us about the love that God has for us, even when we are in sin before we are baptized into Christ, even when we turn our backs on Him after we are baptized into Christ, even when we don’t put Him first in our lives, even when our human weaknesses cause us to stumble, and even when we can’t let go of our past enough to let God heal us and use us for His purpose. You see, God is waiting on all of us to accept His grace and fully give our lives to Him. The gift is there for us when we are mature enough to fully accept it and let it truly transform us. To all my Christians readers, especially my younger readers, don’t wait on your chance to feel the freedom you can find by letting go of the past and the world, and fully living your life for Christ. It truly is the best life and honestly, it’s our only chance to be in heaven with God someday. God wants all of us, not just the parts of us we allow him to have.
What is godliness? Godliness is simply “God likeness” or “like God. So ungodliness would be “unlike God”. If we are Christians, then we should deny any words, behaviors or actions that are uncharacteristic of someone who is striving to be “like God” or “like Christ”. If we are striving to be Christ-like, then we will deny worldly lusts. As it says 1 John 2:15-17, we will not love the world or things of the world. If we do, then we don’t have the love of the Father in us. Then we are told the three worldly lusts that all sin falls under, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Every sin can be put under one of these three categories and all sin is ungodliness. The bottom line is that if we are continually giving in to worldly lusts, then we are ungodly. If we strive to deny these things, then we will be able to have the kind of life that God wants for us, a good and healthy life, with the ultimate reward at the end of it. Obviously, we will slip up and make mistakes but God will know our hearts, and He will know that we are striving to give Him our best effort. I used some verses from Romans 6 in part 2 of this series to show that we can’t abuse God’s grace. If we look at Romans 6:12-13, we can see that these verses tie in well with the verses in Titus about denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” (Romans 6:12-13) Remember verses 3 and 4 of this same chapter, baptism into death, to newness of life? Sin is supposed to be dead in us and grace should be alive in us after our baptism into Christ. I really love this entire chapter of Romans. I feel a series coming on this in the future! Notice the word “reign” in verse 12. Sin should not “reign” or rule over us. Making a mistake every now and then, because of human weakness, is not the same as letting sin “reign” in us or have control over us. God’s grace will not abide in us if sin reigns in our mortal bodies.
So…..if we are in Christ, and we deny ourselves these things, then we will live the way God wants us to live, soberly, righteously and godly in this present age. I find it interesting that the Bible uses the word “soberly” here. Some versions I have read use the word sensibly which means having self control. This is referring to keeping our mind sharp and clear. It is also a direct reference to the abuse of alcohol or drugs. We can’t have a sensible or right mind for God if we abuse substances or use them as coping mechanisms instead of turning to God. And….. if we drink socially as a Christian, we could be complicit in helping cause someone to stumble who has a serious problem with alcohol. Romans 14:13 says for us to resolve not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way. To resolve to do something means to set a firm course of action. It is a decision made ahead of time to prepare our minds to either do something or not do something. We never know who we are influencing around us. Let’s always keep in mind that we are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. We are to show Christ to the world. We may be the only window through which some will ever see Christ and see how to live the Christian life. This is why Paul put emphasis on living soberly. There is no righteousness or godliness if we are not living a sober lifestyle. Of course living righteously and godly goes right along with living soberly. Let’s never forget our purpose is to show others the way to heaven through the way we live.
What does grace teach us to look or wait for? Verse 13 tells us that as we live the Christian life, we are to be looking for our blessed hope, which is Jesus Christ who gave His life for us. We are waiting for Him to come back and take us to our heavenly home. Through grace, we have that hope if we are in Jesus. Verse 14 is a beautiful verse because it reminds us to always look back at the cross and remember why we have the hope that we have. It also reminds us of why Jesus did what He did, “that He might redeem us from every lawless deed”. And again, here is grace. Grace is what redeems us. The next part of verse 14 says that He redeems us so that He can “purify for Himself His own special people”. We are His special people if we are in Christ and living soberly, righteously and godly in this present age of 2023. How cool is that? To be Jesus’ own special people! Let that sink in! And for good measure, Paul added one more phrase to verse 14. Jesus wants us, His special people, to be zealous of good works. He wants us to take every opportunity that we can to do good unto all men, especially to those of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:10) Paul told the Christians at the church at Ephesus these words, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) We were created for good works when we were baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. God’s awesome grace toward us should make us want to live the best Christian life we can possibly live, which would include being zealous for good works. Some synonyms for zealous: enthusiastic, eager, fervent, intense, passionate, and dedicated. Let those words sink in for a minute. We are all passionate about our families, especially our precious children. We may be passionate about a lot of worldly things such as, sports, music, movies, books, and these are just a few of the things I enjoy. Everyone has different interests and hobbies. But none of these should surpass the zeal and passion that we should have for God, His Son, His Word, and His Church. If we keep these things as our number one passion, then everything will fall into place and we will be free, because we will 100 percent know that God’s grace is with us, even when we fall short at times.
So now as I end this post and this series on grace, I ask myself, “Am I zealous for good works for God? Am I zealous for the cause of Christ? Am I zealous about saving the lost?” Because being zealous directly correlates with Jesus showing us grace and purifying us as His own special people. That is the challenge for us this week. Let’s all work on our zeal for God and His purpose. I promise you that getting in God’s word more will help us gain more zeal for Him. I hope this post helps us also. It has certainly helped me to write it. Every post is written to myself and is something I need to work on in my life. Thank you all so much for reading my blog!! I appreciate all of you so much!!
If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)
Spiritual Food for Women 