Category: God’s kindness

God’s Family #7

Friday, February 7, 2014

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19 KJV).

How enjoyable it is to fellowship with other members of God’s family!

In the future, we, the Church the Body of Christ will accomplish God’s will for the heavenly places: “And [God] hath raised us up [ascended] together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (verses 6,7). God already considers us Christians as though we were in heaven now!

Why are we Christians still on earth? Why did God not take us to heaven the moment we trusted Christ? Until this the Dispensation of Grace closes, a portion of the Body of Christ must remain on earth in order to evangelize, to teach the lost world the Gospel of God’s Grace, and then, after unbelievers are saved, to see them mature in sound Bible doctrine. When no one else wants to trust Jesus Christ alone as personal Saviour, the Body of Christ will be completed, and the Christians remaining on earth will be taken up into the air, to meet the Lord Jesus Christ and to reunite with their brothers and sisters in Christ (now resurrected bodily) (1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

When all members of the Church the Body of Christ are assembled in heaven, Ephesians 1:22,23 explains: “And [God] hath put all things [the governments of heaven] under his [Jesus Christ’s] feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” All the offices of heaven’s government that Satan and his angels have polluted, will be purged (Revelation 12:7-12), and we will be installed in those positions of government (cf. Colossians 1:16-20)!

Via us, God will fill all of heaven with the life of His Son, Jesus Christ, and it will truly be a family enterprise, one that will literally transcend the endless ages to come!

NOTE: A companion (albeit, advanced) devotionals arc is “in the works,” and should be published soon! Stay tuned!

A Holy Nation #11

Thursday, January 30, 2014

“For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45 KJV).

Today’s Scripture summarizes a book most burdensome to many.

When resurrected and ascended Jesus Christ returns to earth (His Second Coming), to Israel, the people who killed Him 2,000 years ago, He will forgive them and make them a “holy nation,” a nation they could never be in their own strength (today’s Scripture).

“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

Hebrews 8:13 affirms, “In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”

We read of Israel’s future in 1 Peter 2:9,10: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”

Israel will then be a “holy nation,” not because of her obedience, but only because of JEHOVAH’S grace….

A Holy Nation #2

Tuesday, January 21, 2013

“For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45 KJV).

Today’s Scripture summarizes a book most burdensome to many.

Atheists, Bible skeptics, and agnostics frequently ridicule the Bible because of the “cruel” God of its Old Testament, His strict laws and merciless chastisements. (Evidently, they seem to miss Old Testament passages such as Exodus 34:6,7: “The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin….”)

Once JEHOVAH delivered Israel from Egypt, He immediately gave the Jews a series of three tests. The Bible says, “He proved [tested, evaluated] them” (Exodus 15:25)—the bitter water He made potable for them. Again, “…That I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no” (Exodus 16:4)—the manna He gave them to eat. In chapter 17, He miraculously gave them water to drink. Still, they complained constantly, and Moses became increasingly irritated with them. Within those three chapters, the Bible makes reference to ungrateful Israel’s “murmuring” some ten times. And God heard every complaint those two million Jews made… and provided for them anyway!

Sinful Israel demonstrated that she could not follow God’s directions. The Jews doubted God’s provisions (they said they preferred returning to Egyptian bondage, according to Exodus 16:3!), and when He did provide for them, they disobeyed His instructions when collecting the manna (Exodus 16:16-20, but especially 25-28). They “tempted” (or, irreverently challenged) Him to see what He would do when they lacked potable water in Exodus 17:1-4.

After all this, about two or three months after deliverance from Egypt, in Exodus 19:5,6, God instructed Moses to tell Israel, “If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” God is now offering to make Israel’s blessings contingent upon her performance.

Let us see what Israel will decide….

The Misunderstood Messiah #5

Monday, December 30, 2013

“Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God” (John 8:41 KJV).

Did you ever notice the magnitude of the insult put forth toward Jesus Christ in today’s Scripture?

Once Christ replied with sound doctrine (verses 42-47), Israel’s religious leaders simply resorted to name-calling again (verse 48): “Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?” A Samaritan was half-Jew/half-Gentile, and “the Jews [had] no dealings with the Samaritans” (John 4:9). Notice Jesus was insulted twice more—they called Him a “Samaritan” and “devil possessed.” Throughout the rest of John chapter 8, Israel’s religious leaders continue arguing with Jesus and nearly stone Him to death (verse 59)!

Why did Jesus not simply “zap” these religionists and instantly throw them into hellfire? They belittled and blasphemed Him several times in this one account, and then attempted to murder Him, but rather than Jesus killing them with His spoken word (which would have been justified), He only conversed with them. Why?

Remember, when the Apostles James and John saw how the Samaritans refused to accommodate Jesus, they asked Him if He wanted them to call down fire from heaven and consume those sinners, He replied, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:55,56). This First Coming of Christ was His “meek and lowly” coming: He did not come to judge man’s sins, but to die for them!

Even today, God is still not pouring out His wrath on wicked mankind (2 Corinthians 5:19), creatures who still snicker at Jesus Christ, deceive others in His name, persecute His saints, ignore His Word, and “rub His nose” in their sins. Lost mankind is wasting God’s grace and mercy that He is offering so freely. When His grace is finally exhausted, the undiluted wrath that has accumulated will finally be poured out (His Second Coming). May we trust Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour now so we have our sins forgiven now, lest we face that angry, righteous God in judgment (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9)!

Solved and Sentenced!

Monday, October 21, 2013

“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3 KJV).

From God’s perspective, there is no “cold” case.

“Cold cases” are decades-old crimes unsolved due to lack of witnesses and/or conclusive evidence. During the last 6,000 years, people have committed, and are still carrying out, very heinous deeds, causing their fellow man unimaginable suffering, and yet they go “unpunished” (for now). Oppressive politicians and ecclesiastical leaders who mercilessly torture, imprison, and execute anyone who opposes their “progress.” The clever “explanations” invented to cover-up the disappearances and deaths, and the downplaying of those crimes, make the bereaved cry out for justice.

Homicide victims unable to testify as to who murdered them, and elaborate schemes of corruption and cover-ups among authorities make justice seemingly impossible. Who will expose them and make things right? So many unanswered questions, doubts that never bring grieving family and friends any peace or sense of fairness. How will those deaths ever be avenged?

Saints, let us thank our God and Father that He sees every crime committed (today’s Scripture) and He is fair in meeting out punishment. As God’s judgment was about to fall on the pagan Neo-Assyrian capital Nineveh, the Prophet Nahum wrote: “The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked” (1:3). Like Nineveh of old, wicked (unbelieving) mankind has an appointment scheduled with the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will not be in a good mood (Revelation 20:11-15)!

God has been so longsuffering (patient) toward unbelieving and rebellious mankind especially these last 2,000 years, the Dispensation of Grace, but His justice will indeed be satisfied eventually (at the cross of Jesus Christ for believers’ sins, or in the everlasting lake of fire for everyone else’s sins). “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19; cf. Deuteronomy 32:35).

Dearly beloved, let us not be troubled regarding the injustices occurring all around the world, for we know that the only Witness whose testimony truly counts, is still a faithful Witness whose testimony will one day be heard and whose justice will one day be executed! 🙂

The Great Things The Lord Jesus Hath Done #5

Thursday, October 10, 2013

“And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel” (Mark 5:20 KJV).

Who is this man, and what “great things” hath the Lord Jesus done for him?

The devil-possessed Gadarene of today’s Scripture is a perfect picture of the nation Israel when her Messiah, Jesus, came to her, saying, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24; cf. Matthew 10:6).

This Gadarene has been possessed of devils for a long time, just as Israel has been in satanic captivity for centuries. The Gadarene lives out in the mountains and wilderness, just as Israel is “in the wilderness,” spiritually speaking—she has wandered far from JEHOVAH’S ways. Just as the devils have corrupted the Gadarene’s mind so he cannot think properly, so Satan has used apostate religious tradition to prevent Israel from having the mindset God had given to her through the Old Testament Scriptures.

As the Gadarene is physically naked, so Israel is destitute of God’s righteousness (spiritual clothing). One can neither tame the Gadarene nor “stiffnecked” Israel. The Gadarene prefers to live in and among tombs; Israel is content to physically live while remaining spiritually dead in her trespasses and sins.

The Gadarene screams, drawing attention to his devil-inspired lifestyle that led to ridicule, just as Israel’s sinful behavior grabbed the attention and generated mocking from the Gentiles. Neither the Gadarene nor the nation Israel can free themselves from Satan’s power. It is this very nation Israel for which Jesus Christ has come to die, so that He may give them a new life when He resurrects!

For a long time, the Gadarenes have heard of the wild man living nearby. No one can help him—humanly speaking, he literally is hopeless and helpless. The only Person who can deliver him from such a miserable existence is the one and the same Person who alone can save his nation… and this former miracle He will perform to demonstrate He can also accomplish the latter….

Where Was God? #5

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

“Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1 KJV).

One of the most common questions ever asked….

The psalmist, like many today, wonders and inquires of God’s whereabouts in times of trouble. Actually, Psalm 10 is a prayer of imprecation: it is the prayer of a believing Jew living during the (future) seven-year Tribulation, a prayer in which that believer is beseeching the Lord Jesus Christ to appear and judge the wicked who are severely oppressing and mercilessly executing His people, to avenge the deaths of His believing remnant in Israel.

Actually, the Apostle John, centuries later, elaborated: “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled” (Revelation 6:9-11).

Notice, in the future, the souls of the slain Tribulation saints will be in heaven, begging the Lord to no longer delay in avenging their deaths. Now we understand why the psalmist, still alive on earth, says what he does in today’s Scripture. Jesus Christ cannot come back and judge the earth in His righteous indignation until Satan’s evil world system has fully run its course.

Concerning us in this the Dispensation of Grace, Christ’s delay is advantageous to lost people. Jesus Christ Himself is truly the only hope planet earth has. Before He pours out His wrath and rids the world of Satan’s influence, He will continue to be “longsuffering” so people can escape that impending wrath by faith in Him (2 Peter 3:3-9,15,16). Jesus Christ is purposefully tarrying.

Until Jesus Christ returns to make every wrong right, God offers us a wealth of resources in Christ to cope….

Where Was God? #2

Sunday, September 15, 2013

“Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1 KJV).

One of the most common questions ever asked….

How in the world did the world ever get the way it is? Does God really care about us? If so, why does He not do anything to make it better? Or, as the deists claim, is God completely unconcerned with the universe He created? Will God ever intervene and set things right?

One of the most basic teachings of Scripture is the concept of sin and death. Wherever we find sin, we find death; wherever we find death, we find sin. “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a).

When the Lord Jesus Christ placed Adam on planet earth, He instructed Adam: “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16,17). Notice the word “freely,” as in, free will—God refused to have man be a robot. The Lord knew good and well that, by giving man these choices, there was the risk of Adam making the wrong decision.

Once God made Eve, Adam repeated God’s instructions to her. At this point, either Adam failed to properly communicate God’s Word to Eve, or Eve just did not remember God’s Word correctly. Whichever the case, the serpent (Satan) tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” (Genesis 3:6). The Bible says Eve was “deceived,” but Scripture also says Adam knew exactly what he was doing (1 Timothy 2:11-15).

Again, God knew full well what would happen. He watched the fall of man occur in the Garden of Eden, and did not prevent it. Man had to choose, and choose he did….

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In the Palm of Thy Hand

Sunday, August 25, 2013

“Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way” (Psalm 119:128 KJV).

Join the psalmist in esteeming the “precepts” of God preserved for thee in a Book that thou canst hold in the palm of thy hand….

The concept of our Creator God, Jesus Christ, is quite overwhelming. He is such a BIG God concerned about us, such tiny creatures who do everything we can to push Him and His will aside in favor of a “more intelligent” plan. To think that He would even bother to give His Word that was first preserved in heaven (Psalm 119:89) and form it into a book of human language that we could hold in our hands and study and read for ourselves, knowing full well the textual critics and denominationalists would immediately butcher it with their vain translational and hermeneutical methods, that they would greatly “wrest” (twist, corrupt) His Word. They have set themselves up for the day when they will stand before Him and be held accountable for their foolishness!

In today’s Scripture, the psalmist confessed: “Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.” A “precept” is “a general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought.” In the verse previous, he declared: “Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold” (verse 127). Do we “esteem all [God’s] precepts concerning all things to be right,” or just the parts of Scripture that bolster our denominational system? Do we love God’s Word “above gold, above fine gold?”

Dear readers, may we never take our King James Bible for granted. History testifies to the fact that countless souls died to give us those precious and preserved Words of God. They did not die in vain, so let us not relinquish that golden text in favor of the feeble, tarnished hallucinations of seminarians, Bible skeptics, and others who rely on human wisdom to govern their worldview (the “false way” of today’s Scripture). May we “esteem” the Word in the palm of our hand, and value it in our hearts by believing it! 🙂

Israel, Stand Still! #11

Friday, July 19, 2013

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10 KJV).

Israel must stand still and do nothing in order to see her God work mightily on her behalf!

God’s nation in the earth, Israel, was ruined. For over 15 centuries, she repeatedly broke His covenant with her by ignoring His laws, especially by worshipping pagan idols (Judges 2:10-20; 1 Kings 11:1-43; 2 Chronicles 36:14-21; Nehemiah 9:6-38; Isaiah 40:18-20; Jeremiah 44:1-30; Ezekiel 5:5-17; Daniel 9:3-19; Hosea 2:2-9; Malachi 2:1-17; et al.). Legally, she could not be God’s people, for she was now under Satan’s control.

And so, God’s plan, devised in eternity past, was implemented. The Scriptures unfolded that plan over a period of centuries. The seed of the woman promised in Genesis 3:15, man’s Redeemer, became the seed of Abraham, the seed of Isaac, the seed of Jacob, and the seed of David. That seed is Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:16), God manifest in human flesh (John 1:1,14), the fulfiller of the Abrahamic Covenant, and the means whereby salvation would flow through Israel to the Gentiles.

That Messiah-Redeemer Jesus would save Israel from her sins first (Matthew 1:21). Then, and only then, those redeemed Jews would bring salvation to the Gentiles (Exodus 19:3-6; Isaiah 61:6; Zechariah 8:20-23; et cetera). When Jesus Christ offered Himself to Israel as their King, they demanded His crucifixion: “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:14,15; Acts 3:13). (Without Israel’s cooperation, how would salvation go to the Gentiles now? God’s solution to that dilemma was to raise up Saul of Tarsus and make him Paul the Apostle sent to us Gentiles without Israel [Romans 11:11-13]).

JEHOVAH God the Son let them nail Him to that awful cross of Calvary, and His blood poured out. Without that shed blood of Jesus Christ, Israel (and actually, all people) would be hopelessly lost forever. Little did Israel know, that by killing their Messiah, He could then save them with that shed blood—that was God’s wise plan all along! Israel could now be saved by that marvelous work He did for them (and us) at Calvary….