Category: God’s will

The Counsel of the LORD Shall Stand

Monday, November 12, 2012

“There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand” (Proverbs 19:21 KJV).

No matter what mankind has done, is doing, or will do, God’s “eternal purpose” will still be accomplished.

Christians disturbed by the results of the recent United States’ presidential election, are voicing their concerns. Some fear God’s impending judgment, while others believe those election results were “God’s decision.” “What saith the scriptures?”

Did God really foreordain the president-elect from eternity past, as claimed? We think not. American voters went to the poll. God gave voters the ability to choose who they wanted, and they did. There is nothing in the Bible to suggest that God chose our leaders today. God has merely “ordained” the offices and authority (“powers”) of government, not the people occupying and exercising them (Romans 13:1,2).

Will God judge America for its wickedness? Of course, according to Romans 2:6-11, but not in this the Dispensation of Grace. Today, God is extending to us through Christ’s finished crosswork His grace, His mercy, His love, and His kindness. God is not imputing the world’s trespasses unto it (2 Corinthians 5:19-21)… yet.

For the last 6,000 years, God has let mankind “do his own thing.” Mankind has devised his own way of life, his own beliefs, and his own rules (just as today’s Scripture declares). But, there is pleasure in sin only for a season (Hebrews 11:25b). This current arrangement of autonomous man ruling earth will persist only until Jesus Christ returns at His Second Coming to restore earth’s governments unto Himself (Revelation 11:15; Revelation 19:11-16).

“The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought [nothing]: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect” (Psalm 33:10).

What has God planned from eternity past, despite what mankind “devises” he will do? God is determined to glorify His Son, Jesus Christ, in two realms, heaven and earth (Ephesians 1:9,10), using two agencies, the Church the Body of Christ, and the nation Israel, respectively (Colossians 1:16-20). When our dispensation closes, God will begin to execute that plan. That is the “counsel of the LORD,” and that shall stand! 🙂

Why Am I Here?

Sunday, October 14, 2012

“For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:18 KJV).

Although philosophers and religious “scholars” still stumble over the age-old question, “Why am I here?,” God’s Word settled the matter long ago.

Creation is not the result of some random, mindless, cosmic explosion billions of years ago, as scientists often tout. Our universe exists with “divine design in mind”—this is particularly true of Earth. Today’s Scripture explains that, in addition to creating the heavens (outer space), God also created planet earth “not in vain.” God had a special purpose for Earth. It is no accident that mankind lives here, as opposed to other celestial bodies.

We exist because the triune Godhead (God the Father, God the Son [Jesus Christ], and God the Holy Spirit) wanted to share with us the love and fellowship they shared with each other before creation (John 17:5,24). In the person of Jesus Christ, the triune Godhead would manifest itself to mankind, a unique race of creatures whom the Godhead appointed to rule over Earth (Genesis 1:26-28). But, why Earth?

When God placed the first man, Adam, on earth, God was preparing to establish His kingdom on earth (Matthew 25:34), where He Himself would live with mankind: “For the LORD hath chosen Zion [in Jerusalem]; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it” (Psalm 132:13,14). Unfortunately, Adam sinned, postponing that earthly kingdom for 6,000 years now. God formed Earth, not to simply give us a home, but to one day make Himself a home (Christ’s Millennial Reign on earth). “He formed it to be inhabited”… by Himself! Amazing!

Friends, we are not accidents. We exist for God’s glory, not for our own glory. God wants us our faith, our trust, to rest in His Holy Word, the King James Bible, the record of how He paid for our sins, and thus restored His fallen creation unto Himself.

333’s 500th: Grace Publishers

Friday, October 12, 2012

“The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it” (Psalm 68:11 KJV).

Saints, by God’s grace, 333 Words of Grace reaches yet another milestone!

For the past 500 days, I truly have been honored to teach God’s perfectly preserved Word (the King James Bible) rightly divided, to you all. Our goal from the very beginning was to provide free, quality, sound, brief devotionals to anyone who had an open heart, so that he or she could be edified, encouraged, and enlightened by God’s Word rightly divided.

How we desired to “have all men saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3,4). How we shared God’s desire “to make all men see the fellowship of the mystery” (Ephesians 3:9), to proclaim the precious and clear Bible truths that, sadly, religious tradition has deliberately muddled and hidden. Our goal was to demonstrate that the King James Bible is interesting and practical, intricately designed and divinely preserved, trustworthy and majesty. How we praise the Lord that He accomplished His will!

God is doing something so fantastic in this the Dispensation of His Grace, and as members of the Body of Christ, we are privileged to teach and preach His wonderful grace to us in Jesus Christ as found in His preserved Word, and preserved words, the King James Bible. With humble and thankful hearts, as the Lord gives us strength, we will continue to minister to you here in this venue.

Saints, by God’s grace and faithfulness, and with your prayerful support, we now aim for 1000. We will continue to hope, pray, study, and write, with the intention of further “publishing” God’s Word in a clear, sound manner—dispensationally studied, believed, and taught. My, how we have come such a long, long way, but we have much more from God’s Word to “publish.” Only by God’s grace, our next 500 devotionals will be even better, covering an even greater variety of topics. We do ask for your prayers, as we now have 800 new devotionals planned and begun.

Thank you, and please remember that all of our posts are archived here at https://333wordsofgrace.wordpress.com. 🙂

The Remaining Two-Thirds

Saturday, September 29, 2012

“Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work” (John 4:34 KJV).

On average, you will spend one-third of your life sleeping. Of what will the remaining two-thirds of your earthly life consist?

In the context of today’s Scripture, it is noontime, and Jesus is tired from traveling, so He rests in Samaria by sitting on Jacob’s well (verses 5,6). His disciples have gone into nearby Sychar to buy food, and while He waits for their return, He speaks with a Samaritan woman who comes to draw water from the well (verses 7-26). (The Samaritans are not full-blooded Jews, so they and Israel usually do not associate with each other; see verse 9.)

As their conversation proceeds, the Samaritan woman learns that Jesus is Israel’s Messiah (verses 25,26). She quickly goes to the city to tell them of Jesus, and she comes back to Jesus with additional Samaritans (verses 28-30). Before they come to Jesus, His disciples finally return, and urge Him to eat (verse 31). The Lord replies, “I have meat to eat that ye know not of” (verse 32). His disciples then ask in verse 33: “Hath any man brought him aught to eat?”

Today’s Scripture is our Lord’s answer. The very thing for which He lives is not physical food: “My meat is to do the will of him [God the Father] that sent me, and to finish His work.” Our Lord has in mind the salvation of these Samaritans: “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest” (verse 35). Essentially, He is saying, “Look at the harvest of those souls!” (cf. Matthew 9:36,37). Later, many Samaritans believe on Christ, and He dwells with them two days (verses 39-43).

Saints, our Lord was consumed with fulfilling the work to which His heavenly Father had appointed Him. Can we say that about the remaining two-thirds of our lives? Are we walking by faith in Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, allowing God to fulfill His will in us? Or, are we spiritually sleeping, doing nothing (Ephesians 5:14)?

My Kingdom is Not of This World? #2

Monday, September 24, 2012

“Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence” (John 18:36 KJV).

What did Jesus mean when He spoke today’s Scripture?

Today’s Scripture is often misconstrued to deny a literal, physical, visible reign of Christ on earth. Because Jesus Christ is not literally, physically, and visibly ruling on earth today, it is assumed the kingdom spoken of in the Old Testament and Four Gospels was an invisible, spiritual kingdom. This belief is without merit.

The apostles inquired in Acts 1:6: “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” What type of kingdom did Israel have? A literal, physical, visible kingdom! The apostles are asking if Christ at that time would “restore again” Israel to her glorious kingdom days, especially those of Kings David and Solomon. They were obviously speaking of a literal, physical, visible kingdom.

In the book of the Revelation, which is still unfulfilled, we read of voices in heaven saying: “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” (11:15). (Here is when Luke 1:33 will be fulfilled.) What kingdoms exist in the world? Invisible, spiritual kingdoms? No, they are literal, physical, visible kingdoms, and, at His Second Coming, Jesus Christ will reign over them all. “And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one” (Zechariah 14:9).

When Jesus Christ, in today’s Scripture, admitted His kingdom was “not of this world,” He was not implying that it was spiritual and/or invisible. Actually, He meant that His kingdom is separate and distinct from the system upon which the world’s governments of Pilate’s time (and even those of today) are built. It will be a kingdom that God Himself, not some mortal man, will establish and administrate, a glorious monarchy in which God’s will shall always be accomplished on earth.

A Perpetual Marriage

Friday, September 21, 2012

“And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD” (Hosea 2:19,20 KJV).

The nation Israel is engaged to the LORD, but the wedding is postponed….

In the context of today’s Scripture, the LORD is sending the prophet Hosea, who preached circa 785–725 B.C., to warn Israel of His impending judgment. “For [Israel] hath committed great whoredom, in departing from the LORD” (Hosea 1:2). Pagan idol worship abounds in Israel, and it has for centuries. Spiritually, Israel is “playing the harlot” (Hosea 2:5): she was the LORD’s wife, but now she is an adulterous wife by worshipping other gods.

God’s wrath came on apostate Israel! Eventually, the Assyrians captured and deported Israel’s ten northern tribes (722 B.C.), and the Babylonians captured and deported Israel’s two southern tribes (606–586 B.C.). From the time of these deportations to our present-day, the Jews are scattered worldwide, still waiting for their Messiah to come the first time and rescue them (sadly, they are blinded, unaware that their Messiah, Jesus, came 2,000 years ago).

But today’s Scripture is a gleam of hope for Israel: after God would judge her, He would restore her to Himself (Christ’s Second Coming to establish Israel’s kingdom). After our Dispensation of Grace ends (rapture), God will return to dealing with Israel, and she will be saved (Romans 11:25-29; cf. Hosea 2:23). Peter writes to future Israel: “which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God…” (1 Peter 2:10). Had God not interrupted Israel’s program with our dispensation, Israel would already be married to the LORD!

Israel was unfaithful to God, but never has God been unfaithful to Israel. At Christ’s Second Coming, He will fulfill His promise (today’s Scripture) to Israel. Via the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:8-13), Israel will be rejoined to the LORD, forgiven of all her sins. She will be married to the LORD forever, living with Him in her Promised Land forever (Isaiah chapters 61 and 62). Wow!

The Flesh Straineth, Christ’s Love Constraineth #8

Monday, September 17, 2012

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15 KJV).

We would do well to memorize, meditate on, and believe today’s Scripture, a wonderful encapsulation of the Christian life.

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate [hinder, disrupt] the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” (Galatians 2:20,21). We could not achieve righteousness (salvation) by our performance, and we cannot achieve righteousness (godly living) by our performance. If our performance was ever the issue (for salvation or godly living), “Christ is dead in vain [is (present tense) dead for nothing].”

Our Christian lives are really Christ’s life! “Christ liveth in me.” We live by His faithfulness, by His performance working in us. Compare “the Son of God… who loved me, and gave himself for me” with today’s Scripture: “the love of Christ constraineth [motivates] us… [Christ] died for all… [Christ] died for all… [Christ] died for them.”

God’s grace—everything that He has done for us on Calvary’s cross—teaches us: “Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly [responsibly], righteously [acceptable to God], and godly [reflecting God’s values]” (Titus 2:11,12).

We who have trusted Christ are “new creatures in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our lives should reflect this new position/identity. God died to save us from our sins, so why should we return to them? We should let Christ Jesus live His life in and through us, “to prove that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2). We do this by placing our faith in this sound Bible doctrine, which God uses to transform our minds, and then our lives!

“The flesh (always) straineth, Christ’s love (always) constraineth….”

*The past eight devotionals have been combined and expanded to form a larger Bible study with the same name, which can be read here or watched here.

The Flesh Straineth, Christ’s Love Constraineth #7

Sunday, September 16, 2012

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15 KJV).

We would do well to memorize, meditate on, and believe today’s Scripture, a wonderful encapsulation of the Christian life.

As people who have trusted Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection alone as sufficient payment for our sins, Christ’s righteousness—His perfect performance—has been applied to our account (imputation). We have a right standing before God (justification): “we [have been] made the righteousness of God in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21). We Christians need not strain to perform in religion, seeking God’s favor and acceptance. God already accepts us in Christ, because of what He did for us on Calvary’s cross! “God hath made us accepted in the beloved [Jesus Christ]” (Ephesians 1:6).

We are not under the Mosaic Law (Romans 6:14,15), but God still cares how we live. Once we understand and rest in God’s great love for us (His sacrifice of His Son on our behalf), it transforms our thinking (today’s Scripture). Since God loves us so much, we Christians should not selfishly live our lives, doing whatever we want. We should, by faith, offer our lives to Him so He can accomplish His will in and through us. As one Christian brother says, “Jesus Christ gave His life for us, so He could give His life to us when we trust Him alone, so He could live His life through us when we trust Him alone!”

Our Christian service is us studying and believing sound Pauline Bible doctrine, and then us letting the indwelling Holy Spirit use that doctrine to work in us (1 Thessalonians 2:13) to generate “the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, unto the praise and glory of God” (Philippians 1:11). These “fruits of righteousness” are Christ living His live in us, conforming our lifestyles to our position in Him.

“The flesh straineth, Christ’s love constraineth….”

The Great LORD God #4

Friday, September 7, 2012

“Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears” (2 Samuel 7:22 KJV).

As King David of old praised his LORD God, so do we!

David rightly understood that his God, the God of Israel, was incomparable, Someone who could do and did “great things and terrible [so wonderful that they caused terror!]” (verse 23). David knew that God was forming the nation Israel, a special people separate from the Gentile (non-Jewish) world. God had “redeemed to [Himself] [Israel] from Egypt, from the nations and their gods” (verse 23). The nations’ “gods” were nothing but idols of wood and stone, but Israel’s God, JEHOVAH, was supreme, and David in today’s Scripture praised the great LORD God because He was the great LORD God.

But God, long after David had passed away, would do something else, something just as “great and terrible [awesome]” as forming the nation Israel. Now that God has revealed the mystery program through the Apostle Paul’s ministry, we better understand God’s will than David did. Not only would God redeem a people, Israel, from the pagan Gentiles, He would redeem a second group of people from the pagan Gentiles—us, the Church the Body of Christ—who would do in the heavenly places what Israel would do on earth.

God has two “peculiar” people in His Word: the nation Israel (His earthly people) and the Church the Body of Christ (His heavenly people). “…[T]ell the children of 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”(Exodus 19:3,5). Regarding us, the Body of Christ: “…[T]he great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:13b,14).

Who could devise such an unfathomable plan for the earth and the heaven? We join David in saying, “Only the great LORD God….”

Diligent Versus Slothful

Monday, September 3, 2012

“The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious” (Proverbs 12:27 KJV).

Today, we in the United States celebrate Labor Day, a day to remember our hard-working citizens.

Beloved, when God placed the first man, Adam, on earth, Adam was not to loaf around, doing nothing: “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Adam was to cultivate the land (that is, be a farmer and a caretaker, to prepare it so God could come down and dwell with the human race on earth). Originally, Adam’s work was easy, but once sin entered, farming grew more difficult, even as it is to this day (see Genesis 3:17-19).

The book of Proverbs (12:24; 15:19; 18:9; 19:15,24; 21:25; 22:13; 24:30; 26:13-15) says much about slothfulness, or laziness. “Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle [motionless] soul shall suffer hunger” (19:15). Proverbs 26:14 provides an amusing, vivid description: “As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed.” The only movement the door and the slothful make is rotating about a permanently fixed point: some hinges and a mattress, respectively.

In today’s Scripture, we read about the “slothful man” who relies on someone else to hunt game to provide his food, and the “diligent man” who works hard to obtain his own “substance” (possessions, wealth). What a contrast! Proverbs 13:4 amplifies: “The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat [prosperous].” And Proverbs 21:25 expounds further: “The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.”

According to 1 Thessalonians 4:11,12 and 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15, the Apostle Paul rebuked lazy members of the Body of Christ. Ephesians 4:28 concludes: “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.”

Saints, let us not be lazy, for God’s Word says working is a “good thing!” 🙂