GOD IS WAITING FOR YOU

 

Ps. 8:3-5  When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you have set in place—what are mortals that you should think of us, mere humans that you should care for us?  For you made us only a little lower than God, and you crowned us with glory and honor.

     Have you ever wondered why the Lord even bothers with us?  I know I have.  Mankind started out so well, living in close fellowship with God day and night.  Then, because God gave man the freedom of choice, sin entered into the heart of man.  From that day on, man has tried the patience of God.  God time after time sought to bring man back into fellowship with himself, but man stubbornly rejected Him.  Mankind has throughout history displayed horrendous evil.  Yet, God has not destroyed us. 

     We are still here only because of God's love for us.  He longs for fellowship with the human soul.  Mankind is the only part of all creation that has a soul.  We alone can have fellowship with God.  God made us special so that we can enjoy each other's company forever and ever.  We are the crowning glory of all that He has created.

     There is no other explanation as to why God has not put an end to life as we know it.  He loves us and longs to save us from our sins so that we can spend eternity with Him.  He is allowing us to hang around so that more and more of us can be saved.  His love for us compels Him to wait a little bit longer, until all who can be saved will be saved.

     You are very special to God.  He made you just as you are, in His own image.  He made you for himself.  He loves you and longs for your love and fellowship.  He is very patient and will wait as long as He possibly can for you to be right with Him.  How about it?  Is your heart right with God today?  Just remember, we don't know how far God's patience with us will take Him.  It may run out very soon; it could be even today.  

LEAD ME, O LORD

 

Ps. 5:8  Lead me in the right path, O LORD, or my enemies will conquer me.  Tell me clearly what to do, and show me which way to turn.

     This is a prayer the Lord will answer every time in a positive way.  He will never say no to this type of a prayer.  The Lord wants us to walk on the right path, the path that leads us to God.  This path is often a difficult one and is not traveled by most.  It is a path that often times is obscured so that we can’t see very far ahead of us.  On this path we must rely heavily on the Lord to help us stay on it.  We have to take one step at a time so we don’t stumble and fall.  We have to be determined to stay on it and keep ourselves in good shape so we don’t give up when things get difficult, and they will.  This path is not for the weak or faint of heart; they simply will not persevere.  The Lord will do for us what we cannot do.  He will keep us on track, if we let Him.

     The Lord is our navigator.  We must always seek Him for guidance.  He will never leave us in the dark.  He will show us clearly what we should be doing and how to get to where we are going.  He knows the way home, for He is the way and has already blazed the trail for us.  As long as we let Him lead us, we won’t make wrong turns and wander away from God.

     Always remember this, whenever we strike out on our own we will make wrong turns.  And every wrong turn we take leads us into the wilderness where we will lose our way.  We cannot stay in clear view of Christ when we wander away from Him and strike out on our own.

      In order to stay on the path that leads to God, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our salvation.

THE RIGHT PATH

 

Ps. 5:8  Lead me in the right path, O LORD, or my enemies will conquer me.  Tell me clearly what to do, and show me which way to turn.

     There are many paths in life to travel on; yet, there is only one right path.  The path that leads to God is not a well-worn path.  While all other paths are well-traveled and often overcrowded, the pathway to God is traveled on by so few.  All paths that are well-traveled lead the soul away from God.  All who travel on those paths are enemies of the soul.

    In order to stay on the path that leads to God, we must be open to the Lord's instructions.  We must constantly seek direction from Him.  There are many detours along the way and if we aren't careful, we can easily get on the wrong path.  Sometimes we can get derailed and find our way back, but only with great difficulty.  Taking the wrong path slows us down and keeps us from reaching our destination.  We must stay on the right path if we are going to be successful in making it home. 

    Jesus is the right path.  There is no other way to make it to heaven.  As long as we stay focused on Him, we won't get on the wrong path.  We must let Him lead the way.  If we lag too far behind Him, we will get lost.  If we try to get ahead of Him, we will get lost.  If we don't take His leadership seriously, we will get lost.  Only when we stay in step with the Lord and follow Him will we make it.

   We run into so many problems when we follow Him reluctantly.  We want to compete with Him for control of our lives.  We want to follow Him, but we want to do it our way.  We do not want Him to be our Lord.  For many of us, letting Him be our Savior is good enough.  But, it is never good enough.  If Jesus is not Lord, trying to follow Him is always a very difficult thing to do.  We stumble and fall frequently; often getting battered and bruised in the process.  We may eventually make it home, but if we do, it will be a very painful and difficult journey.  There will be very little enjoyment along the way with very few victories to celebrate.

    Letting Jesus be the Lord of our journey changes everything.  As our Lord, Jesus makes the journey home a joyous one.  There is a peace and rest for the soul that can be found nowhere else.  There is confidence and boldness in the steps we take.  There is certainty in our steps as we keep our eyes focused on Him.  Life is good for those who let Jesus be both their Savior and Lord.

PRIDE BEFORE GOD

 

Ps. 5:4,5  O God, you take no pleasure in wickedness; you cannot tolerate the slightest sin.  Therefore, the proud will not be allowed to stand in your presence, for you hate all who do evil.

     Hear ye!  Hear ye!  Here is a message we must all hear.  God takes no pleasure in wickedness.  If you do evil, the Lord notices and is not pleased with you.  The Lord our God is holy and cannot tolerate the slightest sin.  We must understand this essential truth.  We tolerate sin, but the Lord cannot, and will not, tolerate it in any form.  All sin must be dealt with if we are going to be able to have fellowship with God, both now and forever.  We cannot ignore our sin and expect God to be pleased with us.  Grace does not excuse us.  We are accountable to God for whatever sin we do.  We must deal with our sin before God or God will deal with us.

    Pride is evidence of self-righteousness.  All who are content with who or what they are before God will not be allowed to stand in God's presence.  Only those who are humble before God have any standing with Him.  We must recognize our lack of holiness and humbly come before Him with broken hearts.  We must confess our sins before Him.  We must be clothed in the righteousness of Christ.  We must never strive to approach God on our own.  We must have Jesus as our mediator.  He must stand between God and us.  We must immerse ourselves in the holiness of Christ.  Then and only then, will we be found acceptable to God.

    Listen to me, dear friend.  God hates all who do evil.  These are strong words, but oh so true.  Be careful how you live.  Do not take sin lightly.  It does matter to God what you do and say.  All sin must be washed in the blood of Calvary or you will be treated as an enemy of God.  We must wake up to this sobering truth.  Holiness never goes out of style.  We must always strive to be holy because God is holy.

    Stand guard over your soul and keep it pure before God.  Eternity is at stake.

GOD HATES SIN

 

Ps. 5:4,5  O God, you take no pleasure in wickedness; you cannot tolerate the slightest sin.  Therefore, the proud will not be allowed to stand in your presence, for you hate all who do evil.

     We must hear this message from God!  God does not tolerate the slightest sin.  Stop right here and chew this over in your mind.  Not even the slightest of sins is acceptable to God.  There is no leeway here for even the slightest of our sins. God is absolutely holy and He will not allow any sin whatsoever in His presence.  He cannot, otherwise He would cease to be worthy of our devotion.

     We tolerate sin, don’t we?  Be honest.  Take a look at yourself in light of God’s holiness.  How close are you to being sin free?  Do you ALWAYS act and think in godly ways?  Can you say that you have no tolerance for sin in your life?  No one can.  We are all sinners.

     We like to indulge in sin, otherwise we wouldn’t do it.  If sin was detestable to us, we would not do it.  Period.  We are weak in character and sometimes feed our sinful desires.  Yes, we do.  We watch sin depicted in movies and on TV, we read about sinful activity in books and magazines, we listen to sinful lyrics because we like the beat of music, we tolerate sin in our favorite shows, we gaze upon others with sinful thoughts, etc.  Instead of avoiding sin, we tolerate it for our own entertainment and pleasure.  If you say it isn’t so, you are in total denial.  God says we sin.  But the good news is that Jesus died for our sins.

     We don’t have to sin when we are in Christ.  Instead of it happening because it is the natural thing for us to do, we do it unnaturally.  We are given the ability to say no to sin.  We can resist temptation when it confronts us.  We won’t always do it, but the Spirit of Christ is there to urge us to do it and sometimes we do.  We are able to not feed our sinful desires.  In our weaknesses we can be strong through Him who is able to deliver us.  He who lives humbly before God will be allowed into God’s presence because He relies upon Jesus to make him holy.

     Just one final thought for today.  Living in Christ does not excuse us from our sins.  His blood applied to our souls does not allow us to sin against God.  Sin is an abomination to God and will not be tolerated.  He knows our hearts and whether or not we are trying not to sin.  If we live in sin thinking God’s grace will allow it, we will have a rude awakening when we face God and have to give an account for it.  It is a mockery and blasphemy to use God’s grace as a license to sin.

WAIT WHEN YOU PRAY

 

Ps. 5:3 Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

     First, in order for the Lord to listen to us, we have to speak and then wait. Our hearts must reach out to Him with a desire for His voice to speak to us. I suspect that one of the reasons why so many prayers go unanswered is that we don’t have a real desire to hear His voice. We go through the motions of prayer without giving much thought to waiting for God to speak. Prayer is not a one way conversation.

     What better way to start a new day than to spend it in fellowship with the Lord? Fellowship is lingering in the presence of God. It is waiting with expectation that God will answer our prayers. Waiting often times is the best part. When we linger in the presence of the Lord all kinds of interesting things can happen. Who can anticipate what the Lord will do when He is in the house? Waiting may be living in expectation of God showing up.

     Today as you go about the business of life, live in anticipation of God showing up. Look for “God moments” throughout your day. Let today be a day of constant worship for you.     If you do not expect anything to happen from God in your day, it probably won't.  If you have an open heart and alert mind, you will see what the Lord has for you today.

SEEK HELP FROM THE LORD

 

Ps. 5:1-2  O LORD, hear me as I pray, pay attention to my groaning.  Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I will never pray to anyone but you.

     We can be assured that the Lord hears us as we pray.  Sometimes we become so overwhelmed by life that all we can do is groan before Him.  Sometimes we can't even express what is overwhelming our souls.  The Lord understands and hears what our hearts are crying out.  He knows all about our groanings and is able to minister to us no matter how heavy our burdens may be.  It is good to bring our burdens to the Lord and let Him handle them for us.  It is good for the soul to unload on Him, even if we are unable to do anything but groan.

     We need to determine in our hearts that we will only seek out the Lord, our God, for help.  There is no other to turn to.  God alone hears and answers prayer.  In order to know for sure that it is God we are praying to, we must first be certain that we know the truth about God. 

     There are so many wrong teachings about God in the church today.  Teachings about God have watered down God to the point where He is barely recognizable as the God of the Scriptures.  The weaker our perception of who God is, the less likely we are going to be sure that our prayers are going to be heard and answered.  The stronger our understanding of who God is, the more confidence we will have in our praying.  If you are struggling in prayer, not sure that God is hearing you, let alone answering you, then you need to get deeper into the Word and really get to know the God you profess to believe in. 

     It is one thing to declare with your mind who God is, it is another thing to declare it with your heart.  When you know God in your heart, you will know that He hears your prayers and heart groanings.  You will know He cares very deeply about what you are going through and will help you through it. 

A RESTFUL SOUL

 

Ps. 4:8  I will lie down in peace and sleep, for you alone, O LORD, will keep me safe.

     What do we do when we can’t sleep?  Many of us do what the world tells us to do; we pop a pill.  We are led to believe that sleeping soundly is not going to happen without the aid of a pill.  We are told that it is normal for us to be that way.  We are told that when we pop the pill we will wake up wide awake with both feet on the ground, with a smile on our face, and ready to face another day.

     Long before sleeping pills were ever created, the Psalmist declared that he had no problem with insomnia.  Why?  Because he rested in the knowledge that he was secure and safe in the Lord.  Knowing that the Lord had him in His hand was reason enough to be able to sleep.  He clearly understood some things that put his soul at ease.

     The restfulness of the soul affects the restfulness of the body.  The restfulness of the soul stems from a right relationship with God.  Righteous with God flows from right living before God.  Right living flows from sins forsaken.  Sins forsaken flow from sins forgiven.  Sins forgiven stem from sins confessed.  Sins confessed stems from sins acknowledged.  Sins acknowledged stem from God’s revelation to us.

     When we are right with God we don’t have to think about and fret over things that don’t matter.  All that really matters is whether or not we are at peace with God.  When life’s concerns won’t let us rest, we need to rest in God’s promises.  Instead of popping a pill, we need to pop into our soul God’s Word.  We need to hide his Word into our heart so that when we need them, we have them.

     If you are not able to focus on God’s Word before you go to bed, be sure that you learn it well so that you can meditate on it when you can’t sleep.  There is no better way to fall asleep than to be thinking about God’s promises.

     Instead of taking a pill to help you sleep, do two things: don’t consume caffeine products at bedtime, and meditate on God’s Word.  I am sure that if you do these two things you will be able to say with the Psalmist that you will lie down in peace and sleep, for you will know the Lord will keep you safe.

     Do yourself a favor and keep moving closer to Christ. There you will find rest for your soul.

DEALING WITH ANGER

Ps. 4:4  Don’t sin by letting anger gain control over you.  Think about it overnight and remain silent.

     Many of us would just as soon not think about our anger issues.  Some of us have short fuses and easily fly off the handle.  We get angry at people who cross us, do stupid things, or say things that get under our skin.  We get angry at unexpected turn of events that disrupt our peace and tranquility.  We get angry at ourselves when we do not meet up to our expectations.  We get angry a lot over people and things that really don’t deserve our wrath.  Anger is an emotion that nearly everyone experiences from time to time.

     There are times in which anger is a good thing.  In a proper context anger motivates us to do something about things that we otherwise would not do.  There are times in which sin and injustices must be addressed.  There are times in which we have to take a stand for righteousness.  Apart from righteous anger, anger is not good for the soul.

     We really run into a problem when our anger controls us.  When we react under the influence of anger, it’s rarely anything but a bad thing.  We tend to say and do things out of anger that we later regret.  We hurt people and things when we are out of control. 

     When anger controls us then the Holy Spirit is not controlling us and the Scriptures tell us that one of the ways that we can tell that we are under the control of the Spirit is self-control.  When anger controls us we have a spiritual problem.  We need to confess our sin problem and ask the Lord to take control of it.  Jesus cannot be our Lord while we have an anger problem.

     What angers you?  Take a deep breath, walk away from the explosive situation, think about what is going on, let the Lord calm you down, and let it go.  You do not need to have your way.  Wise is he who is able to just be quiet when things don’t go his way.  It is far better to just be wronged and hurt than it is to be angry and hurt others.  In the long run, the only real loser when anger is in control of you is you.  Give your angry heart over to the Lord and let Him defuse it.

SPECIAL TO GOD

 

Ps. 4:3 You can be sure of this: The LORD has set apart the godly for himself. The LORD will answer when I call to him.

     The Lord has set apart the godly for himself. We, who live godly lives, are special to God. We are treated differently by God. We live differently. We have help from God that others don’t. We are used by God in ways others aren’t. We possess deeper peace and confidence in God than do others. We understand the things of God better than others do. We are not our own, we belong to God. The Lord hears and answers the prayers of the godly differently than He does those who aren’t godly.

     Now if you do not sense the Lord treating you as special, perhaps now would be a good time to examine your heart before Him. Take an honest look at your heart. Is there sin there? Do you think, speak, or act in godly ways? Do you seek after God like you should? If you are not on the inside of God’s favor, the problem lies within you. You are responsible for that which keeps the Lord away and only you can do something about it. He wants to set you apart for himself, but you have to let Him.

WATCHED BY THE LORD

 

Ps. 1:6  For the LORD watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

     Dear child of God, you are not unnoticed.  God is watching over you.  He knows what is going on in your life.  He knows how you are living.  He knows how you feel and why you do what you do.  He knows all about your struggles.  He knows how others are treating you.  He knows all about how Satan messes with your mind and faith.  He knows about your faith victories and defeats.  He wants you to know that you are noticed.

     The Lord is watching over you.  You are never out of His sight.  You are never out of His protective care.  You are never without His helping hand if you want it.  You are never left in the dark so you will lose your way.  Instead, He is always lighting your path so you will find your way home to Him.  You are never outside His scope of love for you.

     The Lord knows where the path of the wicked leads and He will do everything He can to keep you from traveling on it.  The path of the wicked leads to destruction.  It destroys any heart connection one may have with God.  It destroys all hope that one may see God.  It destroys whatever good one may do in life.  It destroys the channel of God’s blessings on the soul.  The path of the wicked leads straight to hell.

     Dear child of God, the Lord is watching over you.  Let this wonderful truth sink deep into your soul and bless you.  You are never forgotten or forsaken.  Take the hand of Jesus and let Him lead you home to glory.  Your living is not in vain.  Do not believe the lies of Satan that it’s simply not worth it.  Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus at all times and you will be alright.

DELIGHTING IN THE LORD

 

Ps. 1:1, 2  Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with scoffers.  But they delight in doing everything the LORD wants; day and night they think about his law.

     There is great joy in those who delight in doing everything the Lord wants.  Many strive to live a godly life, but their hearts are not in it.  They try to do what is right before God more out of duty than anything else.  They know what they should be doing and even why they should do it, but there is not any joy in doing it.

     Delighting in doing everything the Lord wants comes from living in close fellowship with Him.  It comes from a heart that has absolute trust in God.  It comes from lingering often in the Lord’s presence.  Instead of standing around with sinners, they stand around with the Lord and His children.  Delight comes from truly loving the Lord.  It comes from a heart of gratitude for all that the Lord is and is doing in one’s life.  It comes from a deep desire to please and honor the Lord in all things.

     There is great joy in meditating on God’s Word morning and night.  It doesn’t matter when you get alone with the Word as long as you are regularly doing it.  Being in the Word and letting it saturate your soul and mind is nothing but good for you.  Joy comes from those who let the Word become a part of the way they think and live.  What better way is there to live than to begin and end your day with the Word on your mind?  Joy floods the soul when the Word becomes a way of life and not just an instruction manual. 

     There is great joy in our salvation and it begins and ends with God’s Word.  Blessed is he who diligently searches for the treasures hidden there.

STAYING OUT OF TROUBLE

 

Ps. 1:1  Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with scoffers.

      If you are following the advice of the wicked, you are in trouble.  The wicked are up to no good, always.  It is what they do because that is all they know.  The wicked in heart do not know the truth because their eyes are encased in darkness and they can’t see the light.  Be careful who you turn to for advice.

     If you are standing around with sinners, you are in trouble.  It is never good to just be standing around.  Idleness is the devil’s workshop.  We need to be busy, working out our salvation.  If you are just standing around, taking in the scenery, you are an easy target.  Satan has the most trouble with those on the move.  Don’t stand around, and certainly don’t do it with sinners.  Hanging around doing nothing with sinners can only lead you away from God.  You will be far more apt to listen to their plea for your companionship in their sin and do it.

     If you join in with scoffers, you are in trouble.  Scoffers are those who do not value the things of God.  They reject what God says or stands for.  They make light of eternity and spurn the truth.  They not only make light of God, they look down on those who do stand up for truth.  Scoffers are everywhere.  They are in the political arena, sports, business world, and the church.  They are often very persuasive, subtle, and convincing.  Wise is he who stays alert and recognizes the scoffers around him.  Have nothing to do with them, for they will lead you away from God.

     Be aware of who you let into your life and influence you.  Be diligent and protect your soul so that you don’t get sucked into a way of life that draws you away from God.  Stand up against those who try to entice you into sin.  There is great joy in those who do not let themselves become entangled with sin.

GOD SPEAKS

 

Job 33:14  But God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it.

How often does God have to speak before we listen?  Over and over again God speaks to us.  He tells us of His love, mercy and grace.  He tells us of the difference between life here and life in heaven.  He tells us of the seriousness of sin and the horror of hell.  He tells us of our need to be holy in character and influencers for Him in the world.  He tells us we are sinners and need to be a people who are humble enough to confess our sins before Him.  He speaks, but people do not recognize it or pay attention to it.

We don’t recognize God’s voice because we get so wrapped up in this life that we fail to consider our eternal lives.  We become so preoccupied that we scarcely take the time to be still before Him.   We neglect our Bibles and prayer closets where the Lord speaks.  We fail to discipline ourselves to listen to His Word when it is taught and preached.  We lack the discipline to shut out the voices of temptation.  We fill our minds up with the voices of the world to the point where we don’t recognize the voice of God telling us not to.  We spend more time entertaining ourselves with the world’s offerings than we do those things which edify our souls.

When God speaks to your soul, do you recognize His voice?  If you are not hearing God speak to you, you need to rethink your priorities and put yourself in a position where you can hear Him speak.  You need to be consistently in the Word so you can know what God is saying and how He wants you to live and think.  You need to spend time in prayer with an open heart and ears to listen so that you can hear and recognize God’s voice.  You need to be in the fellowship of the church so you can be trained to hear God speak as He speaks through His Word and people.

God does speak again and again.  He wants us to hear Him.  He has important things to say to us.  Develop your spiritual senses so that you can hear Him speak to you.  Don’t miss out on what God is saying; it is a matter of life or death for your soul.

COMMITTED TO GODLINESS

 

Job 31:7,8  If I have strayed from his pathway, or if my heart has lusted for what my eyes have seen, or if I am guilty of any other sin, then let someone else harvest the crops I have planted, and let all that I have planted be uprooted.

Job was a determined man.  He was determined that he was not going to let sin rule his life.  He was not going to open the door that would lead to sin.  He was going to protect his soul at all times.  To the best of his ability, Job was going to live a godly life.

Job was so sure of the purity of his heart that he was willing to give up everything in his life if he were to be found guilty of a life of sin.  He was determined to be found to be blameless before God, to walk on His pathway.  He didn't care if he was the only one on earth to walk with God; he was going to do it.

To live blamelessly before God does not mean that we will live perfect lives.  It means that we have hearts bent on doing what is right before God and when we fail we confess our sins instead of ignoring them or harboring them in our hearts.

We would do well to have the same determined spirit in our souls.  Our passion must always be to live blameless lives before God.  However, we must realize that even though we live blamelessly before God, we can’t always live blamelessly before man (believers included).  Because of our sinful nature we will come under fire by some who don’t know us well or understand the motives of our hearts.  There will always be those who will find fault with us.  Our goal is not to please man; it is always to please God.  Stay true to the Lord, walk faithfully on the pathway to godliness, and determine in your heart that you will not let sin rule your life.  If you do these things, all will be well with your soul.

LUST

LUST

Job 31:1 I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust upon a young woman. 

What a powerful and bold statement!  Job determined in his heart early on in life that he would not knowingly sin against God.  Lust is a willful act.  It is lingering on the thought of sinful desires.  It is deciding that you want what is not yours to have.  You can lust after anything or anyone.  No matter what it is, it is sin.  It is an act of discontentment.  It is saying to God what you have is not enough or good enough.

What do you lust after?  What is there in your life that makes you want more of what you don’t have?  What do you have that you are convinced is not good enough for you?

If you are lusting after anything but God, you need to make a covenant before God that you are going to get your desires under control and not do it any longer.  God can show you what you are lusting after, but only you can determine that you will do it no more.  The Lord will help you gain control over your sinful desires, but you have to be willing to let Him.

The Lord gives us desires and they are good for us.  Desires that are untainted by sin that motivate us to grow and become the people God desires us to be are good.  They are designed to help us, not hinder us.  Sin causes us to use our desires for evil purposes instead of good purposes.  In order to reclaim possession of your desires, you have to let the Lord reclaim possession of your soul.  If He has His rightful place in your heart, you will not be driven by lust; you will be driven by a desire to please Him in your mind, body and soul.

EYE COVENANT

 

Job 31:1 I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust upon a young woman. 

Every believer should follow Job’s example.  Everyone has someone or something that will lead them into sin if they are not careful.  God made us uniquely different and only you know what your weaknesses really are.  Fixation on those things that exploits our weaknesses is a very dangerous thing.  It can only lead us into sin.

I encourage you to pause as you read this today and think about what your weaknesses are.  If you are tempted by visual things, make a covenant with your eyes so that you don’t look at them.  You can’t keep from seeing things that tempt you, but you can determine in your heart not to linger and dwell on them.  If you are tempted by the things you read, make a covenant with your eyes that you will not pick up material that exploits your weaknesses and read them. 

Our eyes are the gateway to the soul.  What we allow our eyes to see affects our souls.  The heart will dwell on what we see as long as we are looking at it.  Every time we allow ourselves to dwell on what tempts us, we weaken our resolve, which only leads us into sin. 

We are daily challenged by what filters through our eyes.  We constantly fight the urge to justify what we look at.  The sources we have available to us to look at are everywhere.  Whether it’s in the public arena or in the privacy of our homes, we must take charge of our souls and not allow ourselves to linger with our eyes on those things which are sinful or lead us into sinful thoughts or actions.

Dear friend, the Lord knows what you are looking at and dwelling on.  Do yourself a huge favor and make a covenant with your eyes to not play with fire and look at what tempts you.  Renew your covenant daily before the Lord and your successes will far outweigh your failures.  And when you do fall, confess your sin to the Lord and He will forgive you and help you to try harder the next time.  There is no shame in failing, but there is great shame in not trying.

THE FEAR OF THE LORD

 

Job 28:28  And this is what he says to all humanity:  The fear of the LORD is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding.

The fear of the Lord involves reverence, respect, reconciliation, regard, and reason.  We think about God and discover who He is.  We examine His claims about himself and life and come to the conclusion that He is trustworthy in all that He says.  We seek to be right with God knowing that if we aren’t, we are in grave danger.  We accept God for who He is and bow down before Him as our Savior and King.  We acknowledge that God is holy, the judge of all humanity, and that we are accountable to Him for our lives.  Knowing these things are true makes a man wise for he knows that he cannot take God lightly or his relationship with Him.

He who forsakes evil gets it.  The reason why we exist is to be a holy people before God.  We are not here because of some random act of nature.  We exist because in the beginning God created us to be who we are so we could have a relationship with Him.  He made us uniquely different from all the rest of creation.  We have souls which can connect to God on a personal level.  We have the ability to become one with God in love and holiness of character.  We are in essence like God; we are spiritual beings.  In creating us, God gives us life that will never die. He gives us the ability and opportunity to choose whether we will live with Him or apart from Him.

Real understanding is to forsake evil and live connected to God.  It is seeking to live holy lives.  It is taking God at His word and never looking back.  It is living as if our lives and eternity really do matter.  It is living as if God in His holiness really matters.  It is to fear God.

A COVENANT OF INTEGRITY

 

Job 27:3-6  As long as I live, while I have breath from God, my lips will speak no evil, and my tongue will speak no lies.  I will never concede that you are right until I die.  I will defend my innocence.  I will maintain my innocence without wavering.  My conscience is clear for as long as I live.

Reread slowly these verses.  Examine your own heart.  If you cannot honestly say the same things, you need to let the Lord take control of you.  We can control what comes out of our mouths.  In fact, Jesus reminds us that what comes out of our mouths is what is in our hearts. If evil words or lying words come from us it is because they are in us.  And if they are in us, we must ask the Lord to take them away from us.  If we don’t, we will face God and have to answer to Him for it.

Are you confident enough in your righteousness that you can stand up to anyone and defend your innocence because you know before God that you are right?  Now, there is a difference between a confidence rooted in self-deception and a confidence rooted in Christ.  We can convince ourselves that we are better off before God than we really are.  If we see ourselves in comparison to others and let that determine our righteousness, we will more than likely be led to believe we are okay.  However, our standard of righteousness in not others; it is God’s Word.  We must see ourselves as God sees us.  If we are not living up to the standards of God, we are not innocent before Him.

The right thing to do is to humble ourselves and admit our sinfulness.  There is no excuse for allowing sin to be a part of who we are.  Don’t maintain you are right with God when you know you are not.  Listen to the Spirit of Christ as He convicts you of sin.  Then, and only then, can you say with confidence that your conscious is clear.

May we too be determined to live before God with a clear conscious as long as we live.

YOUR LEGACY

 

Job:27:1-6  Job continued speaking, “I make this vow by the living God, who has taken away my rights, by the Almighty who has embittered my soul.  As long as I live, while I have breath from God, my lips will speak no evil, and my tongues will speak no lies.  I will never concede that you are right; until I die, I will defend my innocence.  I will maintain my innocence without wavering.  My conscience is clear for as long as I live.

When you come to the end of your life, how do you want to be remembered?  What do you want others to remember about how you lived your life?  Will they be able to say you kept true to the Lord through the bad as well as the good times of your life?  Will they be able to say that you lived an innocent life before both God and man?  Better yet, will you be able to say it?

It is a liberating feeling to know that you have lived rightly before God.  When you know in your heart you have done what is right, you can handle whatever accusations that may come your way.  It won’t matter what others may think when you know that all is well with you before God.  It won’t matter whether or not others may understand or agree with you. 

Like Job, we must vow before God that we will live with hearts of integrity.  We must determine in our hearts that the only thing that comes out of our mouths will be truth.  We must determine that we do not let any evil thing come from our lips.  When we do, then we can stand on our innocence.  We can have confidence before God when we are falsely accused by others.  We do not have to cave in when we are confronted by others.

Is your conscious clear before God today?  If you were to stand before God today, would you be okay with that?  Is there anything you need to clear up with Him?  Have you determined in your heart that you will not cave into sin, no matter how great the pressure may be to do so?  Have you determined in your heart that no evil or lies will ever come from your lips? 

Live rightly before God moment by moment and you will never have to fear if this might be your last day on earth.

WICKED PEOPLE

 

Job 24:13  Wicked people rebel against the light.  They refuse to acknowledge its ways.  They will not stay in its paths. 

One of the ways in which you can determine the real status of someone’s heart before God is how well they stay the course of faith.  Anyone who keeps wandering off the path of faith and into a sinful life pattern does not have saving faith.  Everyone stumbles and falls, but the child of God stands a whole lot more than he falls.  He is able to make progress in his struggles to overcome sin.  He is able to grow in his understanding of spiritual things.  He strives to live a godly life.

Those who rebel against the light are wicked in their heart.  These are people who refuse to live in the light they are shown.  They stay in the darkness of sin instead of coming to the light.  These people love the darkness instead of the light.  They turn off the light so that it doesn’t shine in their darkness.

In fact, the wicked in heart even refuse to acknowledge that there is light.  They acknowledge that there are many paths to heaven instead of one way.  They scorn those who claim that Jesus is the only way to heaven.  They may even deny that Jesus is God.  They do not acknowledge God’s Word as being absolute truth.  They strive to undermine the Word.  They stubbornly try to be good enough for heaven without heaven’s help.

Be careful who you hang out with.  The wicked will lead you away from God if you aren’t paying attention to your soul.  The path of the wicked is no good for you.  Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and do not deviate from His path.  Diligently protect your soul, because Satan is a master at chipping away at faith.  If you embrace sin in any way, it can be lethal to your soul.

GOD'S SOVEREIGNITY

 

Job 23:13-14  “Nevertheless, his mind concerning me remains unchanged, and who can turn him from his purposes?  Whatever he wants to do, he does.  So he will do for me all he has planned.  He controls my destiny.”

Job is speaking her of God’s sovereign plan and control over us.  God knows the purpose of our lives and what it takes for us to fulfill it.  He knows what we need to experience and learn in order to be who we need to be serve Him best.  He knows best how to build our character.  He knows best how to instill within us godliness.  Each of us is different and requires different experiences.  Each of us has different roles to play in God’s kingdom and so the Lord has to deal with us accordingly.  Some of us require great maturity of faith and some of us less maturity.  The Lord knows what we don’t know and so we must yield to His lordship over us.

The Lord does not change His mind about us.  He will always move us in the direction He desires us to go.  We must be willing to be lead though.  We can refuse to go where He is taking us.  But if we allow Him to have His way with us, He will make sure that we will get to where He needs us to be so that we can do what He desires us to do.

No one can keep God from doing what He wants to do.  God has a purpose for everything He does.  We may not always understand it, but we aren't meant to.  He sees the whole picture and knows what needs to be done in order for us to participant in His plan.  All He asks of us is to trust Him as He leads us forward.

Are you letting the Lord lead you, or are you resisting Him?  The plans the Lord has for you are good.  You will never be happier or more content in life than you will be when you are allowing the Lord to fulfill His purposes for you.  Don’t let anything or anyone keep you from following the Lord.

STAYING ON GOD'S PATH

 

Job 23:11-12  “For I have stayed in God’s paths.  I have followed his ways and not turned aside.  I have not departed from his commands but have treasured his word in my heart.”

Can you say this about you?  Staying on God’s path is not an easy thing to do.  There are so many opportunities we face every day to wander off His path.  God is leading us down a path of righteousness and holiness that leads to heaven.  We want to get there, but we often don’t want to follow the path that leads us there.  We are drawn to those paths that lead us away from God.  We like what we see in the world around us and often pursue it.

The path of God requires much of us.  We must be totally committed to it.  We must not only hear the Word, we must live it.  We must be students of the Word so we can easily determine what God wants us to do.  We must be students of prayer so we can discern the heart of God as He ministers to our hearts.  We must be haters of evil and resist the urge to pursue it.  We must learn self-control so that our eyes, ears, minds, mouths, and hands are not gateways to sin in our lives.  We must desire the things of God to the point where we invest our lives in their pursuit.

The path to God is full of many obstacles along the way.  We are under constant attack and pressured to wander off it.  The only way we can stay the course is to take charge of our souls.  We must work hard to keep ourselves on track.  We must not make excuses for ourselves.  We must always let the Lord do whatever He wants and needs to do in us to make us a holy people after His own heart. We must treasure God's Word in our hearts so that the Lord has something to work with.

It takes a lot of determination and effort to stay on God's path, but great is the reward for those who do it.