Author: kezha1

When a person’s attitude and behavior is that of laziness…it can only produce poverty. Where as, diligence and industry are associated with prosperity. A great example of this is found in Proverbs 6:10, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.” Throughout Scriptures we see it never ending well for a lazy person if he allows himself to become weak, idle, and apathetic…in essence, bringing poverty and need onto himself.

Anytime we rush into something without proper planning or insight, we’re setting ourselves up to fail. For many, spontaneity is their way of life, and living by the seat of their pants is a common occurrence. But it tells us here, that misdirected eagerness more than often causes us to fall short of God’s best. In fact, the Hebrew word for “miss the way” in this verse means sin. When we allow ourselves to run ahead of God pell-mell, we’re setting ourselves up for failure…and anytime we rush into something without first seeking Godly insight and wisdom, we’re going to come up short.

Maybe you’ve felt this way…where your shame, reproach, and disgrace is so overwhelming that you can’t even lift your face to the Lord. You’re so loaded down with the burdens of your past failures, that you have no hope for the here and now. Some would say you need to forgive yourself, but you will never find a Scripture to support that idea…for only God can forgive. For if you have confessed and turned from your sin, you are forgiven and there is rest for you…or as Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Jesus wants to take your heavy load today…all the feelings of guilt and shame from your past…and exchange it for His.

James 4:11-12 tells us not to slander one another or judge. Which if you think about it, slandering and judging go together quite seamlessly. Most of us have become piercingly critical individuals now a days with judging, discrimination, and condemnation a very common and ordinary pastime. For as we quickly judge someone, we often then slander them in the process…maliciously defaming them with our skewed and biting opinions. And if we allow these two things to continue in our life, a critical spirit starts to take over…causing us to become harsh and vindictive. This Scripture makes it quite plain…don’t judge, or you’ll be judged. But it also warns against the hypocrisy of those who are quick to judge and condemn others but slow to acknowledge their own sin and an absolute failure when it comes to showing mercy to others.



Peter stepped out of the boat even though he couldn’t see the way ahead or even start to understand exactly what Jesus was saying or asking him to do. In the book “My Utmost For His Highest” author Oswald Chambers puts it this way, “Just because I don’t understand what Jesus Christ says, I have no right to determine that He must be mistaken in what He says.” Countless times throughout our Christian life Christ will say, “Come.”, but the way will appear scary, the path ahead deeply shrouded, and the directive itself confusing…and our rational intellect will want to pause. But faith isn’t built and based on intellectual understanding – rather, faith is deliberate commitment and intentional obedience to trust God and His promises. Isaiah 7:9 warns us about wavering and indecisive faith when it says, “If you aren’t firm in faith, you’ll not be firm at all.” Or as another Translation puts it, “If you don’t stand firm in your faith, you’ll not stand at all.”

Jesus quoted this Scripture in Isaiah when He called the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law hypocrites. Paul exhorted the Church in Colossians 2:20-23 of the same thing. Human regulations, commands, and teachings were overtaking and overshadowing God’s Word, and that they had the “appearance” of wisdom but lacked any true value because they were all based on man’s understanding and not Scripture. This vain worship spoken of by Isaiah here was only empty, insincere words and rituals…that God considered unacceptable. For true worship of God has to be according to His Will revealed by Scripture…not some religious exercises designed by presumptuous humans beings.

Let’s cut to the chase…God didn’t promise you a life without pain, suffering, illness, and loss. He never said that once you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior that your life would suddenly become one of everything lovely, joyful, and easy. Quite the opposite! And I think that’s why we don’t like the word perseverance. Anytime we hear that word, all we can think of is suffering, effort, endurance, and discipline…all of which aren’t exactly fun to go through. But perseverance is necessary in developing our character, faith, and hope in God. Call it suffering well, hope under pressure, or patient endurance, we are to be like a runner, constantly moving forward in motion towards the goal set before us, despite any opposition that comes across our path…all the while fixing our eyes on our future reward…our promised eternal inheritance.

The center of this Scripture is about restoring relationships with God and each other. Colossians 3:13 tells us, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” And as we look at this verse in Colossians, we can see the same pattern of Christ’s redemptive work for us in forbearance, forgiveness, and love. We have been forgiven of a massive debt that we’ll never be able to repay, thus we need to forgive others as He forgave us. But anytime we confront someone about sin in their life, it must be done in love, in hopes of them turning back to God…a change of mind and a moral reorientation of the soul that acknowledges the error of their ways. And with repentance comes forgiveness on our part and the restoration of relationships…or as Ephesians 4:32 tells us, We are changed and being changed.

Jonah’s response to God’s call was to disobediently run in the opposite direction…as far as he could go from the place God wanted him. In his flight, Jonah attempted to escape the Will of God…thinking if he went far enough away, God would somehow “forget” him, or no longer seek to use him in Nineveh. But Jonah also realized he couldn’t hide from God. And nor can we. Psalm 139:7-12 gives a wonderful description of all the places we can’t flee from God’s presence…from the lofty heavens to the far side of the sea, God is there. And just like Jonah, when God says “Go.” He will patiently pursue us until we oblige.

Nothing has changed from the time that David wrote this Psalm to today. Our source of trouble, disaster, and harm continues to be both internally and eternally caused. Our personal sinfulness and the consequences of it constantly overwhelm us…with guilt and shame piling on like a burden too heavy to bear. (Psalm 65:3) On top of that, we live in a very broken world filled with every kind of evil bombarding us daily. But just like David, we must acknowledge our transgressions, turn from our sins, and put our hope in the Lord. This eternal hope is summed up in Psalm 73:26,28 “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge.”