Author: kezha1

Many times, throughout my 36-year Nursing career as a Director of Nursing in Gerontology & Alzheimer’s Disease, I worked with difficult patients. And many, many times I would ask the Lord to help me find the joy in serving them. For if I’m to serve the Lord in loving service as a grateful response to His grace…I’m then to serve the interests of others in love as Galatians 5:13 tells me to. So, the bottom line is, my joy in serving others cannot depend on whether someone is cooperative or uncooperative…. difficult or easy to deal with. It’s a decision as Paul made in I Corinthians 9:19 that, “I have made myself a servant to all.” And to accomplish this, I remind myself often of Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

The Apostle Peter had been called to the home of Cornelius, a Roman Centurion stationed in Caesarea. It says that he and his whole household feared God and gave generously to those in need. Both Cornelius and Peter had been visited by angels who prepared them for the transformation from Old Testament Law and the Old Covenant to the New Covenant of faith by grace alone. In this verse, Peter grasps the mind-blowing importance of it… that God is impartial, or as Deuteronomy 10:17-18 pointed out, God shows no partiality, prejudice, or bias to any man who trusts in Him. So, their meeting that day was the culmination in its fullest expression of the Good News of the Gospel Message for both Jew & Gentile. Or as Romans 1:16 reminds us, that Salvation is for everyone who believes.

The elders have come to Ezekiel inquiring of God, and instead, God accuses them of infidelity & prostitution. Though they were still outwardly “serving” the Lord, their hearts were elsewhere…and to God, this divided devotion didn’t deserve any response from Him. The Babylonian exile had tempted the Jewish people with the enticement of local gods…which all seemed to be very powerful. So, while not necessarily abandoning God…they chose to just “include” these deities into their everyday life. But God called them on it because they couldn’t have it both ways. James uses this rare expression “double-minded” in James 1:8 where it suggests that a man has two souls and is unstable with a split personality…claiming to have faith, but in reality, doubting that God is enough…and totally unable to love God & His Law exclusively.

Charles Spurgeon, the Puritan Preacher, once wrote, “There are two kinds of tears which true Christians shed: the one is a tear of sorrow because of sin; the other is a tear of joy because of pardon.” And this is shown in Psalm 51:17, which said, ” The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart…” A Christian’s life should be one of constant transformation…of forsaking the old self for the new…for taking responsibility for our misdeeds & allowing them to change us from the inside out. James 4:6 tells us that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble…but what does that mean? First, there is genuine sorrow for what we’ve done. Then there’s the all-important verbal admission of said sin…followed by a sincere desire for the Lord’s forgiveness and restoration. Once we’ve been forgiven, the joy of the Lord fills our heart and spurs us on to tells others about this wonderful gift of grace & mercy.

In this passage, the prophet Jeremiah was addressing God’s people who were in exile and facing extreme hardship. While it wasn’t a guarantee of immediate relief & deliverance, it was a vivid reminder that God was still in control…His plans were to bless, His promises were faithful, His desires were to prosper both practically & economically, and His goal was to give all a hopeful future. So, in the midst of the world’s wickedness today, you too may feel like a refugee, so this verse urges you to not give up… but to continually seek His guidance by aligning your heart with God’s divine Will… all the while trusting in His unfailing promises.

Charles Spurgeon once wisely wrote, “I may know all the doctrines of the Bible, but unless I know Christ, there is not one of them that can save me.” Biblical knowledge will tell you about Jesus…but this type of knowledge is mere intellectual training. Where knowing Jesus, involves a personal relationship, with fellowship, affection, and commitment at its core. It’s then the difference between head knowledge & heart knowledge…or as Jeremiah said, “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows Me.” (Jeremiah 9:23)

The story is a very familiar one…Daniel in the lion’s den…condemned to death by King Darius for refusing to adhere to his decree. God could have changed the situation…but He didn’t. God could have rescued Daniel out of the lion’s den the instant his feet hit the dirt…but He didn’t. Instead, God chose to shut up the lion’s mouths, but still made Daniel spend the night there. He was destined then to endure & persevere through horrific hours as the lions lurked around, sniffing and drooling around him. But still Daniel trusted in his God. There will be times in our life when we too will have to live through dark, scary times in the lion’s den. And just as Daniel, we also will be innocent in God’s sight. But still, we’ll have to put up with those menacing lions for a night.

Arrogance and conceit are simply rebellion against the God that created us. When we’re filled with pride, we’re unteachable, because we won’t listen…thus headed to destruction. And this pride is also easily recognizable by others, who will then withhold honor…or as Proverbs 18:12 tells us, “Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.” So, we should seek after a humble heart, self-control, and a lowly spirit inspired by Godly wisdom.

In His teachings, Jesus very often used common everyday objects to make His point. Here, He shows the sheer absurdness of lighting an oil lamp, only to then cover it up. The disciples quickly understood how ridiculous & contrary this would be, so Jesus used it as an exhortation for them to think of themselves as a lite lamp…illuminating God through them to all they came in contact with…and to not hide God’s Word, but to speak it boldly. In Matthew 5:15, Jesus again uses the lite lamp as an illustration that we aren’t to bury the light within us, but to let it shine… Why? “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

As a Believer, you are a child of God…adopted by Him and bearing the family likeness, with access to Truth & life that remains hidden to those who are in the world. John uses the word “lavish” to show the extravagant love God bestows on His children. This sonship is the purpose of His given love, which our heart then recognizes with unspeakable joy. For this mind-bending idea that God would love us enough to make us His children is just one of the amazing aspects of the Gospel Message. That’s why unbelievers don’t “know” Believers, because unbelievers don’t “know” Christ Jesus. The word “know” here being far reaching from just information…referring rather to a sense of intimacy, fellowship, and connection. So, the bottom-line is this, the world has no relationship either with God or Believers.