Author: kezha1

This last Book of the Old Testament speaks of God’s faithfulness & His people’s faithlessness. Their love for God had grown cold, their hearts filled with indifference & apathy. In denouncing the overall decline of the spiritual state of the people, the Lord’s anger was directed towards the priests who had failed to act according to their priestly calling. They were the ones that should of set the example, but instead were engaging in much of the same dishonor, irreverence, and contempt for the Lord…and in doing so, were causing the decay & deterioration of the entire social fabric. In the same way today, always be watchful of the Pastor you sit under. In all ways is he acting according to his calling by honoring & giving glory to God in all things, and showing reverence to Him and His Word? But most importantly, is he not only modeling this behavior before all but exhorting his congregation to do likewise?

Someday we will all stand before God having made a choice. And there’s no getting around it…we either follow the Lamb and enter God’s rest…or we follow the beast and suffer God’s wrath. (Revelation 14) But if we sincerely believe Romans 4:25, “That Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” We can stand before God, not just hoping, but fully assured by our saving faith in Jesus Christ. And as this Scripture says, we will have peace with God…not some guarded truce that’s subject to change on a whim, but permanent and lasting peace of intimate fellowship and communion with God.

The great Puritan Theologian, Charles Spurgeon, once wrote, “There are two prayers always worth praying. ‘Lord, show me myself.’ and ‘Lord, show me Thyself.’ May both be heard, and you will be well taught of God!” Both will teach us much about who we are and who God is. Both have the capacity to impart divine wisdom, understanding, and insight, that we then in turn can teach others. When you utter the words, “Lord, show me myself.” you’d better be ready for the hard truth…for that’s what you’ll get. You’re a sinner saved by grace, no better than the beggar next to you, all with a propensity to lie & wander. And when you ask, “Lord, show me Yourself.” you’ll be driven even farther down into the depths of hard truth as God shows you just how small and insignificant you are in the light of His magnificent power, authority, and glory. But take courage, God won’t allow you to stay there…for His grace & mercy are more, and you will emerge enlightened with divine revelation…knowing more about God & yourself.

The Word of God is infallible…unerring, certain & sure…and because of that comes its inevitable effects on man’s opinions. Charles Spurgeon once wrote, “The Word of God is the anvil upon which the opinions of men are smashed.” The word picture here is of a Blacksmith using his heavy iron anvil & a large hammer to bend and completely conform a piece of metal into an entirely different shape. Our opinions are just that…feelings, notions, and sentiments that many times have nothing to do with what is true, but merely emotions that are far from God’s Word. Therefore, if you line up man’s opinions against God’s Word…His Word will win every time.

Slaves were totally reliant on their masters… ever watchful to receive orders, hear instructions, and/or obtain provisions. So it is with God and us…our eyes should remain rivetted on Him in total dependence for everything. For when we start letting our eyes slip, our Spiritual strength wanes. It can be because of pride or independence…thinking we know more than Him. Or it could happen when we are overwhelmed with stress, trauma, or loss. Lastly, we can also take our eyes off God through indifference, apathy, or depression when life itself seems too much to bear. But this Scripture exhorts us to remain steady…looking to God until He shows us His mercy and love.

On this Thanksgiving Day, let’s look for a moment at the words thankful & grateful. Both are adjectives, and both basically mean the same thing. But thankful is being conscious of the benefit received such as in the Scripture above. Another Translation says, “I will give to the Lord the thanks due…” In other words, a vow of thankfulness back to God for all the good things we realize we wouldn’t have without Him. While grateful is more of an action word…of giving or expressing appreciation for the benefits received. Today be both thankful & grateful to God, your family and friends, and all those around you.

God already knows all the events that have transpired in the past as well as all things that will occur in the future. When this verse says, “He has set eternity in our hearts,” it means that we grasp that history isn’t meaningless – but are totally perplexed in the sheer complexity of it’s pattern of events. But it also tells us that God’s creative activity across time is always appropriate & fitting…predetermining how each tiny detail will fit perfectly into His Master Plan. The Apostle Paul summed it up well in Romans 11:33 when he wrote, ” Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!” So we are left in the end with the simple awe of God’s sovereignty and power, knowing He is in total control.

Before the stoning of Stephen, the early Church enjoyed a time of close fellowship…being built up in teaching, prayer, and sharing with each other as needs arose. They met daily in the Temple courts, enjoying the favor of all people…praising God with glad and since hearts. This was the season of inward focus… of enabling & encouraging individual growth, while strengthening the Church’s unity of Spirit as a whole. But Stephen’s death changed it all. But think about it, this inward focus went totally against the Great Commission that Jesus had charged His disciples with…To “Go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19) That’s because Believers will never fulfill the mandates of The Great Commission if they never venture outside their comfort zones. So for the early Church it took persecution to drive its expansion as a witness-bearing mission with a new outward focus. And the same goes for us individually today… without persecution, trials, and trouble we won’t grow Spiritually, but remain stagnant in the comfortable space we occupy.

Feeling gratitude to God, but yet not expressing it back to Him, is somewhat like wrapping a present but not giving it to that special person. The gratitude is there… somewhere… but our world may be so chaotic at the time, we can’t seem to put forth the words. So think of it this way…this gift of gratitude is really all you can give back God. So in the presence of glum grayness, show gratefulness…in the face of pain, praise Him…in the center of trauma, express thanksgiving…and when you are beset by anguish, show your appreciation to the God Who loves you more than you’ll ever understand. And when you share this gift of gratitude with others – when you recollect God’s goodness, faithfulness, and mercy – they too will be filled with gratitude.

Isaiah knew that it was only God’s Word that could support in order to help those weighed down by burdens. Jesus repeated this in Matthew 11:28 when He said, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, And I will give you rest.” As a caregiver, we need to be ever watchful for physical, emotional, and mental weariness that can set in…which has come to be known as Compassion Fatigue. This is often caused by an accumulation of stress from caring for a loved one at home by yourself. Symptoms can range from having feelings of our strength & energy drained, and/or our patience & tolerance spent…which can then lead to anxiety, depression, and hopelessness…thus easily leading to burn-out and the health of the caregiver deteriorating. The old adage of “Caring for the Caregiver” is so important at this point, but not as important as getting into God’s Word daily to refresh, restore, and renew your soul. That’s because His Word can lift the heavy burden, give you God’s perspective, and show you once more how loved you are by Him.