This week I came upon a most interesting painting of Jean-Leon Jerome from 1896 entitled “The Naked Truth”. As legend goes, lies and truth met one beautiful day. Lies suggested that they take a swim in a well, so removing their clothing, down into the well they dove. Suddenly, lies leaped out of the well and stole truth’s clothing & ran off. A naked truth gave chase only to be seen by the crowds nearby who became angry & turned their faces away. A shamed truth quietly stole back to the well and hid, never to come out again. Meanwhile, lies traveled around the world dressed as the truth…satisfying the carnal needs of society…all because man could not look upon the naked truth. The Apostle Paul spoke of this in Titus 1:13-14…rebuking those who were following Jewish myths & legends rather than the truth of Jesus Christ and the Gospel Message. Even today lies, thinly veiled in the truth, can be found everywhere simply because man doesn’t want to acknowledge the truth.
Category: Daily Inspirational Devotional
Ezekiel 37:3 ” He asked me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘O Sovereign Lord, You alone know.’ “
The Lord has brought Ezekiel to a vast plain or valley… and he casts his eyes on an enormous field of destruction, covered with dried -up and dismembered skeletons…as far as the eye can see. It’s within this horrific & mind numbing scene that God asks Ezekiel if these bones can live. For Ezekiel, the obvious answer would be a resounding “No!”, yet Ezekiel chose to not look at the appalling evidence in front of him, but to rely solely on the Sovereignty of God. There will come times in all our lives that God will bring us to our own Valley of Dry Bones to view the “dead” in our life. It may be a body ravaged by disease, a confused mind, a hardened heart, an empty womb, a hopeless soul. For in this Scripture is a message of hope…that nothing is impossible for God for those who trust in His Sovereignty & Divine Will.
Colossians 3:13 ” Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
The Apostle Paul here grounds us in the characteristics of forbearance, forgiveness, and love, explicitly demonstrated in the redemptive work of Christ Jesus. Thus outlining the obligations all Christians have towards one another. But forgiveness is easier said than done, for the path to forgiveness has two distinct ways to go. We can release the hurt and relinquish the resentment to God…or we can relive the hurt over and over again in our imagination, coddling it & wearing it like some bizarre badge of victimization. The decision is ours…but if we choose to give it to God, He in His perfect love, can teach us how to love those who hurt us the most.
II Corinthians 5:20 ” We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors.”
Charles Spurgeon once wrote, “Let us measure ourselves by our Master, and not by our fellow-servant: then pride will be impossible.” Anytime we compare ourselves to others in our service to the Lord, our Ministry, our holiness, our servanthood…we are measuring ourselves by worldly, humanistic standards… not God’s. That’s because our only standard-bearer is Christ. For we cannot represent Christ and conform to His principles when we are jealous and envious of other’s service to God . Our yardstick must be Christ only …otherwise pride and selfish ambition will usurp and decimate our representing Him to the world.
If you want to see God move in others…allow Him to move in you first.
We can become very adapt at seeing other’s shortcomings, while putting blinders on our own areas of sinfulness. We pray for God to intervene in other’s lives for what we judgmentally see as disobedience, defiance, and conceit…but refuse to take a hard look at our own rebellion, resistance, and vanity. Proverbs 29:23 tells us that pride will bring a man low…that’s because, when we refuse to allow God to move in our lives, we are setting ourselves up to slowly move away from His Will, not closer.
I Corinthians 15:10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect.”
It’s not the grind… your labor and toil that got you where you’re at today – it’s the grace of God. For no matter the amount of hard work, sweat & tears, it can never supersede the Sovereignity of God. You may hustle and work your fingers to the bone…but it still the Sovereign Lord and His supreme universal authority, and by His kindness & mercy that we can do anything. We are who we are, not by what we can do, but only by the King of kings and the Lord of lords. (I Timothy 6:15)
“Guard your thoughts well, for thoughts are heard in Heaven.” Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 84:11 is clear, “The Lord knows the thoughts of man”…even those secret intentions, selfish, inconsiderate, and rude thoughts hidden away in our heart. Part of this comes from our corrupt heart, (Matthew 15:19) and part comes from our Spiritual immaturity, (I Corinthians 14:20) But regardless, we are told to get rid of our stinking thinking, judgmental thoughts, and careless muses… and learn to control our thoughts and attitudes…for God is listening.
II Corinthians 7:10 ” Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to Salvation and leaves no regret…”
Turning from sin is a sincere decision to forsake evil and begin to obey God. There is the initial repentance leading to true saving faith (Mark 1:15, Acts 3:19) but more importantly, there’s the ongoing turning from sin on a daily basis in the life of every Christian. David wrote of this in Psalm 51:12, when his spiritual dullness had lead to moral bankruptcy…taking him far from his first love of the Lord. “Restore to me the joy of Your Salvation and grant me a willing Spirit to sustain me.” Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change of action on our part and promises restoration, or as Isaiah wrote, “In repentance and rest is Your Salvation, in quietness and trust is Your strength…” (Isaiah 30:15)
Psalm 125:1 “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.”
The well know Protestant Reformer, Martin Luther, wrote the famous hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”… the first verse attesting , “A mighty Fortress is our God. A Bulwark never failing. Our Helper He amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.” Martin’s inspiration for the hymn came from Psalm 46 which tells of God’s Sovereignity & power over all earthly and spiritual forces, giving us the sure hope that He will protect, intervene, and deliver us. And so our faith can be as unshakable as Mount Zion…or as Psalm 46:5 states, “God is within her, she will not fall.”
Psalm 84:5 ” Blessed are those whose strength is in You.”
When the troubles of the world have taken their toll on your life and your strength is waning, what or Who do you look to first? Do you reach for the bottle to drown your sorrows…do you numb your mind with drugs…do you immerse your being in social media? We can readily admit that all these are just distractions from reality and cannot change a thing. While on the other hand, if you go to God, you will quickly see that He is our strength in times of trouble. For as we experience His Presence, our dwindling ability to endure & resist is suddenly re-energized. You will also discover that whatever you’re going through is infinitesimal compared to the power & might of God. So go to God first, for He promises that, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.” (Isaiah 40:31)
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