This rich young ruler had everything…but lacked one thing that neither he nor all his wealth could obtain. He also knew how to play the game in approaching Jesus… saying and doing all the right things to garner favor…kneeling and calling Jesus good Teacher… feigning respect & honor. But deep inside this young man was smug, self-assured, and proud…presumptuously answering Jesus, “I’ve keep the Law since I was a boy!” But rather than confronting the lie, Jesus looked at him lovingly, but then hit him with a demand that he wasn’t expecting, “Sell everything you have and come follow Me.” Sadly, the young man turned and walked away…unwilling to change…wanting something for nothing…having every worldly thing, but still unable to obtain eternal life.
Psalm 119:81 ” My soul faints with longing for Your Salvation, but I have put my hope in Your Word.”
The early-twentieth-century Scottish Evangelist & Teacher, Oswald Chambers, once wrote, “Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God Whose ways you may not understand at the time.” It’s intentionally taking my eyes off the unknown to purposefully place my trust in Him, based on who He says He is…not on the situation I find myself currently in. And just what does God say about His character? He tells us that He is trustworthy, faithful, good, kind, caring & compassionate. He is our protector, our rock, and our refuge in times of trouble. And because of all this, I can therefore place my hope in Him.
Isaiah 55:8 ” For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord.”
Sometimes when our life is in turmoil and nothing seems to make sense, we need to stop and ask the Lord to reveal His perspective in the matter. “Lord, give me Your view of things in their true relationship and relative importance in what I can only see as a big mess in my life.” And you’ll be surprised what God will reveal to you from His point of view & stand point… things you’ve never even thought of before! That’s because God knows all things…our thoughts, (Psalm 94:11) our heart, (Psalm 44:21) from beginning to end…and we can trust in His all-knowing perspective to be perfect. So in asking for God’s perspective we can rest assured it will be exactly what He Wills for our life, “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord…” (Jeremiah 29:11)
I Peter 2:19 ” For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.”
The entire Epistle of I Peter was an exhortation to trust & obey…written by a man called The Apostle of Hope. Peter explained the purpose in the pain…the significance in our suffering…and the aim of our affliction & anguish was to look to Jesus as our model to follow in preserving through all suffering. With Peter’s encouragement in the end being, we will learn the greatest lesson of all… trust & obedience.
Hebrews 11:1 ” Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Charles Spurgeon once wrote, ” Faith enables a man both to live and to die without fear.” Hebrews Chapter 11 is known as the Faith Chapter, and if you haven’t read it in a while I’d encourage you to do so today. The Writer of Hebrews looks at faith as the certianity of receiving what God has promised but not yet given…namely eternal life. It’s the right now kind of faith that can see the future, and is the means by which we can lay hold of Christ & His blessings. This faith is the future assurance of eternal life with Him made concrete in the here and now as we live a life of steadfast belief in Him. So whether we live or die, we can be fearless… because our journey’s destination is certain.
I John 4:16-17 ” God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete…”
The love spoken about here is Agape love…unconditional & sacrificial love…for God & for one another. It’s shown in God’s love for us, demonstrated in His covenant faithfulness and His relentless pursuit of sinners in spite of their rebellion or indifference. In turn, we are to show this same type of love…first to God as obedient love, and secondly to others…completing & fulfilling to perfection this love He first gave us.
Amos 6:8 ” The Sovereign Lord has sworn by Himself – the Lord God Almighty declares: ‘I abhor the pride of Jacob and detest his fortresses; I will deliver up the city and everything in it.’ “
Israel’s pride in their military strength had usurped their reliance on God. To the point that God declared He abhorred their conceit & smugness. But it had not always been that way, as we read in Psalm 47:4, “He chose our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom He loved.” For it was only through God’s grace that Israel would come to possess the Promised Land…but know God’s anger seethed over their haughtiness of military superiority rather than acknowledging where their true deliverance came from…and as history tells us, this stubborn pride would become the downfall of Israel.
Job 22:21 ” Submit to God and be at peace with Him; in this way prosperity will come to you.”
Job’s friend, (and I use that word friend loosely) Eliphaz continued to insist that Job was guilty of great sinfulness – even though he had no evidence to support his theory. Eliphaz’s rational being…Job must of done something pretty bad for all these terrible things to happen to him. But even though his preaching was misguided, presumptuous, and crass, Eliphaz did make some good points in verses 21,22, and 23. We all have a choice to make about God…We all have the chance to accept His instruction…and we all possess the ability to change though our faith in Jesus.
II John 6 ” And this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love.”
Within this verse we have two commands…walk in obedience, & walk in love, the two going hand in hand. First, to know Christ is to have close communion and love for Him…and so by knowing Him, we keep His commands out of love not just lip-service. And the proof of our love for Him is then found in our day to day obedience. Secondly, when Jesus told His disciples to love one another, (John 13:34) it was both an old & a new commandment…old because it dated back to the dawn of the Christian era when Jesus taught its principles here on earth…but it is also a new command…continually being reapplied in new acts of love and service we do one to another. So in the end, walking in obedience & love meld together, in our relationship with the Lord and with others.
I Kings 3:9 ” Give Your servant a discerning heart to govern Your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.”
If you would stop someone on the street and ask them if they knew the difference between right and wrong, most would tell you, yes. That’s because we inherently have a moral compass called our conscience that governs our thoughts, acts, and motives…helping us to conform to the principles and standards of right & wrong in society. Except when knowing it’s wrong but doing it anyway is a whole different matter. That’s when we get cunning & crafty in our unethical and immoral behavior, (done many times under the cover of darkness)…for we don’t want to be caught. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Morality may keep you out of jail, but it takes the blood of Jesus Christ to keep you out of Hell.” For no matter how good you think you are, or how decent, honest, and upright your actions may be…you’ll never be good enough to go to Heaven on your own. That’s because it’s only by the blood of Jesus that you can be saved. (Romans 3:25)
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