SB SALT AND LIGHT MINISTRIES

Jesus tells His disciples the parable about The Prodigal Son…

From a spiritual perspective, getting lost is unavoidable.

Human nature is fundamentally flawed by sin. If people live their lives apart from God and follow their intuitions, they stay lost.

That is because getting lost—physically or spiritually—is easy.

Sinners followed Jesus eagerly. Self-righteous religious leaders constantly chided Jesus for associating with such sinners.

Finally, Jesus told this story about the Prodigal Son, to show what it means to be lost and how a loving Father waits for His lost (estranged) son to come home and be reconciled back into the family.

Rich Man, Poor Woman, but Just Alike

The Rich Man…

The European tailored suit fit in perfectly in this large, white stone house nestled among the trees on a hill overlooking Lake Zurich.

The man conversed comfortably in three languages. An executive with an international company headquartered in Switzerland, he calmly discussed that day’s unexpected fall in the market.

Obviously, it had cost him at least six figures, if not seven.

Still, he remained unconcerned. He had more where that came from and knew how to make even more.

When I tried to turn the conversation from finances to eternal riches, he turned cold.

He had heard as much about God as he wanted.

God played no hand in his world.

Intelligence and quick action were all that mattered.

The Poor Woman…

From her ragged mat spread in front of her mud two-room house, she looked helplessly up at this strange white man.

Could we tell her about Jesus? Sure, but first would we pray for her husband?

He had crossed the Kenya border into Uganda and set up housekeeping there with his other two wives.

This left her almost destitute, but that was not her prayer request. She wanted her husband to come back and spend more time with her.

One could continue the stories on and on.

One thing unites these people who live in totally different worlds.

They are lost. They do not have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

The destitute African woman was at least willing to listen to the story.

Jesus told three parables illustrating what it means to be lost, heaven’s joy when the lost are found, and how the loving Father looks to save people.

The final parable also implicated the Pharisees as those who did not share the Father’s joy over the salvation of the lost because it was not done their way.

Are you like the sinners seeking salvation and finding a Father’s love, or are you standing aside watching and wondering how in the world the Father could do that for such unworthy, unclean, sinful people?

Reading Luke 15 raises one question for you: “Am I lost?”

All people are lost until they repent of their sins and find salvation.

When even one sinner comes to the Lord, the Bible tells us that “there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents,” as his homecoming sets off a joyful celebration in heaven beyond all earthly experience or imagination.

God is not willing that any perish, but rather He loves ALL of His lost children and yearns that they should come home!

In this parable the younger son of the father demanded his share of the estate and got it.

There is no indication of why he wanted it or why the father so quickly gave it to him.

Later we will see the older brother’s attitude and surmise sibling rivalry here, as in the Old Testament stories of Jacob and Esau and of Joseph and his brothers.

The younger brother’s portion was only a third of the estate if the entire estate were divided. By law, the older brother got a double portion (Deut. 21:17).

The younger son wanted to be on his own, and so he distanced himself as far as possible from the family.

He also took up a new lifestyle. Untrained and inexperienced in money matters, he quickly had many expenses and no income.

The result came quickly: no assets. Then a famine hit the land. No one had food or work.

He was fortunate. He found a job, but what a job for a Jew!

He fed pigs in a pigpen.

Destitute of other resources, he longed to eat what he fed the pigs.

How repulsive for a law-abiding Jew to be tending the pigs; himself starving and yet he was not even allowed to eat their food.

So he fattened the pigs and starved himself.

Finally, his mind went to work again.

Humans have the capacity to change. We do not have to remain in the pigpen.

We do not have to continue to live as sinners.

We can become responsible for our lives. We can quit our riotous living. We can come home.

The younger brother came to his senses:

The day laborers on his dad’s farm had enough to eat. “And I am about to die from hunger,” he said.

“I will go back to Daddy and tell him I have sinned against him and against heaven.”

Note how this ties the story back to the beginning of the chapter and the theme of sinners.

No longer are we using animals or objects to talk about the lost. Now we have gotten down to basic facts.

People are lost. People need to realize their lost condition and admit it.

The younger son’s first step is saying, “I am a sinner.”

What is a sinner?

An unworthy person. One who deserves nothing. Yet a sinner wants something.

So the sinner searches for someone who loves the unworthy, who is willing to help the undeserving.

The sinful younger brother had forfeited his position as son. He had no more claims on his father, so he applied for a new job—day laborer.

At this point the focus shifts from son to father.

The son is on the move. The father is standing still, waiting to see his son.

Here is the poignant portrait of a busy man who has lost one of his chief helpers, taking himself away from his work to wait for a son who may never appear.

It is certainly not given that a sinner will repent.

The father did not stay still long. There he was—the son had returned.

What joy! What love! What tender compassion filled the father’s heart.

The old legs started churning. Arms stretched out. Lips reached for a kiss. The family feud was over and forgotten. My son was home.

Even the joyful welcome did not deter the son from his determined course.

He repeated the plea he had rehearsed, but somehow the last line never came out; the job application as a day laborer was never made.

The father never heard his lost son. He had business to attend to. Party time!

The son must be properly dressed for the party. Servants dashed off as they were commissioned to get the best robe, a ring, sandals—things all lost long before the pigpen.

Other servants ran to the kitchen to prepare the menu the father ordered. Nothing but the best for his son.

How could the father act like this? Did he not know what the son had done? Of course, but the son had been given up for dead.

This was resurrection time. He was lost.

We found the precious treasure for which we have hunted. The lost sheep is back.

Certainly a lost and found son is worth much more than a coin or a sheep.

Celebrate! What a picture of the Father in heaven.

How He does celebrate when the lost are found, when sinners repent.

What compassion and love He shows.

Why does Jesus associate with sinners?

Because heaven loves them and waits patiently for them to return and repent so the celebration can begin.

Let us remember that ALL of Heaven’s citizens are repentant sinners.

Jesus had given His disciples three different parables, illustrating the same point.

The sheep was lost because it foolishly wandered away (15:4), the coin was lost through no fault of its own (15:8), and the son left out of selfishness (15:12).

The point is this, God’s great love reaches out and finds sinners no matter why or how they got lost.

SELAH (let us pause and calmly think about these things)

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Sunday, February 26, 2023
Anchor Devotional

THE FATHER WHO RUNS TO YOU


“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
— Luke 15:20

Through tears, a prisoner mentee asked, “How can Jesus love me when I keep letting Him down and keep committing the same sins again and again?”

There are many comforting words for my friend and for so many of us who ask the same question.

“Your sins evoke his deepest heart for you, his compassion and pity. He is on your side.

He sides with you against your sin. He hates your sin, but he loves you” (Dane Ortlund, 2020).

Jesus is the good shepherd who goes after the one lost sheep until he finds it (see Luke 15:3-4).

He is the woman who seeks diligently until she finds her lost coin (v. 8). And He is the welcoming, forgiving father who runs to, embraces, and kisses his wayward son (v. 20).

When we struggle, we can turn to Jesus for help. When our faith is wobbly, when doubts fill our hearts, when we stumble again into the same sins,

if we will just turn toward Jesus, He will be our help.

Try as we may, we cannot pick ourselves up. Yet though we have no power of our own to turn to Him, He will come to us, seek us out, and rescue us.
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1 Peter 5:7 tells us (by faith) to cast ALL of our cares upon Him, for He cares for us…

In Hebrews, faith is active and lived out rather than a matter of mere belief.

Faith happens when we are willing to take the RISK of stepping out in obedience to God’s Word, with the underlying confidence of His trustworthiness and reliability, that what He promises us He will perform

To have faith means more than just to believe.

Hebrews defines faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Faith starts out certain.

When people believe that God will fulfill His promises, they are showing TRUE FAITH, even in the midst of all contrary feelings and or circumstantial evidence.

Jesus said to Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

When people have faith in God, they know without a doubt that He will keep His promises.

They live and make choices in this world based on the unseen reality of their future home in heaven.

They persevere in their faith despite pain, hardship, or persecution, because they are convinced that the unseen God is with them.

In short, faith in God makes all the difference, both now and for eternity; and the Bible tells us in verse 6 that without Faith we cannot please God.

The rest of chapter 11 goes on to describe the exploits of the men and women in the Old Testament, as they took the risk of stepping out in faith, in obeying God against all odds.

And in Hebrews 11:32-40 (in The Message Bible) we read:

I could go on and on, but I’ve run out of time. There are so many more—Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets. . . . Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves.

They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies.

Women received their loved ones back from the dead. There were those who, under torture, refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection.

Others braved abuse and whips, and, yes, chains and dungeons.

We have stories of those who were stoned, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; stories of vagrants wandering the earth in animal skins, homeless, friendless, powerless—the world didn’t deserve them!—making their way as best they could on the cruel edges of the world.

Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised.

God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours.
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11:32-40 These verses summarize the lives of other great men and women of faith.

Some experienced outstanding victories, even over the threat of death. But others were severely mistreated, tortured, and even killed.

Having steadfast faith in God does not guarantee a happy, carefree life.

On the contrary, our faith almost guarantees us some form of abuse from the world.

While we are on earth, we may never see the purpose of our suffering. But we can know with confidence that God will keep His promises to us.

The Old Testament records the lives of the various people who experienced these great victories.

Joshua and Deborah overthrew kingdoms (see the book of Joshua; Judges 4–5).

Nehemiah ruled with justice (see the book of Nehemiah).

Daniel was saved from the mouths of lions (Daniel 6).

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were kept from harm in the flames of a blazing furnace (Daniel 3).

Elijah escaped death by the edge of the sword from evil Queen Jezebel’s henchmen (1 Kings 19:2-21).

Hezekiah regained strength after sickness (2 Kings 20).

Gideon was strong in battle (Judges 7).

A widow’s son was brought back to life by the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 4:8-37).

We, too, can experience victory through faith in Christ.

Our victories over oppressors may be like those of the Old Testament saints, but more likely, they will be directly related to the unique role God wants us to play.

Even though our bodies deteriorate and die, we will live forever because of Christ.

In the promised resurrection, even death will be defeated, and Christ’s victory will be complete.

SELAH (let us pause and calmly think about these things)
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FRIDAY, FEB 17
Faith in All the Ages
by Henry M. Morris, PH.D.

“And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets.”
— Hebrews 11:32

Hebrews 11 is a thrilling catalog of the faithful servants of God in all the ancient ages. There were Abel, Enoch, and Noah before the Flood; then Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph in the patriarchal age; followed by Moses, Joshua, and Rahab in the time of the exodus and conquest. Finally, today’s verse summarizes the periods of the judges (Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthae), the kings (Samuel, David), and the prophets.

All these were men and women of great faith, though each had to endure great testing. They, as the writer says, “stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword…had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder…destitute, afflicted, tormented” (Hebrews 11:33-37).
In every age, men and women of faith were more often than not despised and persecuted by the world (even by the religious world!), but the Bible notes, parenthetically, that it was they “of whom the world was not worthy” (Hebrews 11:38). In God’s sight, they all “obtained a good report through faith” (Hebrews 11:39), and this is worth more than all the world, for it is the entrance into a far better and eternal world.

Note that faith is not a sentimental wishfulness but a strong confidence in God and His Word, through Jesus Christ, who is Himself “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Like those of past ages, we can also “run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1) through the faith He offers us.
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Isaiah 9:6 says,

“For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder.

And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace!
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What happened in Caesarae Philippi?…

Matthew 16:13-21
Peter’s confession of Christ

The Transfiguration (17:1–8)

17:1, 2 Six days after the incident at Caesarea Philippi, Jesus took Peter, James, and John up to a high mountain, somewhere in Galilee.

Many commentators attach significance to the six days.

Gaebelein, for instance, says: “Six is a man’s number, the number signifying the days of work.

After six days—after work and man’s day is run out then the day of the Lord, the Kingdom.”

Peter, James, and John, who seem to have occupied a place of special nearness to the Savior, were privileged to see Him transfigured.

Up to now His glory had been veiled in a body of flesh. But now His face and clothes became radiant like the sun and dazzling bright, a visible manifestation of His deity, just as the glory cloud or Shekinah in the OT symbolized the presence of God.

The scene was a preview of what the Lord Jesus will be like when He comes back to set up His kingdom.

He will no longer appear as the sacrificial Lamb but as the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

All who see Him will recognize Him immediately as God the Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Jesus’ followers took a risk when they believed that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God.

Though they had seen Jesus’ power and authority daily, this transformation of Jesus proved that Jesus was God’s Son—the Messiah.

Max Lucado puts it this way…

Light spilled out of Him. Brilliant. Explosive. Shocking. Brightness poured through every pore of His skin and stitch of His robe.

Jesus on fire. To look at His face was to look squarely into Alpha Centauri (a triple star system in the southern constellation of Centaurus).

Mark wants us to know that Jesus’ “clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them” (Mark 9:3).

This radiance was not the work of a laundry; it was the presence of God.

Scripture habitually equates God with light and light with holiness.

“God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

He dwells in “unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16).

The transfigured Christ, then, is Christ in His purest form.

It’s also Christ as His truest self, wearing His pre-Bethlehem and post-Resurrection wardrobe . . . One who is “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” (Hebrews 7:26).

A diamond with no flaw, a rose with no bruise, a song on perfect pitch, and a poem with impeccable rhyme. . . . They were gripped deep in their gut that God was, at once, everywhere and here.

The very sight of the glowing Galilean sucked all air and arrogance out of them, leaving them appropriately prostrate.

Face-first on the ground. “They fell on their faces and were greatly afraid” (Matthew 17:6). . . . In the end we respond like the apostles.

We, too, fall on our faces and worship. And when we do, the hand of the carpenter extends through the tongue of towering fire and touches us.

“Arise, and do not be afraid” (17:7).

(From Fearless by Max Lucado)

When did God open your eyes to accept Jesus?

Recount the experience when God took your heart and made it new.

Thank Him for His awesome love and grace that He has extended to you, in your own life.

And in your daily routine today, look for a way to tell someone else your story.

SELAH (Let us pause and calmly think about these things)

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Thursday, Feb 16
The Berean
Daily Verse and Comment

Matthew 17:1-6

(1) Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves;

(2) and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.

(3) And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.

(4) Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

(5) While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying,

“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”

(6) And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.
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Jesus clearly calls this mysterious occurrence a “vision” (verse 9). It was not reality but a glimpse of what the future held for Jesus Christ.

The word “transfigured” in verse 2 sounds esoteric, but it is merely the passive form of the Greek word metamorphoo, meaning “changed in form” or “transformed.”

This same word is used in the well-known Romans 12:2, “. . . be transformed by the renewing of your mind. . . .”

Unlike Matthew and Mark, Luke uses the phrase egeneto heteron, translated as “was altered” and meaning “became different” (Luke 9:29).

In the vision, the three disciples saw Jesus change to the form He will have in God’s Kingdom, which He alluded to in Matthew 16:28.

Why did Moses and Elijah appear with Him?

This is where the events of Matthew 16 become important.

These two servants of God were the most revered among all the Old Testament figures.

Moses, the Great Lawgiver, personified the Law, and Elijah, the Archetypal Prophet, the Prophets.

Evidently, the vision depicted Moses and Elijah speaking to Jesus in a servant-Master relationship, but the disciples failed to see this vital distinction.

Notice how Peter puts it.

“Let’s make three tabernacles, one for each of you.”

The other accounts say he did not really know what he was saying, meaning that he had missed something in his fear, that he spoke without thinking it through (Mark 9:6; Luke 9:33).

What happened as a result of his thoughtless comment?

Notice that Matthew writes, “While he was still speaking. . . .”

This is a big clue. God, immediately seeing that the disciples did not understand, took steps to make it plain.

To paraphrase what God says, “Look! Jesus is MY beloved Son, and He has MY highest approval.

Listen to what HE says! He is far greater than Moses and Elijah, the Law and the Prophets.”

This is why the transfiguration occurred.

God wanted to make it very clear to the disciples that His way of life is based on the life and death and life again of Jesus Christ, not on the Jews’ traditional beliefs.

He had to stun the disciples so that they would put Jesus and His teachings on a higher level than Judaism—even higher than the teachings of Moses and Elijah.

Whatever Jesus says is far more important to our salvation than the minutiae of Moses’ law or the vagaries of prophecy.

In many instances, Jesus makes upgrades to Old Testament law, giving a higher, spiritual meaning (for instance, Matthew 5:21-22). Hear Him!
— Richard T. Ritenbaugh
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This is a question we all need to consider…

Are you too busy with your life to consider God and to give Him first place in your life?

Don’t you realize that we are His creation, that it is He who made us, that we belong to Him and we did not make ourselves?

If you don’t realize that then you’ve been educated beyond your intelligence!

Galatians 1:16 tells us that, “For in Him (Jesus) ALL things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.

All things were created through Him and for Him”; and in John 1:3, we are told, “All things came into being through Him (Jesus), and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being.”

In Luke 14:15, Jesus tells a parable about a wedding feast which the Father in Heaven is planning for His children, and this parable illustrates the low regard that so many of His children have for Him.

The first thing necessary for one to obey the gospel message and be born-again, to have their sins forgiven and be reconciled back into God’s family again is that they have to recognize the value of what God is offering them!

What an honor and privilege it is that God is a requesting the honor of our presence at His wedding banquet!

Luke 14:15-33
The Message

The Story of the Dinner Party
15 (Someone said) “…How fortunate is the one who gets to eat dinner in God’s kingdom!”

16-17 Jesus followed up. “Yes. For there was once a man who threw a great dinner party and invited many.

When it was time for dinner, he sent out his servant to the invited guests, saying, ‘Come on in; the food’s on the table.’

18 “Then they all began to beg off, one after another making excuses.

The first said, ‘I bought a piece of property and need to look it over. Send my regrets.’

19 “Another said, ‘I just bought five teams of oxen, and I really need to check them out. Send my regrets.’

20 “And yet another said, ‘I just got married and need to get home to my wife.’

21 “The servant went back and told the master what had happened.

He was outraged and told the servant, ‘Quickly, get out into the city streets and alleys.

Collect all who look like they need a square meal, all the misfits and homeless and down-and-out you can lay your hands on, and bring them here.’

22 “The servant reported back, ‘Master, I did what you commanded—and there’s still room.’

23-24 “The master said, ‘Then go to the country roads. Whoever you find, drag them in. I want my house full!

Let me tell you, not one of those originally invited is going to get so much as a bite at my dinner party.’”

Figure the Cost
25-27 One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them,

“Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one’s own self!—can’t be my disciple.

Anyone who won’t shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can’t be my disciple.

28-30 “Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn’t first sit down and figure the cost so you’ll know if you can complete it?

If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you’re going to look pretty foolish.

Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: ‘He started something he couldn’t finish.’

31-32 “Or can you imagine a king going into battle against another king without first deciding whether it is possible with his ten thousand troops to face the twenty thousand troops of the other? And if he decides he can’t, won’t he send an emissary and work out a truce?

33 “Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can’t be my disciple.
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Let’s take another look at verse 26, which in the New King James Bible says, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.”

Jesus here is telling those who follow Him that in order to be His disciple, they must love Him supremely, above all else.

One point that becomes very clear, as we understand the Second Commandment, is that ANYTHING that we put at a higher value and importance in our life than our relationship and devotion to God is an idol.

He’s not suggesting that men should have bitter hatred in their hearts toward father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters.

Rather He is emphasizing that love for Christ must be so great that all other loves are hatred by comparison (cf. Matt. 10:37).

No consideration of family ties must ever be allowed to deflect a disciple from a pathway of full obedience to the Lord.

Actually, the most difficult part of this first term of discipleship is found in the words “and his own life also.”

It is not only that we must love our relatives less; we must hate our own lives also!

Instead of living self-centered lives, we must live Christ-centered lives.

1 John 2:6 makes it very clear that WHOEVER says that he or she (is a Christian)that their lives [abides and remains] in God, they must learn to live and walk as Jesus lived and walked.

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What is the fear of the Lord…

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
— Proverbs 9:10

The word “fear” is typically used in a negative context. When we are afraid of something, it’s usually because that particular something is bad or negative in some way.

But what about when we are talking about the fear of the Lord? God isn’t bad or negative — we know God is a good God. He is our Heavenly Father, our creator who loves us and who made each of us in His image.

So why are we supposed to fear the Lord? What is the fear of the Lord?

Proverbs 19:23

The fear of the Lord leads to life,
So that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil.

Isaiah 33:6

And He will be the stability of your times,
A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge;
The fear of the Lord is his treasure.

Proverbs 14:26

In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence,
And his children will have refuge.

Proverbs 14:27

The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.

Luke 1:50

And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

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God’s Word tells us that He inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3)…

Read Psalm 22

What does that mean that God inhabits the praises of His people?

Psalm 22 is a prophetic psalm of David presenting Jesus Christ as the Savior who laid down His life.

The psalm begins by portraying the rejection and abandonment Christ suffered on the cross (Psalm 22:1–2; cf. Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34).

Yet, immediately, the suffering Messiah makes a strong declaration of trust in God:

“But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel” (Psalm 22:3, KJV).

As the bearer of humanity’s sins, Christ was destined to experience untold pain and anguish (Isaiah 53:4–6, 10; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

In the seemingly endless silence in which God does not answer—perhaps the worst moment of torment Christ would ever know—the Son reminds Himself of God’s sovereign position:

“Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel” (Psalm 22:3, ESV).

The word enthroned here describes the circumstance of sitting, remaining, or dwelling somewhere.

(The phrasing God inhabits the praise of His people comes from the King James Version of Psalm 22:3.)

When the Messiah declared, “God inhabits the praise of His people” in Psalm 22:3, He expressed His absolute trust in God.

No matter what was happening at that moment or how alone He felt, the Messiah knew that God was present and in control, ruling over His hour of greatest need (see 1 Peter 2:23).

God the Father had not abandoned Him. God was working out His sovereign plan, and the Messiah would soon be delivered (see Psalm 22:4–5).

Here’s just one example of how this truth should be applicable in our everyday life, if we would each day put on the mind of Christ…

“As she slipped and fell next to her car on an icy January morning, Aileen said aloud, “Praise the Lord!”

The woman stepping from the next car was surprised by the elderly woman’s words at a time that did not seem praiseworthy to her.

As they sought care for the resulting broken arm, Aileen shared her view of praise.

‘If I hadn’t praised God, I would probably have chastised myself for being so clumsy. Or I might have criticized the store management for not tending the parking lot better. I’m sure I would have felt more pain because I would have been angry and focused on myself. Praise somehow sets things right with God and with me.’ ”
(From the Franciscan Spirit Blog)

Praise works! We may never understand in this life how, but it does work wonders.

Clearly if God inhabits the praises of His people then the best way to get God involved with your circumstances is to praise Him in the midst of your circumstances.

SELAH (let us pause and calmly think about these things)

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Let us put on the full armor of God each and every day…

Ephesians 6:10-18
Expanded Bible

Wear the Full Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His ·great [strong; mighty] power.

11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can fight against the devil’s ·evil tricks [schemes].

12 [For] Our ·fight [conflict; struggle] is not against ·people on earth [flesh and blood] but against the rulers and authorities and the ·powers [or cosmic powers/rulers] of this ·world’s darkness [darkness], against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly ·world [realm; places].

13 ·That is why you need to [For this reason,] put on God’s full armor.

Then on the day of evil [persecution generally or end-time tribulation] you will be able to ·stand strong [keep your ground; resist the enemy].

And ·when you have finished the whole fight [after you have done/accomplished everything], you will still be standing.

14 So stand ·strong [or ready], with the belt of truth tied around your waist and the ·body armor [breastplate] of ·right living [a righteous life; or God’s own righteousness/justice; righteousness].

15 On your feet wear the ·Good News [Gospel] of peace ·to help you stand strong [for firm footing; or to be fully prepared].

16 And ·also [in addition to all this; or in all circumstances] use the shield of faith with which you can ·stop [extinguish] all the ·burning arrows [fiery darts] of the Evil One.

17 ·Accept [Receive; or Take] the helmet of salvation, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the ·word [message] of God.

18 Pray ·in [or in dependence on] the Spirit at all times with all ·kinds of prayers [prayers and requests], asking for everything you need.

To do this you must always be ·ready [alert] ·and never give up [with all perseverance].

Always pray for all ·God’s people [the saints]. Amen
____

In the Christian life we battle against “rulers and authorities” (the powerful evil forces of fallen angels headed by the devil, who is a vicious fighter; see 1 Peter 5:8).

To withstand their attacks, we must depend on God’s strength and use EVERY piece of his armor.

Isaiah similarly mentions God’s armor (Isaiah 11:5; 49:2).

Paul gives this counsel not only to the church, the body of Christ, but also to each individual within it.

The whole body needs to be armed!

Satan checks for weak spots; he knows them all. So we must help each other, stand our ground, and resist the enemy until the end of the battle. Don’t try to face him unarmed.

We are engaged in a spiritual battle—ALL believers find themselves subject to the devil’s attacks because they are no longer on the devil’s side.

Thus, Paul tells us to use EVERY piece of God’s armor to resist these attacks and to stand firm, staying true to God in the midst of them.

These who are not “flesh-and-blood enemies” are demons over whom the devil has control.

They are not mere fantasies—they are very real.

We face a powerful army whose goal is to defeat Christ’s church.

When we believe in Christ, these beings become our enemies, and they try every device to turn us away from Him and back to sin.

Although we are assured of victory, we must engage in the struggle until Christ returns, because Satan is constantly battling against all who are on the Lord’s side.

We need SUPERNATURAL POWER to defeat Satan, and God has provided this by giving us his Holy Spirit within us and His armor surrounding us.

If you feel discouraged, remember Jesus’ words to Peter: “Upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell WILL NOT CONQUER IT (Matthew 16:18).

When the enemy, the ruler of this world (John 12:31), sends his flaming arrows of temptation, doubt, lust, anger, despair, or desire for vengeance at us, we can hold up our shields and stop them.

We are assured that “every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith” (1 John 5:4).

Stand in faith against Satan with firm courage, even when he uses his most fearsome weapons. God assures you of victory.

The Bible tells us that we are “more than conquerors,” but ONLY THROUGH CHRIST, He’s the Vine we are the branches and we can do nothing of significance without Him!

SELAH (Pause and calmly think about these things)

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Our problems come to make us strong…

“I believe that God can and will bring good out of evil, even out of the greatest evil.

For that purpose He needs men who make the best use of everything.

I believe that God will give us all the strength we need to help us to resist in all times of distress.

But He never gives it in advance, lest we should rely on ourselves and not on Him alone.

A faith such as this should allay all our fears for the future.”
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The next time fear rises, turn your attention to God’s promises.

Turn your spirit to His. Ignite your faith by prayer and reading His Word.

Replace every fearful thought with Scripture because God is bigger than our fears.

Corrie Ten Boone once told the story about how she became worried about what may happen to her and her family in the future, as a result of their being a part of this underground railroad, smuggling Jews out of Holland.

This is what her father told her:

Father sat down on the edge of the narrow bed.

“Corrie,” he began gently, “when you and I go to Amsterdam-when do I give you your ticket?”

I sniffed a few times, considering this.

“Why, just before we get on the train.”

“Exactly. And our wise Father in heaven knows when we’re going to need things, too.

Don’t run out ahead of Him,

Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need-just in time.

[From Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place]
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God will give you what you need when you need it!

God will only allow things to happen in your life that you can handle and that requires you to become the person He has created you to be!

God is always giving us what we need because He knows our story!

He knows what we need in order to become the best and strongest version of ourselves.

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

One of the most difficult parts of the Christian life is the fact that becoming a disciple of Christ does not make us immune to life’s trials and tribulations.

Why would a good and loving God allow us to go through such things as the death of a child, disease and injury to ourselves and our loved ones, financial hardships, worry and fear?

Surely, if He loved us, He would take all these things away from us.

After all, doesn’t loving us mean He wants our lives to be easy and comfortable?

Well, no, it doesn’t. The Bible clearly teaches that God loves those who are His children, and He “works all things together for good” for us (Romans 8:28).

So that must mean that the trials and tribulations He allows in our lives are part of the working together of all things for good.

Therefore, for the believer, all trials and tribulations must have a divine purpose.

As in all things, God’s ultimate purpose for us is to grow more and more into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29).

This is the goal of the Christian, and everything in life, including the trials and tribulations, is designed to enable us to reach that goal.

It is part of the process of sanctification, being set apart for God’s purposes and fitted to live for His glory.

The way trials accomplish this is explained in 1 Peter 1:6-7:

“In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

The true believer’s faith will be made sure by the trials we experience so that we can rest in the knowledge that it is real and will last forever.

Even the Bible says of Jesus that “He learned obedience through the things He suffered (Heb 5:8)

With each trial comes an invitation from God to enter into a new experiential relationship with Him, they come not to defeat you, but to make you stronger!

SELAH (Let us pause and calmly think about these things)

And then come join the Adventure!

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Faith and positive thinking have two entirely different ultimate objectives…

Life is about our learning to walk by faith, and our learning to trust in God with all of our heart, mind and strength!

We’re told in the Bible that once we are born-again that we have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:13-16
Expanded Bible

13 And we speak about these things, not with words taught us by human wisdom but with words taught us by the Spirit.

And so we explain spiritual truths ·to spiritual people [or to those who have the Spirit; or with the Spirit’s words].

14 A ·person who does not have the Spirit [or natural person] does not accept the ·truths [things] that come from the Spirit of God.

That person thinks they are foolish and cannot understand them, because they can only be ·judged to be true [discerned; assessed] by the Spirit.

15 The ·spiritual person [or person with the Spirit] is able to ·judge [discern; assess] all things, but no one can ·judge [discern; assess] him. ·The Scripture says [For]:

16 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Who has been able to ·teach [advise; counsel] him [Is. 40:13]?”

But we have the mind of Christ [the Holy Spirit reveals God and his ways to us; Rom. 11:34].
____

Positive thinking and faith may be similar, but they are different.

Positive thinking is limited by the abilities of the individual.

Faith has no limits because God has no limits.

Mark 11:22
“Jesus told His disciples: Have faith in God!”

Positive thinking attempts to use your own power or an ambiguous “higher power” to fulfill your own personal agenda.

Faith relies on God’s power!

Positive thinking is all about your agenda and you manipulating your environment.

Faith is all about God’s agenda and allowing God to fulfill His will and purpose for your life.

Positive thinking is all about yourself and what you can get.

Faith is all about God and what He can do through you.

Positive thinking is filled with pride due to personal manipulation of the spiritual realm.

Faith is filled with humility due to the recognition that your power comes from God.

Positive thinking is all about the creation; faith is all about the Creator.

Positive thinking is about satisfying self; faith is about glorifying God.

The process whereby we put on the mind of Christ is called repentance (Grk: metánoia), which literally means to change the way you think.

Through our meditation and studying of God’s Word, and our praying in the Holy Spirit (what Romans 8:26 calls allowing the Holy Spirit to pray through us in the perfect will of God), is the process whereby we are putting on the mind of Christ.

Romans 8:26
Expanded Bible

26 ·Also [or In the same way], the Spirit helps us ·with [or in] our weakness.

We do not know ·how to pray as we should [or what we ought to pray for].

But the Spirit himself ·speaks to God for us [intercedes] with ·deep feelings [groanings] ·that words cannot explain [or that are inexpressible; or that are unspoken; or too deep for words].

1 Corinthians 2:6-13
Expanded Bible

God’s Wisdom
6 However, we speak wisdom to those who are mature. But this wisdom is not from this ·world [age] or from the rulers of this ·world [age], who ·are losing their power [will soon disappear; are passing away].

7 We speak God’s ·secret wisdom [or wisdom in a mystery; 2:1], which he has kept hidden.

Before the ·world began [ages], God ·planned [decreed; destined] this wisdom for our glory.

8 None of the rulers of this ·world [age] understood it.

If they had, they would not have crucified the ·Lord of glory [glorious Lord].

9 But as it is written in the Scriptures:

“No ·one [eye] has ever seen this,
and no ·one [ear] has ever heard about it.

No ·one [human heart] has ever imagined
what God has prepared for those who love him [Is. 64:4].”

10 But God has ·shown [revealed to] us these things through the Spirit.

[For] The Spirit ·searches out [examines; scrutinizes] all things, even the ·deep secrets [deep things; depths] of God.

11 Who knows the thoughts that another person has?

Only a person’s spirit that lives within him knows his thoughts.

It is the same with God. No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

12 Now we did not receive the spirit of the world, but we received the Spirit that is from God so that we can know all that God has [freely] given us.

13 And we speak about these things, not with words taught us by human wisdom but with words taught us by the Spirit.

And so we explain spiritual truths ·to spiritual people [or to those who have the Spirit; or with the Spirit’s words].
____

It is through this process of our studying and meditating in God’s Word and pray in the Holy Spirit that we are allowing the Holy Spirit to rewrite the code, in other words to correct the negative programming we all have received from the world, and to replace it with God the Father’s mind and His will, which is that we be conformed into the image of His Son.

Romans 8:29-30
Expanded Bible

29 ·God knew them (each of us) before he made the world [For those whom he foreknew…], ·and he chose them […he also predestined/chose beforehand] to be ·like [molded to the pattern of; conformed to the image of] his Son so that Jesus would be the firstborn [the preeminent one, but also indicating others will follow] of many brothers and sisters [Jesus’ resurrection confirms that his followers will also share in God’s glory].

30 And those God ·chose to be like his Son [predestined; chose beforehand], he also called; and those he called, he also ·made right with him [declared righteous; justified]; and those he ·made right [declared righteous; justified], he also glorified [both a past act in Christ, and a future transformation].
____

Paul tells us in Philippians that we are to let the same mind that was in Christ be in us, in other words we are to put on the mind of Christ each and every day.

Philippians 2:5-11
Expanded Bible

Be Unselfish like Christ
5 In your lives you must ·think and act like [have the same attitude as] Christ Jesus. [What follows may be from an early Christian hymn.]

6 ·Christ himself was like God in everything [Who, being in the form of God].

But he did not think that being equal with God was something to be ·used for his own benefit [or grasped; seized; held on to].

7 But he ·gave up his place with God and made himself nothing [emptied himself].

He ·became like [took the form of] a ·servant [slave; bondservant]
and was born ·as a man [in the likeness of humanity/men].

8 And ·when he was living [being found in appearance/likeness] as a ·man [human being],
he humbled himself and was fully obedient to God,
even ·when that caused his [to the point of] death—death on a cross.

9 So God ·raised [exalted] him to the highest place.

God ·made his name [or gave him the name] ·greater than [far above] every other name

10 so that every knee will bow to the name of Jesus—
everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.

11 And ·everyone [every tongue] will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord
and bring glory to God the Father.
___

The objective of the world is to take your God given gifts and talents in order that you may consume it upon yourself and to fulfill your ambitions in life, without considering God’s destiny and purpose for your life.

And it’s that attitude, by itself, that is the nature of what sin is.

This is what God’s will is for each one of us, and that is that if we are a follower of Christ that we must learn to walk as Jesus walked.

1 John 2:6
Expanded Bible

Whoever says that he ·lives [abides; remains] in God must ·live [walk] as ·Jesus lived [he walked].
____

And in so doing, we offer ourselves each day as a living sacrifice.

Romans 12:1-2
J.B. Phillips New Testament

We have seen God’s mercy and wisdom: how shall we respond?

1-2 With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him.

Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.

SELAH (let us pause and calmly think on these things)

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Psalm 90: Eternal Perspective…

“O God, stamp eternity on my eyeballs!”
— Jonathan Edwards

Moses asks that the people be taught to number their days in light of God’s eternality, sovereignty, and mercy, and he acknowledges that from eternity past to eternity future God is God.

In Psalm 90 the psalmist asked God to bless His people in view of life’s brevity.

This “one of the most magisterial of the psalms” has been called a communal psalm of trust, but it also contains lament.

Read it especially when you have lost your eternal perspective.

“The psalms of trust are written for the express purpose of declaring the psalmist’s trust in God. . . . A second element of the psalms of trust or confidence is the invitation to trust issued to the community. . . . A third element of this group of psalms is the basis for trust. . . . A fourth element in the psalms of trust is petition. . . . Given the nature of the psalmist’s faith, it is not surprising that in at least two instances a fifth element enters the psalm.

The worshiper makes a vow or promise to praise the Lord (16:7; 27:6b; 115:17-18). . . . The sixth element, and next to the declaration of trust, the most frequent component of the psalms of trust, is the interior lament.

It is not a lament as such, but the remnant of one.”

“In an age which was readier than our own to reflect on mortality and judgment, this psalm was an appointed reading (with 1 Cor. 15) at the burial of the dead: a rehearsal of the facts of death and life which, if it was harsh at such a moment, wounded to heal.

Read Psalm 90

Here’s the backstory to set the scene for Psalm 90…

The scene is the Wilderness of Sinai.

It has been years since the spies returned to Kadesh-Barnea with their evil report.

Now the people are still trekking around the desert but getting nowhere in the process (going in circles).

It is an exercise in futility. Every morning a reporter comes to Moses’ tent with a fresh report of casualties.

Deaths, deaths, deaths, and more deaths.

Obituaries are the commonest item of news, and the desert seems to be an expanding cemetery.

Every time the people break camp, they leave another field of graves behind.

On this particular day, Moses the man of God has had all he can take.

Overwhelmed by the mounting toll, he retreats into his tent, prostrates himself on the ground and pours out this prayer to God.

In the only psalm attributed to him, Moses remembered his pain over the sins of the people (see Exodus 32:9–14).

This psalm celebrated David’s glorious reign.

David’s reign was successful because God sustained him.

One of David’s descendants (Jesus Christ) would reign over God’s people forever.

Moses began by attributing eternality to Yahweh.

All generations of believers have found Him to be a protective shelter from the storms of life.

God existed before He created anything, even the “world” (Heb. tebel, lit. the productive earth).

This Hebrew word is a poetic synonym for “earth” (Heb. ‘eres, i.e., the planet).

God outlasts man. He creates him and then sees him return to “dust” (Heb. dakka, lit. pulverized material).

From God’s eternal perspective 1,000 years are as a day is to us (2 Pet. 3:8).

This does not mean that God is outside time.

Time simply does not bind or limit Him as it does us.

All events are equally vivid to Him.

Time is the instrument we use to mark the progression and relationship of events.

God’s personal timeline has no end, whereas ours stretches only about 70 years before we die.

Human life is therefore quite brief compared to God’s eternality.

Life is all about our entering into intimacy with God, to fellowship with Him and commune with Him; and our learning to trust Him in every area of our life!

“Children love to swing. There’s nothing like it. Thrusting your feet toward the sky, leaning so far backward that everything looks upside down.

Spinning trees, a stomach that jumps into your throat. Ah, swinging. . . . I learned a lot about trust on a swing.

As a child, I only trusted certain people to push my swing.

If I was being pushed by people I trusted (like Dad or Mom), they could do anything they wanted.

They could twist me, turn me, stop me . . . But let a stranger push my swing (which often happened at family reunions and Fourth of July picnics), and it was hang on, baby!

Who knew what this newcomer would do?

When a stranger pushes your swing, you tense up, ball up, and hang on. . . . We live in a stormy world.

At this writing, wars rage in both hemispheres of our globe.

World conflict is threatening all humanity. Jobs are getting scarce. Money continues to get tight.

Families are coming apart at the seams. . . . We must remember who is pushing the swing.

We must put our trust in Him. We can’t grow fearful. He won’t let us tumble out.”
(From On the Anvil by Max Lucado)

When do you feel safe?

When your spouse is with you?

When the doors are locked?

When the alarm is on?

When you have enough money for any situation?

All of these securities can fail. Ask God to help you depend on Him for your security.

SELAH (let us pause and calmly think about these things)
____________________________

Friday, January 6, 2023
Worthy Brief

DON’T BE FOOLED, TIME IS SHORT AND PRECIOUS!

Psalms 90:12
“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

Ephesians 5:16
” …redeeming the time because the days are evil.”

Ecclesiastes 3:17
“a time for every purpose”

James 4:13-15
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

As we enter a New Year, remember the one constant true for everyone, rich or poor, male or female: each of us is given 8,760 hours in a Gregorian calendar year.

That is, 1,440 minutes a day, or 525,600 minutes a year.

Sounds like a lot, yet have you noticed how time flies these days?

Personally, I can’t find enough hours in a day to accomplish all that I want to.

When I was younger I had all the time in the world. These days its rate of passage is just short of astonishing.

It seems, for example, like yesterday, that 9/11 happened. It’s been 21 years.

Kids entering the army now weren’t even born yet!

And time is one thing we cannot recapture once lost.

Are we behaving like we have all the time in the world?

We don’t, and it was always an illusion to think otherwise.

Time is precious. A heart of wisdom will rightly value the limited and uncertain portion allotted, and will make the most of it.

Seize the day. Discover the purpose for the time.

The Lord will guide and empower you to live meaningfully and fruitfully, even as if today is the last day of your life; (it actually could be).

If you need to, repent. If you need to, reconcile; don’t wait.

Pray for the Lord’s economy in your use of time.

You’ll be amazed at the ways He inspires, arranges, and invests your time with His wonderful purposes.

Every minute of your life will be assessed according to His value. So make the most of it… Shabbat Shalom!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Baht Rivka, Obadiah and Elianna (Going to Christian College in Dallas, Texas)
Dallas, Texas
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