Is it Safe? His Truth, Your Shield – Psalm 91– Purity 730
Purity 730 05/13/2022
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a sunrise just beneath some clouds over the Atlantic
Ocean comes to us from a friend in Jacksonville who shared this photo to wish
all of his friends a good morning back
on the first day of the month. He also shared his hopes for his favorite sports
team’s success with a simple “Go Yankees. Go Jets.” We can understand the Go Yankees. As they had
a game against the Kansas City Royals that day, in which they won 6 to 4, but
the Jets?
Well my friend is a loyal and suffering Jets fan and as it was the
first day of the new month, so we could consider that day as “May Day”. So why
not speak, his allegiance to the Jets on “May Day”, because as their recent history
reveals, the Jets could use all the help they could get!
And in this world with its penchant for calling what is evil good,
and calling what is good evil, and current economic inflation, we could use all
the help we can get too!
Well, it’s Friday again, and as some will undoubtedly correctly call
us to give thanks to the Lord for the day, we should realize that we can always
give thanks to God regardless of the day because although it may not always
seem like it, He is always helping. As Psalm 121 reminds us, our help comes from
the Lord.
Psalm
121:1-2 (NKJV)
1
I
will lift up my eyes to the hills-- From whence comes my help?
2
My
help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
Of course,
to make a legitimate claim to the Lord’s help, we should have a personal relationship
with Him through faith in His Son, Jesus. Although God’s common grace is poured out on
everyone, as the sun will shine on the unjust just as much as it will shine on
the just, those who put their faith in Christ are forgiven of their
transgressions, adopted into God’s family, and given the role of ambassadors to
His kingdom.
The promises
of God apply to those who trust in Him but the enjoyment of those promises
really comes from being in a close personal relationship with the Lord and from
knowing what those promises are by studying God’s word.
At last
night’s Freedom in Christ Discipleship Course Zoom meeting, one of the
participants shared how he has greatly benefited from the content of the course
thus far stating that he never knew that his faith in Christ could
fundamentally change the way he not only viewed himself and world but it could change
how he lived his life. He stated that he never knew how there was great hope
and peace to be found in his identity in Christ and how living according to the
Lord’s ways could help him to solve his problems and could give him strength to
persevere when he was in the midst of them. He never knew what was possible
until He listened to what God’s word had to say about Him.
This morning
my ongoing relationship with the Lord brought me to the study of Psalm 91 and I
just have to share it because of the mighty promises of God that it
contains. Some of these verses or their
themes may sound familiar because they have been shared by others to encourage
us in our faith and in what the Lord can do.
Psalm
91:1-16 (NKJV)
1
He
who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of
the Almighty.
2
I
will say of the LORD, "He
is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust."
3
Surely
He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous
pestilence.
4
He
shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
5
You
shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that
flies by day,
6
Nor
of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that
lays waste at noonday.
7
A
thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But
it shall not come near you.
8
Only
with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.
9
Because
you have made the LORD, who is
my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
10
No
evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
12
In
their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a
stone.
13 You
shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you
shall trample underfoot.
And Here God speaks, Saying:
14
"Because
he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on
high, because he has known My name.
15
He
shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in
trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
16
With
long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation."
Psalm 91 speaks about the promises of protection that Lord
provides to those who make Him their refuge and fortress. There are testimonies throughout the history
of Christendom of amazing moments of deliverance and protection. There are lots of “near misses” in our lives
that some people could ascribe to luck but as God is sovereign we know that
nothing happens that is not controlled or allowed by Him.
We can glory in that when
things go well but boy are we challenged when bad things happen. Looking at
Psalm 91, the enemy and skeptics would say where was God when “the plague” of
Covid-19 came or when lives of civilians were lost in the Ukraine, and everywhere
else?
This world is broken by sin and the evil that men do to one
another. The enemy seeks to kill, steal and destroy but God also uses calamity
to judge and chastise the people of the earth.
Those are some hard truths. The problem of pain is big
problem. But the pain has a purpose. The
suffering in this world will cause us to seek help. The pain is supposed to cause us to seek help
from the Lord. Only He can save us.
While we are all destined to die because of the effects of Adam’s
fall, for through his disobedience sin came into the world and with it, death, the Lord calls us to forgiveness and
everlasting life through His Son.
While we are on the earth and walking and talking with God we
will enjoy providential moves of God to protect us that simply amaze us. But
one day our number will be called, and at that time, when our final breath is
expelled, we will truly know just amazing God’s grace is as we transition from
life here and go into God’s eternal kingdom.
So is it safe here on earth?
Not really. I mean look around. We should wear our seatbelts and be wise
and cautious to avoid dangers because let’s face it we can use all the help we
can get.
And while we could twist the words of Psalm 91 by being reckless,
like Satan did when He tempted Christ in the desert by saying to Him:
Matthew 4:5-6 (NKJV)
6…, "If You are the Son of
God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall
give His angels charge over you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.' "
We still need to be wise like Jesus and
not take Satan’s bait to test the Lord. We should not twist the word to try to
declare our right to safety, good health, a long life or to be blessed with prosperity
even though those things are possible results of living by faith.
We have to be balanced and responsible
with the great and precious promises that the Lord makes because as Christ said
to Satan:
Matthew 4:7 (NKJV)
7 "It
is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD
your God.' "
We don’t tempt God, we trust Him. We
don’t demand safety and prosperity. We
humbly ask for it and accept whatever He gives us on this earth because we know
that it’s not all about us and it’s not all about what happens here on earth
for we know that there is an unseen kingdom that will come where our
faithfulness to follow and trust in the Lord will be abundantly rewarded.
So keep walking and talking with
God. Get to know just what is possible in a life of faith in Jesus Christ, by
getting to know the Lord’s will for our lives that is revealed in His word and
by abiding in His presence as we walk through the valley of the shadow of
death. But we need not fear for the Lord is our shield, our fortress, and our
refuge and in Christ we are safe. For He
said:
John 11:25-26 (NKJV)
25 "I
am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he
shall live.
26 And
whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
So let’s believe this. Let’s thank
God it’s Friday and let’s thank Him for the safety and help we have through our
faith in Jesus Christ. He will protect
us here on earth and gives us the ultimate protection of eternal life when its
time to call us home, because there is nothing that can separate us from His
love.
______________________________________________________________
Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book
for Men”.
This morning’s meditation verse is:
Luke 16:10 (NKJV)
10 He
who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he
who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.
Today’s Bible verse is points to a basic truth that if we can’t trust
someone with small responsibilities, we won’t be able to trust them with large
responsibilities.
Jesus Christ’s teaching is pointing to a man’s character and how we can
discern whether or not someone is trust worthy.
This verse comes from Christ’s teaching about the “Parable of the Shrewd
Manager” who makes some “side deals” with people who are indebted to their
master by accepting partial payments as full, to gain their favor for the inevitable
days that will come when he loses his job! The shrewd manager’s boss actually admires his
servants pragmatism at his expense! The NLT makes this point of this challenging parable
a little clearer by
Luke 16:8-9 (NLT2)
8 “The
rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true
that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world
around them than are the children of the light.
9 Here’s
the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then,
when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal
home.
So, okay, Christ is not condoning the “ends
justify the means here” He really isn’t.
The emphasis is on using “your worldly resources” for good and not
relying on them to “welcome you into an eternal home”. He is encouraging good
stewardship not necessarily the shrewdness of “the dishonest rascal”.
And today’s verse could actually serve as a word
of warning in dealing with dishonest rascals, because it tells us that those
who aren’t faithful with little, won’t be faithful with much.
So be a good steward of what the Lord has given
you to bless others. Be faithful in the small things and it whole possible that
the Lord will make opportunities for us to faithful in much more.
As
always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from
prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and
sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today
we continue sharing from John Piper’s “Don’t Waste Your Life”.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes
and encourage all to purchase John Pipers’ books for your own private
study and to support his work. This resource is available on many
websites for less than $5.00.
The Credibility of
Christ Hangs on How We Use Our Money
The issue of money and
lifestyle is not a side issue in the Bible. The credibility of Christ in the
world hangs on it. “Fifteen percent of everything Christ said relates to this
topic—more than his teachings on heaven and hell combined.” Listen to this
refrain that runs all through his teachings:
• “You lack one thing: go, sell all
you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come,
follow me” (Mark 10:21).
• “Blessed are you who are poor, for
yours is the kingdom of God.… But woe to you who are rich, for you have
received your consolation” (Luke 6:20, 24).
• “Any of you who does not renounce
all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33).
• “It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God”
(Luke 18:25).
• “One’s life does not consist in the
abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).
• “Seek first the kingdom of God and
his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
• “Sell your possessions and give to
the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags … in the heavens” (Luke 12:33).
• “Zacchaeus … said to the Lord,
‘Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.…’ And Jesus said to
him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house’ ” (Luke 19:8–9).
• “The kingdom of heaven is like
treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he
goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44).
• “[Jesus] saw a poor widow put in two
small copper coins. And he said, ‘Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in
more than all of them’ ” (Luke 21:2–3).
• “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This
night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose
will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich
toward God” (Luke 12:20–21).
• “Foxes have holes, and birds of the
air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.… Follow me”
(Luke 9:58–59).
Hazardous Liberality
Over and over Jesus is
relentless in his radical call to a wartime lifestyle and a hazardous
liberality. I say “hazardous” because of that story about the widow. She gave
her last penny to the temple ministry. Most of us would call her foolish or,
more delicately, imprudent. But there is not a word of criticism from Jesus:
And
a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he
called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor
widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.
For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has
put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:42–44, emphasis
added)
The
point here is not that everyone should give everything away. The point is:
Jesus loves faith-filled risk for the glory of God. I don’t have laws to give
you concerning the particulars of how to spend your money, any more than Jesus
did. I simply want to point to Jesus and let his word have its shocking and
saving effect on us.
Use Money to Show That God, Not Possessions, Is
Our Treasure
Jesus’ emphasis on money
and possessions is picked up throughout the New Testament. There are the
stories in the book of Acts (“They were selling their possessions … and
distributing the proceeds … as any had need,” Acts 2:45). There are the words
of the apostle Paul (“In a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy
and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity.… God loves
a cheerful giver,” 2 Corinthians 8:2; 9:7). There are the words of James, the
brother of Jesus (“Its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the
rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits,” James 1:11).
The
issue is pervasive because it is crucial for the witness of the church. If we
want to make people glad in God, our lives must look as if God, not
possessions, is our joy. Our lives must look as if we use our possessions to
make people glad in God—especially the most needy.[1]
---------------------------more
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