Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. (Isaiah 58:14)
Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. (Philippians 4:4)
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8)
To get your happiness from friends is easy until one betrays you. I've just been stabbed in the back by a friend, and it hurts.
But I can rejoice in the things that the Lord guarantees. I can rejoice that I will be comforted. I can rejoice that the Spirit will give me wisdom to respond well. I can rejoice that the Spirit has transformed my character such that I am able to be more concerned for my friend's salvation than my own hurt. I rejoice in the fact that I know this will help me to heal more quickly than if I tried to get revenge. Faith in the true God brings the joy of peace and greatness of character.
Thursday, 10 July 2014
Wednesday, 9 July 2014
Blessed are the Meek
Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. (Isaiah 58:14)
But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. (Psalm 37:11)
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:18)
The meek shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (see Matthew 5). Jesus was preaching from the scriptures when he preached the sermon on the mount. I like that. It is my aim to preach from the scriptures not my own ideas where I can. If anyone was able to preach truth without using scripture it was Jesus, but he still used the scriptures.
He used scriptures that not everyone recognised as scripture. The Sadducees did not recognise any scripture except the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy). But when specifically speaking to the Sadducees he taught them from the Torah (see Matthew 22). I aim to vary my preaching to meet my audience where they are at, like Jesus did.
Not only will the meek inherit the renewed earth, God will delight them with peace. Truly God brings joy, I don't fully understand how, but he has brought great joy to my life where there was little before. God refines the character and provides complete security, and these thing definitely produce joy.
But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. (Psalm 37:11)
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:18)
The meek shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (see Matthew 5). Jesus was preaching from the scriptures when he preached the sermon on the mount. I like that. It is my aim to preach from the scriptures not my own ideas where I can. If anyone was able to preach truth without using scripture it was Jesus, but he still used the scriptures.
He used scriptures that not everyone recognised as scripture. The Sadducees did not recognise any scripture except the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy). But when specifically speaking to the Sadducees he taught them from the Torah (see Matthew 22). I aim to vary my preaching to meet my audience where they are at, like Jesus did.
Not only will the meek inherit the renewed earth, God will delight them with peace. Truly God brings joy, I don't fully understand how, but he has brought great joy to my life where there was little before. God refines the character and provides complete security, and these thing definitely produce joy.
Tuesday, 8 July 2014
Kill-kill-joy
Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. (Isaiah 58:14)
They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. (Psalm 36:8)
Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (Psalm 37:4)
Of these two passages from the Psalms I would automatically say that the first applies to the New Earth and the second applies to the present life. But I wonder if I know that or am simply speculating. Here is the next verse after the first one: For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light. (Psalm 36:9) Then compare And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal… And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: (Revelation 22:1a, 5a) So what Revelation describes in the New Jerusalem is essentially the same, water of life and light from God. But Jesus is the light of the world, and he offers the water of life to us now (John 1:4; 4:14). So these things described here can be attributed to this world and the next.
Jesus gives us what we really want. I have often wanted things so badly, and when I received them found no pleasure in them. On the other hand I have gained great joy from things I never wanted. Jesus knows me better than I know myself, he is more qualified to decide what I want than I am. I submit to Jesus' wishes for my life and he wishes to make me happier than I can make myself, and he does.
Christians sometimes suffer, and we must prepare ourselves for this possibility by enduring the small discomforts in order to save others. But even in suffering, the Christian has more peace about the present, hope for the future and joy about the past than the successful sinner.
They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. (Psalm 36:8)
Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (Psalm 37:4)
Of these two passages from the Psalms I would automatically say that the first applies to the New Earth and the second applies to the present life. But I wonder if I know that or am simply speculating. Here is the next verse after the first one: For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light. (Psalm 36:9) Then compare And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal… And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: (Revelation 22:1a, 5a) So what Revelation describes in the New Jerusalem is essentially the same, water of life and light from God. But Jesus is the light of the world, and he offers the water of life to us now (John 1:4; 4:14). So these things described here can be attributed to this world and the next.
Jesus gives us what we really want. I have often wanted things so badly, and when I received them found no pleasure in them. On the other hand I have gained great joy from things I never wanted. Jesus knows me better than I know myself, he is more qualified to decide what I want than I am. I submit to Jesus' wishes for my life and he wishes to make me happier than I can make myself, and he does.
Christians sometimes suffer, and we must prepare ourselves for this possibility by enduring the small discomforts in order to save others. But even in suffering, the Christian has more peace about the present, hope for the future and joy about the past than the successful sinner.
Monday, 7 July 2014
Job
Looked at Job 27 today in the context of Isaiah 58:14. Job is probably the earliest book of the Bible and establishes many fundamentals of wisdom that are expanded on in the other wisdom books.
Sunday, 6 July 2014
Holiday With Jesus
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: (Isaiah 58:13)
I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. (Psalm 122:1)
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet (Revelation 1:10)
Do you call the Sabbath the holy day of the Lord? Do you recognise the Sabbath as the Lord's day and go with Jesus' people into his house on that day? Honour the Sabbath day because it is the only day of the week God has ever set aside to be holy.
Honour the Sabbath by choosing to do things Jesus likes you to do rather than that you like to do on that day. Honour the Sabbath by doing righteous things you can enjoy, like helping those in need as we learned previously from Isaiah 58. Don't even say the things you want to say, say the things that Jesus wants you to say. Speak positive words of faith, and encouragement, ask questions to really find out how you can help and support others.
When a friend invites you over to his house as a child, you play with his toys and join with his games. In the same way Jesus has invited you to join him in the Sabbath, wherever you are, to do the things he loves together with him. You can work hard during the week, but set the Sabbath aside for Jesus.
I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. (Psalm 122:1)
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet (Revelation 1:10)
Do you call the Sabbath the holy day of the Lord? Do you recognise the Sabbath as the Lord's day and go with Jesus' people into his house on that day? Honour the Sabbath day because it is the only day of the week God has ever set aside to be holy.
Honour the Sabbath by choosing to do things Jesus likes you to do rather than that you like to do on that day. Honour the Sabbath by doing righteous things you can enjoy, like helping those in need as we learned previously from Isaiah 58. Don't even say the things you want to say, say the things that Jesus wants you to say. Speak positive words of faith, and encouragement, ask questions to really find out how you can help and support others.
When a friend invites you over to his house as a child, you play with his toys and join with his games. In the same way Jesus has invited you to join him in the Sabbath, wherever you are, to do the things he loves together with him. You can work hard during the week, but set the Sabbath aside for Jesus.
Saturday, 5 July 2014
Singing On Sabbath
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: (Isaiah 58:13)
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God… For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Isaiah 84:2,10)
Psalm 92 A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day. 1 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: 2 To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night (Psalm 92:1-2)
The way we keep the Sabbath should make it the day we look forward to all week. That's not to say we should find our own pleasure on God's holy day, but we should spend the day in the kind of tranquil communion with God that we will long for much more than mere pleasure. The Sabbath is a day to praise God, to rejoice in the things he has done, as Psalm 92 shows. But this psalm also shows that we should be praising God daily.
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God… For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Isaiah 84:2,10)
Psalm 92 A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day. 1 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: 2 To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night (Psalm 92:1-2)
The way we keep the Sabbath should make it the day we look forward to all week. That's not to say we should find our own pleasure on God's holy day, but we should spend the day in the kind of tranquil communion with God that we will long for much more than mere pleasure. The Sabbath is a day to praise God, to rejoice in the things he has done, as Psalm 92 shows. But this psalm also shows that we should be praising God daily.
Tuesday, 1 July 2014
Joy In Christ
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: (Isaiah 58:13)
One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. (Psalm 27:4)
When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holiday. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. (Psalm 42:4-5)
Have you ever been in church and just not felt happy? Have you ever been unhappy and someone had the audacity to tell you sadness is a sin and you should just get over it? This is wrong, but in some Jewish holidays, happiness was compulsory. This was because they were looking forward to the joy of Jesus coming to rule the Earth and make it new. No matter what makes you sad, Jesus will comfort you on that day. Something to look forward to for those who live for Christ.
One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. (Psalm 27:4)
When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holiday. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. (Psalm 42:4-5)
Have you ever been in church and just not felt happy? Have you ever been unhappy and someone had the audacity to tell you sadness is a sin and you should just get over it? This is wrong, but in some Jewish holidays, happiness was compulsory. This was because they were looking forward to the joy of Jesus coming to rule the Earth and make it new. No matter what makes you sad, Jesus will comfort you on that day. Something to look forward to for those who live for Christ.
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