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Psalm 16: 5-6 says:

O LORD, you are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; you maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; yes, I have a good inheritance.

The Bible says, for the person who truly abides in the Lord, the Lord will control the way the ball bounces, the Lord will control the way the cookie crumbles, and the Lord will control the luck of the draw (or as the Bible calls it, the lot).

Be assured that, as you love the Lord will all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength – and your neighbor as yourself – the Lord will make sure you always dwell in pleasant places. After all, didn’t he promise he will make you the head and not the tail?

Psalm 15 begins with the question, ‘LORD, who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill?’ The rest of the psalm answers the question.

It seems everywhere you look, you see a world – more than ever – moving further and further away from godliness.

Psalm 2: 1-4 says:

Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. 

How should we feel? How should we respond?  Look to the Word – because for a Christian, the Word remains a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

The Bible says the Lord’s ears are open to the cry of the righteous. Call upon him, he will answer you.

Jesus said, ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened’.

It’s all there. Dig in, and read it for yourself.

Proverbs 8: 13 says:

The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.

One definition of arrogant is, ‘exaggerating or disposed to exaggerate one’s own worth or importance often by an overbearing manner’.

In Job 37: 19-20, Elihu says to Job:

Teach us what we should say to Him (God), for we can prepare nothing because of the darkness. Should He be told that I wish to speak? If a man were to speak, surely he would be swallowed up. 

‘Should He be told that I wish to speak’… sounds kind of like, “Hold on a minute, I want to say something.” Scary, yet it happens countless times every moment – a person promoting himself and his opinion above what God said.

Lord, help me walk in humility, in your fear.

… let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.

Matthew 6 records Jesus teaching his disciples in what manner to pray:

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven… 

Rev 3 says Jesus sets an open door before us that no one can shut. We can step through that door and into doing the Father’s will on earth, as in heaven.  So, what is the Father’s will in heaven – that we can see now in our lives?

Rev 7: 15-17:

Therefore they (the redeemed) are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. 

Today, right now, you can step into a deeper walk with God, and see God’s heavenly will take shape in your life. You don’t have to wait any longer.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want…

Dig into the Bible, and read it – and believe it – for yourself !

Hebrews 11: 21 says:

By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. 

Speaking of the restoration of the Church in the last days, Zechariah 8: 4-6 says:

Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each one with his staff in his hand because of great age.The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.Thus says the LORD of hosts: If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, will it also be marvelous in my eyes?  

Hebrews 11: 9-10 speaks of Abraham (and Isaac & Jacob):

By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

 

I always wondered why Hebrews 11 described Jacob as leaning on the top of his staff until I saw in Zechariah God speaking of the promise of restoration in the end. Shouldn’t we, as Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob, be looking forward to that same city – the one which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God – and, as they did (vs 13), be assured of the promises – embracing them and confessing that we are strangers and pilgrims on the earth?

Jesus spoke of the pleasures of this life, the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and how the Word becomes unfruitful (in a Christian’s life!) because of them.

Let’s commit more than ever to set our affections on things above, not on things on the earth, and as Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob did… let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…

Much has been written about the book of Job… its accuracy is a different matter. Without adding too much of another voice to the commentary, I make this one observation… in Job 10: 16, while speaking to God, Job says:

…You hunt me like a fierce lion, and again you show yourself awesome against me.

As I was reading this, and some of Job’s other comments, an account from the New Testament kept coming to mind:

Now as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth, and his disciples asked him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him…” 

Maybe the biggest mistake people make (as did Job) is to think God is against them. No, God is for us.

God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

God is good, God is faithful, God is love. God is not out to get you… he is on your side.   Please… dig in and read it for yourself.

Hebrews 10: 23 encourages us to:

… hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering – keep being a Christian!

Then verse 32 takes us back to the time we first became Christians (and the zeal we had!), with verse 34 saying:

… and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.

Then verse 37 reminds us:

For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. 

(Sorry about all the verse references – probably best to read the chapter for yourself…)

Anyway, where does that put me today?

Well, I just saw an untrue social media posting from a (Christian) loved one accusing me of “straying from the Lord”. So what do I do about it? I am going to joyfully accept the plundering of my goods – in this case ‘the goods’ being my reputation – knowing that I have a better and an enduring possession for myself in heaven.

‘Goods’ doesn’t always have to be a tangible item, like money, property, etc. As in the case above, it is reputation.

The point is, I –you – we need to continue being Christians no matter when, where, or why. Among other things, Jesus said to ‘turn the cheek’, to ‘go the extra mile’, to ‘treat others the way you want to be treated’, and to… forgive.

The key to the Christian life isn’t the way others act, but the way I react.

The Bible is so rich, so wonderful, and so current.  Just dig in…

I love John 15: 1-17, which begins with Jesus saying:

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

So what is the answer to the question ‘Is enough ever enough?’?

The Father wants all of you. Let him prune, let him heal, let him touch.

As happens so many times, the Bible shines light on something we experience on a daily basis – making choices.

2 Ch 15: 1-7 details a wonderful account where the Spirit of God, through Azariah the son of Obed, speaks to Asa, the king of Judah – ending with:

…be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded! 

John 8: 31, 32 documents the Spirit of God, this time through Jesus, speaking pretty much the same thing to a group who had just believed on him:

…If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

The responses of the two were ‘polar opposites’, as were the results.

For Asa, and all Judah – they “…rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest all around. 

For the group who had believed on Jesus – they rejected the Word of the Lord, accused Jesus of having a demon, and … took up stones to throw at Him, – with Jesus ultimately (vs. 59) hiding himself from them and passing through their midst.

Because of their response, the LORD was found by Asa and Judah – while, because of their response, the LORD hid himself from the group who had just believed.

Daily devotion to God’s Word helps keep our hearts malleable, so when the Spirit of the Lord speaks to us we can receive –as Asa – and not reject – as they did to Jesus. It’s all in there – read it for yourself.

Deut. 11: 10-12 speaks of a land…

For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden;

But the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven,

A land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year. 

As was a physical land spoken of in this text, so is a spiritual land God has made available today to those who love him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength – a ‘land’ where we abide in him and he in us.

In Revelation 3, Jesus said, “See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it…” 

This spiritual land-of-promise is now available to all – but the decision to ‘walk through the door’ is up to us. The Lord’s desire? Like he said to his disciples… “Come and see.” 

It’s all in there – read it for yourself.