Blessed by Jesus

Jesus Christ proved to be the answer to the longing in Job's heart.  When this God-fearing suffered greatly in a trial, he mused in Job 9:32-35:  "He is not a man like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court. ³³ If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both, ³⁴ someone to remove God's rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more. ³⁵ Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot." (NIV)  Job realised God is infinitely greater than man and he lacked a mediator or advocate between himself and God.  Job felt he was being unjustly treated, not realising God's intent to show Himself merciful, compassionate, and to doubly bless him in the end (James 5:11).

What Job observed God also acknowledged by the word of the LORD through the prophet in Isaiah 59:16:  "He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him."  God saw fit to provide the Man and Mediator man lacked by putting on human flesh and coming to earth.  The living God sent Jesus, His only begotten Son, to seek and to save sinners and to provide intercession for them after His death, resurrection and ascension to heaven.  God Himself brought salvation for sinners, and He provided the required payment for sin by shedding His own blood.  Because Jesus is our great High Priest, He is the one we ought to rely upon to effectively communicate our prayers--not priests, elders or pastors.

Paul explained this important role Jesus continues in to this day in 1 Timothy 2:1-6:  "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, ² for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. ³ For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time..."  God heard the longings of Job and the desire of every human being for justice, help and hope in troubling times, and when we pray to God Jesus is our Mediator and Advocate.  This truth is echoed in 1 John 2:1-2:  "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. ² And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world."  Scripture tells us Jesus lives to make intercession for us, dedicated to our salvation and every need (Hebrews 7:25).

As we pray for ourselves and others, Jesus also prays for us.  Knowing Jesus Himself is handing our case, we can rest assured He will communicate our desires clearly for our good.  God also blesses us by filling believers with the Holy Spirit who helps us as it is written in Romans 8:26:  "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."  Unlike courts that operate with limited hours and plan hearings months in advance, we are invited to enter the LORD's presence in our moment of need by prayer.  Hebrews 4:16 says, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."  Little children may not always be permitted in the presence of an earthly king, but Jesus commanded the little children not be hindered to come to Him.  He took those little ones in His arms and blessed them, and in heavenly glory He lifts us in His arms to the Father so we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Forgiven, Cleansed and Holy

Memes have their place in this world, but among my general rules of thumb is never to use them as source material for any Christian belief, nor should they be assumed to be accurate.  In the case of one meme I read recently, I was not able to verify the accuracy of the quote so I will not repeat it in full.  With an aim to support the extra-biblical concept of purgatory, the quote suggested it was impertinent to imagine an instant after dying any sinner could enjoy being in the presence of God.  An "additional divine operation" was required on the soul before entering into God's presence with joy, and to say otherwise was to "underestimate either your sinful nature or God's holiness or the gap between them."

When I read this quote a rebuttal came to mind:  "Or the author of this quote seriously underestimates the work Jesus did on the cross."  Jesus said those who receive Him by faith are born again, and this means receiving a new nature and to be washed clean from all sin.  Paul wrote in Romans 6:5-6, "For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶ knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin."  Whilst we continue to live in bodies of flesh after being born again, our "old man" was crucified with Christ.  Having been cleansed from all sin and filled with the Holy Spirit, we are therefore able to present ourselves as living sacrifices unto God.  The new heart God promised to give His people by the word of the LORD through the prophets is ours by grace through faith in Jesus.

Because God has cleansed us from all unrighteousness and adopted us as His children, it is not presumptuous to say we are positionally holy as God is holy.  There are no degrees of holiness, for all who are born again are sanctified in Christ.  The apostle wrote in 1 Peter 1:13-16 to believers:  "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ¹⁴ as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; ¹⁵ but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶ because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."  Holiness is not something we can muster up or do by any effort of the flesh, but God has created us to be holy by virtue of our spiritual birth.  This new identity in Christ is something we constantly fail to measure up to due to the frailty of our flesh.  That is why believers are exhorted again and again to strive to forsake sin and do what pleases God, working out our own salvation with fear and trembling--for it is God who works in us to both to will and do of His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13).

Having been born again by faith in Jesus, Christians are assured our sins are forgiven.  1 John 1:9 says to the believer who sins:  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  Paul was confident at the death of his body he would be in the presence of the LORD (2 Cor. 5:8)--and this wasn't because he was self-righteous or his deeds could make him holy.  He was a man who laid claim to being the chief of sinners!  From his own mouth we can judge him of needing further refinement in the eternal state--that is, if you believe Jesus was unable to cleanse him from all unrighteousness!  There is no need for Christians to go through the "boot camp" of purgatory to enter heaven, for Jesus has already claimed complete victory over sin and death through His resurrection.  By faith in Jesus Christians have been cleansed of all sin, Christ's righteousness has been imputed to us, and we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.  As long as we remain on this earth is the fitting season for our refinement, and may we submit to God in every trial He allows.

God's Way or Ours

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."

Joshua 1:7-8

After Joshua was chosen and called by God to lead the Hebrews into the land of promise, God commanded him to be strong and courageous in heeding God's commands written in the Law.  He was not only called to familiarise himself with God's commands but to speak of them, meditate in them day and night, and observe them faithfully.  If you are not aware, there were hundreds of commands and prohibitions in addition to the 10 Commandments detailed in the Law of Moses.  Observing God's Law was a huge, life-changing demand placed upon Joshua he was responsible to keep before God--in addition to leading the Hebrews like Moses before him.

In observing God's command to Joshua, it is important not to reduce the relationship God and Joshua shared as transactional:  you do this, and I will do that.  God did not say He would make Joshua's way prosperous if he kept God's Law:  God promised Joshua would make his way prosperous and have good success in fulfilling his responsibility by choosing to walk in the way God revealed in His Law.  God had already told Joshua the way he and the children of Israel ought to live, and by going God's way their way would be prosperous.  In His wisdom, God allows people to face good and bad consequences of our own decisions.  Before Joshua and all His people, God placed clearly marked paths that lead to life or death, and under Mosaic Law they would be blessed or cursed depending on their choices and performance.

During a recent study of the book of Romans, we discussed how Paul explained the Law is good and by it is the knowledge of sin.  The Law of Moses does not provide any ability to keep the Law without fail!  The Law acted as a schoolmaster to bring Jews and Gentiles to Jesus Christ to be justified by faith and declared righteous by God's grace.  Jesus identified Himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life.  Jesus went beyond the requirements of the letter of the Law, for Jesus said many times while teaching His disciples:  "It has been written...but I say unto you..."  It is not by what good things we do or by sin we avoid we are made righteous but by faith in Jesus the Messiah.  God word has revealed the Truth we ought to believe, and the Law, Psalms and prophets wrote concerning the Prophet like Moses God would raise up--and Jesus is more than a prophet but Immanuel, God with us, who frees us from the curse of sin and death.

All mankind proved unable to follow the the Law that revealed the righteous way to live, and Jesus has been revealed as the Way we can follow by grace through faith in Him demonstrated by obedience.  Having been born again by the Gospel, this ought to transform our hearts, minds and lives more than Joshua having a new leadership role.  Day and night we are to be led by our Saviour we seek to please by heeding wisdom of His word and the guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Jesus said in John 14:15, "If you love Me, keep My commandments."  Jesus commanded His disciples to love one another as He loves us, and by this all people will know we are Christ's disciples.  It is Jesus who leads us in the way of prosperity and success in doing God's will, and God places the choice before every one of us if we will choose to make God's Way our way.  If we choose to go our own way, we hinder our own prosperity and success.  If we trust Jesus to save us forever, we ought to heed Him in living today.

Jesus In The Flesh

During Friday night Bible study, we discussed how the divinity of Jesus is often more the focal point than whether or not Jesus was a person who lived years ago.  Though the modern date and year hearkens back to the existence of Jesus, John warned there were people in His day that denied this.  He said matter-of-factly in 1 John 4:2-3:  "By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, ³ and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world."

Gnosticism was a heresy in the early centuries of the church whose adherents claimed to have secret knowledge of God, and it was believed through secret knowledge they alone comprehended one could be freed from illusions of darkness and "saved."  Gnostics would not have denied Jesus came to earth, but claimed He did not have a human body--it just appeared that He did.  They viewed physical matter as inherently evil and only what is spirit is good.  This created a situation where anything done in a physical body was of no consequence because what is done in the spiritual realm matters.  These views are totally contradictory to the revelation of God and sound doctrine in the Bible.

From a biblical perspective, it is very important to establish Jesus did indeed come to the earth as a human being in a physical body.  Unless Jesus was born He could not die for sinners, and if He did not die He is not risen.  If Jesus Christ is not risen our faith is futile, we are still in our sins and everyone is headed to everlasting destruction!  John said those who do not confess Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of Antichrist which was already in the world in John's day.  There are people today who do not hold to Gnosticism yet deny Jesus came to the world as a historical figure.  Perhaps by casting doubt on the historicity of Jesus they hope to spare themselves the need to consider His life, words, works, death and resurrection--and His promise to return in judgment.

Though the Antichrist has not yet been revealed, that malevolent and deceitful spirit was already at work in the world, and it is through the revelation of Scripture Christians are made wise to it.  To call Jesus "Christ" is to acknowledge He is the promised Messiah, the anointed one of God who will save His people from their sins.  Jesus being born in human flesh, dying on the cross, and bodily rising from the dead are all fundamental, essential doctrines of Christianity.  To deny any of these facts is to deny Jesus Christ as revealed in the Bible.  Those who confess Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and we can say this by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth, who provides understanding of God's word, and helps us to walk in God's will.  The spirit of the Antichrist at work in the world ought not trouble us as Christians, for we serve the Christ who is greater than all, stands ready to save us and will deliver us from the wrath to come.

God Who Tries

Reading the Bible with faith in God works to change our perspective and outlook.  Being the word of God, the Bible is the upright standard by which all claims, assumptions and beliefs are measured by.  When I hear a cliche, read a quote or see the heading of a video, my immediate response is to consider if it is biblically accurate.  A heading that grabbed by attention yesterday was, "God will try to warn you."  While it is clear people do not always heed God's warnings, the Scripture is clear God does not "try" to do anything--as if He lacks the ability, skill or wisdom to do everything.  Job concluded in concerning God's ability in Job 42:2:  "I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You."

God does not "try" to warn people:  He warns them.  Whenever God says He will do something, His doing it depends entirely upon His righteousness and almighty power.  In the song of Moses God declared in Deuteronomy 32:39-43: "Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; nor is there any who can deliver from My hand. ⁴⁰ For I raise My hand to heaven, and say, "As I live forever, ⁴¹ If I whet My glittering sword, and My hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to My enemies, and repay those who hate Me. ⁴² I will make My arrows drunk with blood, and My sword shall devour flesh, with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the heads of the leaders of the enemy."  God does not "try" to kill or make alive; He does not "try" to judge His people or render vengeance upon His enemies.  His arrows will not miss their target, and His sword will always hit its intended mark.  As Proverbs 21:30 says, "There is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the LORD."

We may try to heed God's warnings and forget.  We try to do what is right and fail, but God never fails to fulfil the words that go out of His mouth.  He does not try in vain to communicate to us, but we fail to listen to Him or heed His word.  What God does with His warnings is He "tries" us, to test to see if we will obey Him or not.  He refines us as gold is refined in a crucible and allows us to experience trials to purify our character and strengthen our faith.  He tries us by chastisement for the purpose of restoring us to Himself by repentance.  God does not "try" to try us, for even when we resist His guidance and refuse to go His way His will is being accomplished through His divine tests.  Glory to God He is not like a man who tries and falls short of perfection, unable to do all He intends.

With confidence in God's ability to do everything, we ought to rejoice in His omnipotent power and goodness as it is written in Deuteronomy 32:43:  "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people."  God will avenge the blood of His servants, render vengeance to His adversaries, and will provide atonement for His people.  As surely as Jesus Himself provided atonement for the sins of Jews and Gentiles with His own blood, God will take vengeance upon His enemies.  Without straining or working at all--without trying--God does everything He says He will. 

What I Love About Heaven

Whenever I gather with fellow believers in Christ, it is a small foretaste of heaven.  The kingdom Jesus rules that is not of this world and is eternal, and Jesus connected His kingdom with paradise in His statement to the thief on the cross:  heaven is a place that is perfect as God, where nothing can enter that defiles, where there is no sadness, sickness, crying or death.  While the Bible does not go into great detail about heaven--likely because we lack the capacity to comprehend the glory of it--we are comforted, encouraged and inspired by considering what has been revealed.

Many Christians look forward to going to heaven to finally be free of the struggles, conditions and pains of our lives on earth.  Others eagerly await the prospect of uniting in fellowship and worship of God with saints we have never met in person and to reunite with loved ones who preceded us into glory.  These reasons, while perfectly good and reasonable, I do not believe can move the needle compared to being in the glorious presence of God in person.  In our human bodies corrupted by sin we cannot even look at God's face and live, and to see our Creator before our eyes, to sit as His table, to join with the angels in worship and to be embraced by Jesus Christ Himself is awesome beyond reckoning.

There are things I love about heaven that far exceed the beauty of united believers who gather in Christ's name.  In heaven we will have no need to ask, "How has work been going?" or "How has the week gone?"  It will always be present day in heaven, and there will not be anything to catch up on.  While people have different motivations for going to a church service or Bible study, everyone who will be in heaven will want to be there (rather than anywhere else) and we can know God has joined us together.  Another thing I love is that there will not be anywhere we need to go that severs times of personal fellowship--like lunch plans, needing to run to the shops or go to the gym, or needing to leave because you are weary from a packed schedule.  A lot of our conversations at church involve what has happened or we are planning for outside of church fellowship.  What I love about heaven is the perfect, complete union we will experience in mind, heart and love with Christ at the centre while retaining our individuality and intimate friendship with one another that includes everyone all the time.

When we are enjoying ourselves we wish the moment would never end; when we have an incredible experience we would prefer to never need to leave:  the presence of God in heaven will satisfy these fleeting desires of our hearts beyond our comprehension.  On earth all good times must come to an end, but what I love about heaven is it will be a perfect place for us to experience the rest God has promised to give our souls forever.  By the grace of God we can experience peace that passes understanding and fulness of joy in this life, but due to our forgetfulness and weakness it is only in fits and starts.  God grants us a foretaste of heaven with His presence in our hearts and in fellowship with one another in the church, and may this inspire us with the glorious future together God has in store for all who love Him.

Sovereign Redemption

Those who believe the LORD is sovereign over all do not believe in coincidences that fall outside God's knowledge or power.  Everything that seems incidental can be employed for God's good purposes.  He can use things that seem even pointless and annoying--like being tired and being unable to sleep--to humble the proud and exalt the lowly.

Haman the Agagite was a proud, arrogant fellow who held a privileged position of wealth and influence as a nobleman in Persia.  Other nobles and common people bowed before him--with the exception of Mordecai the Jew.  This greatly annoyed Haman, to the point he schemed to exterminate all the Jews because of honour Mordecai denied him.  Over the course of time, Mordecai foiled two eunuchs who plotted against the king, and the king's life was spared.  Mordecai honoured the God of the Israel and the king of Persia, but declined to honour a descendant of Amalek who hated the Jews and sought their destruction.

After a banquet of wine, Haman's happiness quickly evaporated when he saw Mordecai ignore him.  He complained to his family who suggested he build a tall gallows to hang Mordecai and ask the king for permission to hang him.  Esther 6:1-4 says, "That night the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. ² And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. ³ Then the king said, "What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?" And the king's servants who attended him said, "Nothing has been done for him." ⁴ So the king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him."

It just so happened that night the king could not sleep, and it just so happened they read through the chronicles (reading that can put one to sleep), and just so happened to read of Mordecai the Jew who helped the king.  The king perked up at this point, wondering what honour had been bestowed upon the one who saved his life--and nothing had been done.  Just then, Haman entered the court to suggest Haman kill Mordecai the king desired to honour.  This was the beginning of the end for Haman, and it was the beginning of the exaltation of Mordecai who ultimately assumed Haman's privileged role.  We can see with eyes of faith the sleepless night of Ahasuerus and the choice of reading material was no accident.  This is encouraging to us that when we struggle with insomnia, God does not struggle to enact His redemptive purposes.

We may not see a connection between our sleepless night and salvation of others from death; we do not often recognise God's impeccable timing between us reading a Bible passage and others receiving honour, yet God is able to do all this and much more.  Knowing God is sovereign does not mean we can avoid sleeplessness but enables us to find rest for our souls--even if we toss and turn.  The king's sleeplessness resulted not only in Mordecai saving his neck but helped lead to the salvation of the Jews from Haman's wicked scheme.  Isn't it awesome what God does and the remarkable way He employs to do it?  When we can't even fall asleep, He is able to save.

Serve God with Gladness

While Nehemiah served as cupbearer to the king, Artaxerxes astutely recognised Nehemiah was sad and that it was due to grief of heart.  This was the first time Nehemiah had been sad in the presence of the king, and there were potentially serious consequences for Nehemiah as this was forbidden.  Yet the king's expression of concern was genuine for Nehemiah's welfare, and the LORD gave him favour in the eyes of the king, queen and his brethren in Israel he sought to assist in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem to bring an end to their reproach.

Artaxerxes desired Nehemiah to serve with gladness, and this is true concerning the God of Israel.  As our Creator, He has provided all things for us to thrive in this life and in the eternal state by His love, grace and goodness.  David sang to God with confidence in Psalm 16:11:  "You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."  We have joy in the presence of those who delight us, and in God we have a Saviour who loves us and helps us by giving us the indwelling Spirit who makes us joyful.  Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit along with love, peace,  patience, goodness and countless other good things.

God's people did not always serve Him with joy and gladness (despite the kindness God showed them), and this resulted in severe consequences as Moses said in Deuteronomy 28:47-48:  "Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, ⁴⁸ therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you."  God gave His people great abundance of all things, yet they did not serve God joyfully.  Serving God was burdensome as they murmured, complained and grumbled.  They sought to find satisfaction and fulfillment by what was not God and could never please them.  Because they did not serve God joyfully and gladly with the abundance God gave them, He would see to it they served oppressive enemies while being in need of everything.

Isn't it better to serve God with joy and gladness than die under the oppression of our enemies, seeing everything we have as gifts from God who loves us?  Serving God is a great privilege and not a burden, for He helps us every day and is the lifter of our heads.  Trials and struggles do depress us at times, but at the mention of our LORD Jesus our spirits rise up with sure expectancy of help and deliverance.  Should we serve depression and sorrow when in God's presence is fullness of joy?  Every trouble and tribulation will pass, and all that will be left is our glorious God and a life to be joyfully spent with Him.  God has taken off the yoke we wore that chained us to sin, self and Satan, and how glad we ought to be to be free of bondage, out of darkness and to walk joyfully in the light of life.  Let us serve the LORD our God with joy and gladness, for He is our all in all.

Love From the Heart

Because the end of all things is at hand, 1 Peter 4:8 tells believers to be sober, watchful in prayer and have fervent love among ourselves because "love covers the multitude of sins."  Love keeps no record of wrongs and thus does not view others through the lens of prior offence, even when someone has done or said offensive things.  The love of God guides us to forgive one another without keeping track of all the times we have forgiven them.  We are enabled to love one another because God's love is abundantly provided by the Holy Spirit God has given us.  Christians are to be known for their love for one another that is demonstrated by more than words or feelings.

Recently we had a built in closet installed in our house, and having observed builders over the years I have arrived at a maxim that is similar to what Peter said in his epistle:  "Builder's bog and caulk covers a multitude of flaws."  I would even say butchery, but I do not want to malign that honourable profession that supplies quality meat for consumption.  I also do not want to paint a bad picture of hard-working tradies either, but the reliance upon covering up problems rather than doing things right has been a common observation of mine.  When the work is completed at first glance everything seems fine, but upon closer inspection the defects seem to multiply.

For instance, I discovered a bit of skirting that had been cut out had been caulked back into position--after neglecting to remove the nail!  Apparently there are those who use painter's caulk as glue, and the unsightly problem created was worse than doing the job correctly from the start.  Attached are a couple of pictures to illustrate what the caulk concealed.  What I overlooked because it was inside the closet looked ugly when I took a closer look, and it looked even uglier when brought into the light.

When the prophet Samuel was quite taken with the regal appearance of Eliab, God explained a truth we can relate to the concealed skirting in 1 Samuel 16:7:  "But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."  We look on the outside, but God looks at the heart.  We can cover over bitterness, grudges and unforgiveness with polite manners and smiles, yet we cannot ever fool God (or even people at times!).  Moses told God's people when they sinned against the LORD they could be sure their sin would find them out (Numbers 32:23), and our attempts to conceal our sin of refusal to love and our lack of grace will fail.  Praise the LORD He can create in us a clean heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, for Jesus works in us to make all things new.

Thinking and Praying

"Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, 'a land flowing with milk and honey.' "

Deuteronomy 26:15

I was encouraged by reading this passage today of a prayer prescribed to those who obeyed God in giving their firstfruits according to His command.  What I love about it is it acknowledges God's sovereign rule and power over all, for He is able to see His people wherever they may be.  The people were to pray for God's blessing upon God's people and their land which He had given to them.  The request for blessing was not because they lacked blessing from God, but they prayed with the understanding that their land and their very existence were blessings from God.  Praying according to God's command demonstrated faith their expectation of future blessing would be found in Him.

When we pray to God, it is useful to pray according to the revelation of God and all He has promised in His word.  We can be confident as we pray according to God's will He hears us, and we have what we have requested of Him (1 John 5:14-15).  For instance, this is true concerning receiving eternal life by the Gospel.  We need not wonder if our prayer for salvation has been heard and answered by God, looking for a physical sensation or seeking a feeling of "peace" when God has already extended forgiveness, salvation and eternal life as a gift received by faith in Jesus.  If our faith flags or we pray without considering what God has said, we may be praying for what God has already provided for us--not that He has withheld anything--but because we have have failed to appropriate all He has given by faith in Him.

The Self-Confrontation manual for discipleship goes into detail of the "unprofitable practice" of praying without thinking.  It says, "You do not need to plead hopelessly for the Lord to be with you or with any other believer, because He is with you already and has promised never to leave nor forsake you (Matthew 28:20b; Hebrews 13:5).  Instead, thank the Lord for His continual presence with you (Hebrews 13:6)...You do not need to pray that God will grant you love for another person, because He has already poured out His love within you (Romans 5:5) and has commanded and enabled you to love (1 John 4:7-12).  Pray instead for His wisdom (James 1:5) and leading (Romans 8:4; Galatians 5:16) to show you how to increase and abound in love to others (1 Thessalonians 3:12)." (Broger, John. Self-Confrontation: A Manual for in-Depth Biblical Discipleship. Inc, Biblical Counseling Foundation, 2009. page 59)

How blessed we are to have a God who hears our prayers and is inclined to answer us because He loves us, and He can rest assured He will always keep His word.  We can have all confidence the all-knowing, all-powerful God who has purchased us with His own blood is attentive to our needs even before we ask.  He has provided the Holy Spirit to help us and Jesus Christ is our Mediator and advocate before the Father.  Rather than hopelessly praying for what God has already promised us, let us praise and thank Him He is faithful to do as He has said.  May He increase our faith and understanding to see how blessed we are as children of God and express our gratitude in prayer as we glory in our awesome Saviour.

Saying and Doing

Over the years, I have observed people whose poor performance exposed an inflated sense of ability and self-confidence.  I played sport with guys who believed their routine plays belonged on ESPN SportsCenter highlight reels, and they were completely blind to their own shortcomings.  One fellow talked up his baseball skills so much I imagined he would be the best player on our team that season--until the moment he walked onto the baseball diamond.  In minutes I began to wonder if he had ever played baseball before, much less used a baseball glove.  There was a confounding disconnect between the claims he made about his abilities and the performance on the field.

Rather than going through our mental archives to dredge up those who "talked the talk" but didn't "walk the walk," it is more profitable and constructive for us to realise we can and likely do this as well in aspects of our lives.  The children of Israel certainly did at times when it came to keeping God's commands.  Since their failings are included in Scripture for our learning there remains a relevant lesson for us.  After Nehemiah and the people in Jerusalem built the wall, there was spiritual revival as God's word was opened, read and explained.  People lamented their great sin before God, worshipped Him and were determined to change their ways.  They went beyond the letter of the Law in making vows and promising to make serving God a priority:  "We will not neglect the house of the LORD."

As we read on, however, it is evident the people did not follow through with much of what they promised to do.  It was only upon Nehemiah's return to Jerusalem he witnessed the total neglect of God's people to keep their word to obey God:  the high priest had allowed wicked Tobiah to live in the temple court, the portions assigned to the Levites had not been provided by the people (so all the Levites and musicians had left the temple), people were working, buying and selling on the Sabbath, and the foreign wives had not been put away!  Nehemiah was beside himself to the point of cursing and physically assaulting those who had been unfaithful to the LORD by defying God's commands.  The high priest's son was included among the guilty, and Nehemiah drove him away.  The words of the people did not match their walk, and we must be on guard against this same hypocrisy.

God holds His people accountable to His word and also to do the things they say.  It is better not to vow than to vow and not follow through, for our "Yes" ought to be "Yes" and our "No" means "No."  Better than saying what we plan to do, we ought to simply do that thing, for actions speak truer than our words.  Solomon wrote in Proverbs 27:1-2:  "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth. ² Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips."  Saying what we will do in the future can be a boast we should refrain from.  Rather than talking up our abilities or seeking affirmation or approval from men, we ought to walk according to God's will so He will say to us in due time:  "Well done, good and faithful servant."  Many people have spoken well, but it is those who do well God commends.

Meditating on God's Word

People in Christian circles often make reading and studying the Bible a major emphasis, and rightly so.  It is by reading the Scriptures we hear God's voice and can know His will, and God alone has the words of life.  The exhortation Paul gave to Timothy is fitting for all believers in 2 Timothy 2:15:  "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."  Not only are we given the responsibility to read God's word and learn how to "rightly divide" it, but we have been given the Holy Spirit to help us to this end.  Jesus promised His disciples in John 14:26:  "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."

What is not emphasised as much as reading and study--yet remains indispensable for believers--is our need to also meditate on the Scripture.  By meditate I do not mean in a transcendental sense as the term is commonly used today, but meaning to ponder, consider and carefully weigh what has been said.  It means considering the context of the passage, the circumstances of what is being said, taking time to compare and/or relate it to other passages.  Meditating on God's word means reading, believing God is speaking, and taking it personally enough to keep thinking about what God has said.  It is not enough for us to look at food, but we need to chew it up and swallow it so our body can utilise the nutrition of every bite.  Every word of God is spiritual food for us.  Unlike food that passes through the stomach and is eliminated as waste, the word of God goes into our minds and hearts so that we not only retain knowledge but learn to order our thoughts, attitudes and lives according to God's wisdom.

Psalm 1:1-3 says, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; ² but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. ³ He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper."  David said the one who is alive, established and fruitful like a tree by water is he who meditates on God's law day and night.  The Law of Moses commanded kings of Israel were to write a copy of the Law to read every day of his life.  The ruler of God's people was to be one ruled by God's word.  It was not enough to be familiar with God's commands, for God's intent was for kings to submit to His word themselves and walk in humility (Deut. 17:18-20).  Psalm 119:11 says, "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You!"

When people bother to hide something, there is typically a reason for doing so.  It might be a bad reason, like to conceal contraband or to avoid being in trouble for having stolen property.  We can hide things for a good reason, because we realise we have something in our possession that is precious and we want to safeguard it.  God's word is not to be socked away like gold in a safety deposit box in the bank to be drawn upon only in times of desperate need but like a letter from one we love, our eyes hungrily devouring the words as we read them over and over.  Long ago reading the words of a single telegram message impacted the course of history, and meditating on God's word provides wisdom that transforms our lives when put into practice.  Hiding God's word in our hearts means we possess it, treasure it, are familiar with it, but we remain fascinated by all it means because it is our God's word for us.  As we embark on reading and studying the Bible, we begin to realise how much we don't know.  Meditating on God's word begins to fill some gaps in our understanding and personal application we never noticed were empty.