Marching Forth!

The interaction between Balak king of Moab and Balaam the prophet is insightful, for it demonstrates the ones God has blessed cannot be cursed.  Balak bribed Balaam to curse Israel, but to Balak's dismay he blessed them again and again!  Balaam said in  Numbers 23:19-20 , " God is not a man, that He should lie, n or a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?  20  Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it ."  God previously made a covenant with Abraham, that through him and his descendants all the earth would be blessed.  Efforts to curse whom God had blessed would amount to nothing. Balaam continued in Numbers 23:23 :  " For there is no sorcery against Jacob, n or any divination against Israel. It now must be said of Jacob  a nd of Israel, 'Oh, what God has done !'"  God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt ...

Psalm 118:24 was made into a song we used to sing at church often:  " This is the day the LORD has made; w e will rejoice and be glad in it ."  It is a song fitting for every day because it is true, yet the immediate context of verse 24 speaks of a very specific day--a momentous day in the history of the world when Jesus provided atonement for lost sinners on Calvary.  The psalmist sung of God's enduring mercy and waxed prophetic as the song advanced, each of the latter verses loaded with Messianic prophecies fulfilled by Jesus. To those who are born again and know Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the allusions are difficult to miss.  The LORD is our strength and song, and Jesus has become our salvation   I encourage you to read the  entire song, but for the sake of providing the context of verse 24 consider Psalm 118 from verse 19  to the end: 19  Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them,  a nd I will praise th...

Years ago I went to a conference at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside and pastor John MacArthur preached a sermon on the Greek word "doulos."  He noted the vast majority of times we read the word "servant" in the the New Testament, doulos is the word being translated--a word best translated as "slave."  MacArthur believed the word "slave" better connected with our modern understanding of English and thus was a better translation.  Having been purchased by the blood of Jesus and born again by faith in Him identifying as a slave emphasises we are not our own. People can negatively colour their view of God as our Father because of a poor relationship with their own father, and a similar error can be made concerning the grave abuses associated with slavery.  In stark contrast to common examples of slavery that involve kidnapping or the forced sale of human beings (crimes punished by death under law), the Law of Moses outlined slavery for a se...

The word of God is full of guidance, warnings and exhortations concerning being prepared for the future.  I have observed many people who relish drawing attention to the opposition followers of Jesus will experience in the world, reminding us we will be hated for Christ's name sake.  It seems like some of these people enjoy a degree of shock value in saying this, even insinuating that if Christians are not aware of anyone who currently hates us or actively opposing us we are not following Jesus very closely.  Because we are in a spiritual battle, it seems some feel we should be confrontational, combative and adversarial against others.  To me, this emphasis can distract people from what will enable them to persevere through trials:  the gracious love of God toward us. The way a person can joyfully endure being hated by people is knowing they are greatly loved by Jesus Christ, our risen Saviour and King.  In these last days we are in a spiritual battle, yet ...

Samson is known in scripture for his superhuman strength made possible by the Holy Spirit.  His feats of strength, however, were accompanied by moral failings and spiritual weakness.  The Spirit of the LORD moved him to pursue a wife of the Philistines because God sought an occasion against the Philistines, and God made Samson a judge in Israel after miraculous victories in battle. After the woman Samson previously married had been murdered, we do not read of Samson marrying again.  Instead he sought the services of a harlot and then lived in sin with a woman of Sorek named Delilah whom he loved.  She was employed by the Philistines to discover the secret of Samson's strength, and harped on him constantly.  As the days passed her tears wore down the resolve of Israel's strong man, even as solid rock is carved by water.   Judges 16:16-17 says, " And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexe...

For a Christian feelings of guilt can provide motivation, but the love of God is a far better one.  People can "guilt" others to manipulate their behaviour yet scripture shows us this was never the way employed by Jesus.  Even after Peter denied Jesus He did not resort to attempts to manipulate his behaviour, for conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit lead to repentance and restoration.  A change of heart and mind is needed more than behaviour modification due to guilt. A lot of believers can feel guilty because they have sinned by doing wrong or have fallen short of doing what was right.  There can be a persistent feeling we are not measuring up to a relative standard we have set for ourselves, usually by measuring ourselves by the arbitrary standards of personal experience or that of others.  Perhaps we have read a book or heard a sermon that invokes feelings of guilt over neglect of prayer.  Thus we think, "I haven't been praying enough.  I need to pr...

When the disciples suggested they step into Elijah's sandals and call down fire from heaven upon those who rejected Jesus, Luke 9:55-56 recorded His response:  " But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  56   For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them." And they went to another village ."  God who created mankind is inclined to show mercy and save sinners, not destroy them.  Though He is just, He is also gracious, compassionate and longsuffering.  If this was not the case, not one of us would remain. C.H. Spurgeon said in a sermon, " The LORD usually brings the rod before the axe ."  This is seen throughout the scripture concerning God's dealings with people.  For about 100 years Noah was a preacher of righteousness as he built the ark, using a rod of rebuke to warn lost sinners judgment was coming.  God sent Moses to tell Pharaoh to let God's people go a...