Tag Archives: Christ Jesus

Darkness Will Be Turned Into Light Before Us

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Light (Photo Credit: Imma)

Light (Photo Credit: Imma)

Scripture Reference: Isaiah 42:10-17 

This prophecy gives us a glimpse of the contrast between the old man and the new. It is a promise that darkness will be turned into light before us.

Before redemption, we are blind to the grace of God and how much we need it. We are blind because the god of this world keeps mankind in darkness as to the true condition of his soul and that is the way it remains until the Light of God penetrates that darkness (see Ephesians 4:18). Thereafter, says Jesus, we will never have to walk in darkness again.

Prior to the dawn of this light, however, we are like the person who stumbles without knowing what made him stumble. This means we are unable to avoid the same stumbling block the next time around and so we repeat the downward spiral of thinking we’re going somewhere when in fact we are going nowhere. Our progress is consistently hampered by stumbling blocks. The worst part is that we don’t even recognize this and all the while we think we are going forward in life.

The path of the righteous is like the morning sun,
    shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
    they do not know what makes them stumble. (Proverbs 4:18-19)

In this part of Isaiah God promises that He will lead the blind along a way they have not known. He will Himself lead them. He will turn their darkness into light. What is crooked He will make straight. He will never forsake them. These words in Proverbs confirm the promise in Isaiah:

I instruct you in the way of wisdom
    and lead you along straight paths.
When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;
    when you run, you will not stumble. (Proverbs 4:11-12)

Now, we know that Jesus is both the Way and He is the Light. And He is the Good Shepherd that leads His flock and lays down His life for them. It is quite clear that this is a reference to Christ Jesus, the promised Messiah. Not only did He physically open the blind eyes, He opened the spiritually blind eyes too. This is an awesome promise.

Let’s look at it like this: He says He will bring the blind on this way. Now, He is the One carrying us to the Way. He is the Way. He leads the Way. He turns the darkness into light. He is the Light. We are thus covered from all possible angles by Jesus Himself and He crowns this promise with the comforting words that it will not be a temporary arrangement. He will never forsake those He brings on this Way.

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
    along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
    and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
    I will not forsake them. (Isaiah 42:16)

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What it Means if God is With Us

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Fynbos, a floral kingdom unique to South Afric...

Fynbos, a floral kingdom unique to South Africa, is found near Cape Town (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Scripture Reference: Isaiah 41:9-13

There are many beautiful promises in the Bible, but for me these stand out in a special way.  God makes these promises to Christ –the chosen Servant. He is the Chosen One and all those who believe in Him are chosen by God. Although these promises are given to Christ, they become ‘yes’ and ‘amen’ for all those who are in Him.

I took you from the ends of the earth,
    from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, ‘You are my servant’

There is an allusion to “every tribe and tongue” who are called of God (the ends of the earth). There are no geographical boundaries. God is calling to these chosen ones and urging them to continue trusting Him. This should keep their eyes fixed on Him for their future. They are inseparably joined to Him and He will never leave them nor forsake them.

So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

God gives these promises to His people who are in this world but not of it. They may be in dire need and surrounded on every side by their strong and crafty enemies. God reassures them that no obstacle is too great for Him. He will remove everything that attempts to separate Him from His own. Nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

With tenderness He exhorts us not to fear. He is with us. He will strengthen us. When we are about to fall, He upholds us. This is even more reason not to cultivate desires of revenge against those who hurt us. We can be assured that for all their attempts, we will not stumble and God will deal with them in His own time and way. Why, He will even turn their bad intentions around for good so that we are developed by them and not destroyed by them. ‘Do not be dismayed‘, He says. Keep going and keep your eyes on your powerful God who is mighty to save. He preserves us. He gives us power. If He is for us who can be against us?

He says He is with us. What precisely does that entail? When God says He is ‘with‘ us it is a promise of His presence, His power –everywhere. It is a promise of Him supporting us, helping us, preserving us, observing us, granting grace to us, guarding us, supplying us, comforting us, encouraging us, loving us and removing the ‘impossible’ obstacles from us!

For I am the Lord your God
    who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
    I will help you.

These promises are ours only because of the selfless life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Let us give Him all the praise!

 

Those Who Are Righteous Will Go Free

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Photo Credit: Freeman

Photo Credit: Freeman

Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will go free. (Proverbs 11:21)
This proverb brings both comfort and discomfort. It brings comfort for those who love righteousness and yet see so little of it around them and who detest wickedness yet see so much of it go unpunished in this world.

It brings discomfort to those who know deep in their hearts that their wicked deeds will have to be accounted for in one way or another. Their consciences bear testimony to this. Perhaps there are those who have become so wicked and twisted that they have altogether silenced the voice of their conscience, but even they know that in their hearts there is no real peace, even if it appears they are getting away with the wrong thing.

Even if they should laugh about the apparent success of their wicked deeds, their laughter is always mixed with unrest in their hearts. They don’t know that real joy that comes from the peace that only Christ can give to those who have placed their faith in Him and have received His righteousness.

There can be no real peace in the absence of righteousness. Those who believe in Christ will know the true freedom that only He can give. They will be set free, for their sins have been atoned for. The word of the Lord stands firm forever and therefore we can be sure of the fulfillment of this promise.

We know that the freedom is never completely free. Someone had to pay a price for others to be free. How can we go free then? We have all sinned. And since we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, who can be called righteous besides the only Righteous One? The answer is this:

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life…God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. (Romans 3:23-25a, 26b NLT)

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Nothing About God is Random

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Photo Credit: carmemlucia

Photo Credit: carmemlucia

Scripture Reference: Isaiah 40:3

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

In the ancient Eastern world it was customary to prepare the way for the arrival of the prince by sending specially selected men ahead to ensure the way is clear where the prince would travel. This was especially done when the ruler would travel through barren and inhospitable areas.

When Isaiah speaks of preparing the way for the Lord, he is alluding to this custom. One could say that Christ was on His way to a barren and inhospitable region. “For His own did not receive Him.” The one that would prepare the way for the Prince of all princes was John the Baptist.

The meaning is even deeper when one considers that through this ‘preparing the way’ God was also preparing the hearts of the chosen ones by the work of His Spirit so that they will be receptive to the message of Redemption in Christ Jesus.

Everything was prepared meticulously for when the ‘time has fully come’. The political arena was perfectly staged as was the hearts of men, those who would embrace Him and those who would oppose Him. Now, when God arrived in the form of a humble servant, everything was fully accomplished to fulfill His promise.

Nothing about who God is or what He says or what He does is ever random. On the surface, that may appear to be the case for many, but when we look closer, even at the mathematical precision with which this entire universe operates, it is abundantly clear that everything has been perfectly planned and with the most incredible attention to detail.

This applies also to our individual lives. We may be going through some things that appear to be useless suffering with no real goal in sight, but we can only look at how God has done everything in the past –how carefully He planned every single detail –to know that He is intensely interested and involved in every single detail of our lives.

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Five Ways to Earn Deceptive Wages

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MoneyA wicked person earns deceptive wages, but the one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.  (Proverbs 11:18)

We have a body and we have a soul. Doing right or doing wrong has an effect on both. Sin never affects only our physical bodies, but has even more detrimental effects on our souls. On the other hand, righteousness affects not only our natural lives with good things, but brings eternal rewards.

Solomon speaks here of earning deceptive wages. He says these are the wages of the wicked. In order to avoid working for a bad reward, I think it is necessary to explore ways of earning deceptive wages.

  1.  Selfishness: A wicked person is motivated to work only for selfish reasons. There is no place in his heart for the need of another. Sacrificing on behalf of another does not exist in his heart or deeds. He spends his days making plans on how he can get as much as possible for himself. In the end he would have gained nothing advantageous from all his carefully constructed plans and hard work. Think of the parable of the rich fool. He never got to enjoy his riches because he was thinking of only of benefits to himself and had nothing left in his heart for others. In the end, his life was over before enjoying his riches and others got to spend it. Such a one risks not only losing those closest to him, but he will have to face God, the Judge of the motives of our hearts.
  2. Dishonesty: The person who earns his income by deceiving others will in turn be deceived by his income for it will fail him when he needs it most. Nothing that he does will have lasting rewards, except his crimes of deceit and dishonesty. He will not get to enjoy the fruit of his labors. He does all his deceitful work to accumulate riches, but riches are deceitful and will perish with use, leaving him with nothing but a bad reputation here, sometimes having to face the wrath of the law and ultimately to stand guilty before the judgment seat of God, which, if he never repented and turned from his ways, will bring him eternal suffering.
  3. Salvation through Good Works: Those who think they can be made right with God through works, will find that these works deceived them, since they will eventually find out that no one can be made righteous in the sight of God through works, but only through faith in Christ. If the works of the law could save us, Christ died for nothing.
  4. Sin: It promises pleasure and profit and even liberty but those who do the works of the flesh will be disillusioned once they find that it brings only lasting pain, loss and slavery to sin. The deceitfulness of sin is fatal to the soul. The wages of sin is death.
  5. False doctrines: These make false promises by the words of deceitful workers. Such are the ones who build their homes on a foundation of sand.  ”The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,  because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:1-8)

By contrast, the person who makes it his business to do good to others is assured of a good reward, for so it is written. This is the one who does right, constantly and diligently. A man will reap what he sows and nothing else. So, if a person sows righteousness, that is what he will reap. A righteous person loves the truth and the love of truth has its own rewards. It brings the lover of truth eternal glory and happiness.

The sanctification of the Spirit of God cultivates this love of truth in our hearts. Instead of a deceitful reward, his reward will be a true, real, solid, good and substantial. He is motivated not only by his personal needs and that of his family, but often an eye on the less fortunate drives him to do more so that he can be a blessing to others. His work is motivated by doing good to others, by unselfishness and self-sacrificing love. His reward far exceeds anything he can imagine or ask for.

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Because of Christ…

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Winter WonderlandScripture Reference: Psalm 37:18-20

Since the beginning of time and consistently throughout the Old Testament, God promised that He would send one to rescue mankind from their hopeless fall away from Him. He will send One who will reconcile us to our God. That promised One is Christ Jesus and as we near the time where we set aside special moments to reflect on His birth, it is also needful to reflect on the consequences of His birth, His life  and sacrifice for all who believed in Him. May these reflections fill us with joy during this Christmas time and every day thereafter.

  1. Because of Christ, when God looks at us now, He sees our bright future already planned long ago. He knows the plans He has towards us, plans to give us hope and future, plans to prosper us and not to harm us (Jeremiah 29:11). He looks at us as the heirs of salvation. The knowledge that all future events are known to God; that God is never taken by surprise should be hugely comforting to us. Every day of our lives have been written in God’s book (Psalm 139:16).
  2. Because of Christ, eternity is ours. The heavenly treasures we store on earth is kept safe from earthly decay, but better still will be our eternal reward as there will be no end to it. On earth we may yet be tested with disaster and failure, but as sure as Jesus promised on earth we will have trouble, just as sure is His promise of deliverance from every trouble. The blameless spend their days under the Lord’s care, and their inheritance will endure forever.
  3. Because of Christ, those who look to the Lord will never be covered with shame. Though people may mock them now, the day will come when the Lord will remove the disgrace they suffered due to the taunts of unbelievers and the mockers will themselves be disgraced. The disgrace the faithful suffer may be temporal, but the disgrace of the mockers will be forever.
  4. Because of Christ, we have no reason to frantically try to protect our image in the sight of man as the Lord is faithful and will Himself restore our dignity.
  5. Because of Christ, we have no need to be concerned in our time of lack. Economic recessions need not bother us because if God is our provider it matters little that the cost of living is rising. We are literally blessed forever in Christ Jesus. In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.

It has become almost fashionable to mock those who believe in God, but whatever fuels their arrogant fires right now will be of little worth to them when the Lord comes to the rescue of His own. They act as if they have this entire universe figured out. If there is one single part of this universe still unknown to man, how can he claim for certain there is no Creator?

So, let them boast and pollute with their arrogant words. They will be silenced at the appearance of the King of kings. While the righteous are promised salvation in Christ, the wicked are promised that they will perish.

Though the Lord’s enemies are like the flowers of the field, they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke.

Those who find their confidence in God will find that He will work on their behalf so that their trust in Him will never disappoint them. He will give them contentment in heart and all that they need for life and godliness. Because of Christ we have peace with God. Everything we have, everything we are in the sight of God is because of Christ.

Merry Christmas to all of you. May you have a joyful and happy time and may these joyful reflections on all we have because of Christ continue in your hearts everyday!

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Seek Help from the Lord Alone

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Help from the God who created all things. Scripture Reference: Isaiah 31:1-3

We are continually warned in Scripture not to depend on human help. God is our Helper and any help we may receive from man is only possible because God enabled that help. However, we need these regular reminders since we are inclined to look to man for help, even if we do so in subtle ways we are not aware of ourselves.

Here we have another instance where God addresses these inclinations of seeking help from man. We can see Egypt as the world and its systems. Although the people of God during the time of Isaiah were guilty of running to Egypt for help, these words give us great insight into how responds to those who seek their help from man. These warnings are as relevant to us today as it were to the people of God then.

 

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD.

As I said before, Egypt is symbolic of the world. So, one could read in this that God will oppose any help we seek from the godless. When we become friends with the world, we become enemies of God. We can’t be friends with God and the world as the two forces work in opposite directions and for opposite purposes. We have to decide who is our friend.

 

Yet he too is wise and can bring disaster; he does not take back his words. He will rise up against that wicked nation, against those who help evildoers.

A person who runs to the world for protection may consider himself safe, but it is a false sense of security. God’s wisdom is by no means inferior to the wisdom of the world, so why do we seek for wisdom in an inferior source? His understanding no one can fathom. He established the entire universe with His word and He does not take back His word, or this creation would disintegrate.  He is faithful and trustworthy. What folly it is then to run to someone for help who is inferior both in wisdom, faithfulness and strength to God. We cannot fool God either by religious pretensions while we flirt with the world. It makes no sense to try to deceive the One whose eyes can see all things, even the hidden intents of the heart.

 

But the Egyptians are mere mortals and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit. When the LORD stretches out his hand, those who help will stumble, those who are helped will fall; all will perish together.

For victory over the enemy we need more than physical strength. We need the wisdom and power of God which is provided for us in Christ Jesus through His Spirit. It is therefore both futile and dangerous to look for this kind of help in mere human beings. God says that both those who offered their vain help and those who were helped by mere mortals will perish together.

May these words be a constant reminder to us. God wants all of us or He wants nothing. We cannot expect to receive anything from God if our loyalty is divided between Him and the world. May we seek our help in God alone and praise Him accordingly when He reaches out and hears our cry.

 

Playing Church Won’t Save Us

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English: Church of Jesus Christ (Zion's Branch...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Scripture Reference: Isaiah 29:9-24

It doesn’t take one very long to discover that, as you read through the book of Isaiah, there is one common theme permeating the entire book.

Isaiah paints a clear picture indeed, showing us how much God abhors empty religion –a grand show put on week after week to impress people.

The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.

Jesus emphasized God’s view when He quoted these words from Isaiah 29 as He addressed the church leaders of His time. “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.” (v.13 NLT). This religious charade is one of the reasons the church leaders of His time may have impressed people, but failed to impress Jesus. He saw right through their religious veneer.

Sadly, empty religion is still very much alive today. Anyone who has ever belonged to a religious institution has either had an encounter with hypocrisy or has perhaps been guilty of it themselves. I have had ample experience of both. I was part of the “lip-service” crowd until the Lord started working on my heart and started to show me that He is not interested in these things I thought was important. In fact, He hated the kind of worship consisting of man-made ideas passed off as commands from God. I love The Message paraphrase of this Scripture:

The Master said: “These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their hearts
aren’t in it. Because they act like they’re worshiping me but don’t mean it, I’m going to step
in and shock them awake, astonish them, stand them on their ears. The wise ones who had it
all figured out will be exposed as fools. The smart people who thought they knew everything
will turn out to know nothing.” (vv13-14)

In the final analysis, those who thought they had God all figured out and neatly wrapped into their little denominational box will be blinded to His actions in the lowliest of people. He will blind them and deafen them and reveal His great and wonderful work to “little children.” In other words, God will oppose the proud and give grace to the humble.

This prophecy is not for atheists. It speaks of religious people who act spiritual in church, but once they leave there, they live as if God does not exist. They live as if He is blind to what they get up to outside of the church building. Even while in church, they are more occupied with man-made church rules and activities, and promoting the name of their church. Thoughts of God and what He desires does not rate very highly in their minds. The God they have in their minds is indeed a small one who is limited to an architectural structure. They think God does not see what they discuss and get up to behind closed doors.

Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, “Who sees us? Who will know?” You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “You did not make me”? Can the pot say to the potter, “You know nothing”?

Oblivious of how offensive their church charades are God, they are also blind enough to incur more guilt by looking down their noses on others who are not part of their denomination.

But here is the truth: Regardless of how many times a week we go to church; regardless of our religious title; regardless of how many church activities we are involved in –we cannot be saved by these things. When we think that going through religious motions week after week is all that God requires of us, then we have turned things upside down. Then we focus on the less important at the expense of what matters most to God. Then we are in danger of trying to work for our salvation instead of receiving our salvation as a gift from God through faith in Christ Jesus. Then we may end up making up our own rules and disregarding God’s rules.

God is famous for choosing the most unlikely people to do His work  –the very people who are often despised by arrogant religious leaders. They look for flair, elegance, eloquence, pomp, and social status. That’s what they were looking for when Jesus was around on this earth. And they couldn’t recognize God in the flesh. So, not only did they reject Him, but they crucified Him. He was in the way of their personal agendas.

These are important lessons for us. Although church is good, it should be done with God in mind, and Him alone. For this reason, I believe, we should take time to regularly ask ourselves if we are still doing it for the right reasons or if we have been caught up in the wave of hypocrisy, selfish ambition and man-made rules.

The Good News is, that no matter how religious we have become, there is always room to turn to God while He may be found, for He will freely pardon. Saul of Tarsus is an inspiring example of how God took a passionately religious heart and set it on fire for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And look what he said afterwards:

I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! Galatians 2:21

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Destructive Words Cannot Destroy the Righteous

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English: Bucegi mountains

Bucegi mountains (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With their mouths the godless destroy their neighbours, but through knowledge the righteous escape. (Proverbs 11:9)

This proverb supplements what the Scriptures say about our words. Our words have power –either to build up or to destroy. To destroy is how the godless use the power of words.

Since this is a spiritual principle ingrained in this universe as much as the law of gravitational force is a physical principle, the godless may very well succeed with their destructive intentions. But, just as gravity can be defied with clever science, likewise the intention to destroy with words can be subverted through the knowledge that comes with righteousness.

Okay, now how does one get hold of this knowledge that comes from righteousness? Firstly, it is a gift. We cannot work for it. It is God’s gift to those who placed their faith in Christ Jesus –God’s chosen Way to make people righteous. Then, since they are now righteous in God’s sight because of their faith, they have access to all that Christ offers. And one of these offers is knowledge, hidden in Him along with God’s wisdom. All power is given to Christ and those that are in Him cannot be destroyed by any power that is beneath Him.

This includes curses placed on the Lord’s people from the mouth of the godless. I was one of those people who feared the curses of others. I believed that they would have an effect and come true. All that changed when the Lord opened my eyes to this principle: No one can curse what God has blessed. The curses will not get a foothold if I am blessed by God and according to the Bible, those who are in Christ have been blessed:

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” Ephesians 1:3

So there we have it. Someone would have to be greater than God to curse what God has blessed and we know that there is none greater than our God. Who is His equal?  Furthermore, the Lord Jesus became the curse for us. All curses that could befall His children have been dealt a final blow on that Cross. Dead and buried and powerless they are now.

Now, there is one thing we must not lose sight of. This is a gift of God and we should never forget the price that has been paid for us to be blessed. For this reason we should take care not to be deliberate troublemakers and sow discord and then think we are safe. Such an attitude would reflect a heart which does not appreciate the shedding of our Lord’s blood for the privileges we enjoy as His children. Isn’t it written that blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God? Yes, that is a characteristic of a child of God –someone who not only loves peace, but who works hard to make peace. There is also an instruction in Ephesians for us to use our words wisely:

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Ephesians 4:29)

or as the NLT puts it:

Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

To get back to the proverb above: The righteous escape the destructive words of the godless through knowledge. Now that we have discussed who the righteous are, let’s talk about the word knowledge in this proverb. The Hebrew word translated as knowledge includes along with knowledge also the following characteristics: perception, skill, discernment, understanding and wisdom.

Through all these things the righteous will escape and these things are given to them because they are in Christ Jesus. His Spirit guides them and teaches them all things. They receive both a love and knowledge of the Truth. They become skillful in learning how to deal with the ungodly and how to avoid their traps. They are given a keen perception of human behavior. They receive a Spirit of discernment which allows them to distinguish between the good and the bad intentions of others –no matter how well-concealed those bad intentions are. Ever felt like something is not quite right with an offer although you can’t quite put your finger on it, only to find later you were right to be distrustful?

Having received all these gifts, destructive words cannot destroy the righteous. And to think these are only a portion of the blessings which we received by faith in Christ. Thank God for His great kindness towards us.

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Obedience to God adds Length and Value to your Life

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Lone Mark 1 kayaker (surf ski), near Morro Roc...

Lone Mark 1 kayaker (surf ski), near Morro Rock harbor entrance, Morro Bay, CA (Photo credit: mikebaird)

The fear of the LORD adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short. (Proverbs 10:27)

How can the fear of the Lord make a person live longer? The answer lies in this: When someone fears the Lord he will be careful to obey the Lord’s commandments. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and wisdom helps us to discern what’s best for us. What’s best for us is to trust God implicitly for He created us and knows us inside and out.

He also knows the future. When making important decisions we can only make projections as to what the future may hold. God has no need for projections. He knows the end from the beginning. Besides, He has also proven Himself to be fully trustworthy.

God’s commandments are not to restrict us and imprison us, but to set us free to have life and life in abundance. Obedience to God adds length and value to life. Our days may not be perfect, but every day of our life is special and contributes towards the ultimate goal: Living in God’s presence forever.

However, we need to discern what obedience to God is. Many are obedient to man-made ideas that have been passed off as commands from God. (see Mark 7). The church leaders of Jesus’ time were notorious for doing this and this leads people astray because although they believe they are obeying God by following man-made rules, they may in fact be disobeying Him.

‘Their worship is a farce,  for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’

For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.” Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition. For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.” Mark 7:7-13

Thankfully, God didn’t leave us over to the whimsical dangers of distorted teachers and their teachings. He gave us His written Word to guide us. As road users, we understand that the traffic rules are there for our own safety. Generally people accept and respect these rules without resistance. The same applies to the Lord’s “rules” for us. It is for our own safety and those who live by them will lengthen their life and add to the quality of their lives.

These words also have an eternal application. We know that this life is temporary and we all will leave it behind some day. No one escapes death. But those who fear the Lord and trust in His salvation offered in Christ Jesus will receive eternal life. They have crossed over from the road to death to the road to life.

In contrast, the years of the wicked are cut short because of their own choice to deliberately disobey the Lord’s commandments. They ignore the “instruction manual” and live according to their own rules. For many, their emotions (though fickle and unpredictable), rule their decision-making processes. No one else tells them what to do. But just like ignoring the instruction manual of an appliance is sure to cause that appliance have a shorter functional lifespan, so the one who makes a choice to ignore God will also decreases the years of his life –in this life and the next.

This proverb does not mean that all who die young have themselves to blame for their demise. It is, like all the other proverbs, a guide to living life wisely and not a guarantee of escaping death. None of us will escape death. Some have been given more years than others, but this does not mean that those who live longer have necessarily feared God and taken hold of His commandments. This is but a guideline to a good life when it has been granted us.

Moreover, it also alludes to our eternal destination: Life forevermore or death where we are hurled into utter darkness separated from this loving God of the Universe for all eternity.

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