September Devotions

29 Sept 2017

All came to pass

Joshua 21:45 Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

Not partially or not a part of or not some parts of the promises or one of the promises but every word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel came to pass. Wow...It is such a powerful claim by the author of the book of Joshua. But if we read through the earlier chapters of this book of Joshua, we can understand very clearly that it is not just an empty claim. The victories won by the people of Israel under the leadership of Joshua and the division of inheritance of the possessed land between all the tribes of Israel and the rest God gave them on every side affirm the promises of God fulfilled in their midst. 

When the going gets tough and the delay seems to be long (as per worldly terms) this promise encourages us that not a single word of the Lord fails to come to pass. It doesn't matter how long the road is or how short the path is, how difficult the bend is or how easy the slope is, if it is the Lord who's guiding you then be assured of this, He will lead you to rest, Because he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23b

23 Sept 2017

Everything for His glory

Isaiah 43:19 Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

It is so easy to get lost in wilderness, without a compass and a good sense of direction we may even end up going in circles and have a very hard time coming out of it. There are even some reality shows telecasted on TV wherein a person or few people left in wilderness has to find their way back to civilization and whoever reaches first were given some kind of reward. 

Coming to the context of today's verse, God spoke to the people of Israel through His prophet Isaiah concerning a future prophecy of their rebellion against Him, captivity and exile to Babylon and deliverance from captivity. In this verse particularly God affirmed the Israelites that when leading them back to Canaan from Babylon He will create a road through the wilderness and create springs in the desert to provide them with water. If we see the geography, between Babylon and Canaan there are hundreds of miles of wilderness. I am amazed at how specific God is, He just did not promise them of their return but He also told them that He will take care of their safe passage through the wilderness by making roads, providing springs of water and even keep them safe from wild beasts ( v 20). All this He will do so that the people may declare His praises.

Everything God does, it is for His ultimate glory. Even in our lives God is able to make a way where there seems to be no way. Especially for those of us who are waiting for guidance God speaks through this verse that He not only will lead us but He is also able to make a way which does not exist before. And He is able to take care of us , He will not allow any harm to come near us and not just that He will also provide for us all through the journey. It doesn't matter how we were or what we were in the past, if we now humble ourselves before God and turn away from our wicked ways God will do miracles in our life. And through it all His name shall be glorified.

21 Sept 2017

Longing His presence

Psalms 27:4 One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.

It is no wonder that this psalm is written by David, a man after Gods own heart (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22). King David was not a perfect man, he also had his own share of weaknesses and flaws but, his hearts desire was always to know God and to do His will. Thats why God himself testified that he is a man after His own heart. Today's verse depicts Davids heartfelt desire to dwell in God's presence and to behold the beauty of the Lord. Imagine a person in love, he or she will be full of thoughts of the other person and there will be longing in their heart to be with him or her all the time. Here David is longing for God in similar way. As per old testament days only the priests can dwell inside the temple, so it may be David was longing to trade his role as king to priest to just be inside the temple before the Lord. Or he might have wanted to just sit on the floor before the Lord 2 Samuel 7:18 and praise Him with a song.2 Samuel 22 He was yearning and longing to be with the Lord and experience His presence.

As NT believers we are called the royal priesthood, the elect of the Lord (1 Peter 2:9) and we are given the privilege  to enter Gods presence any time and anywhere (Hebrews 4:16, 10:19-20) So with this liberty and privilege it is much easier for us to draw near to the throne of grace. But honestly how many of us would like to go to God just to be in God's presence and behold His beauty? With our lips we may say we long for Him and yearn for His presence but do we really desire it with all our hearts? 

And  its one thing to go to God in prayer with our requests,petitions and intercessions and it's totally a different thing to just sit in His presence and wait in silence before Him. If you have not tried it till now, I encourage you to try it today. For there is fullness of joy in His presence and at His right hand are pleasures evermore (Psalm 16:11) which no world can give and which no money can buy.

5 Sept 17

Pure heart

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

It is interesting to see that Gods word doesn't say blessed are the perfect for they shall see God. Instead it says blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Purity of heart for a child of God is not optional but is a necessary thing. You can't expect to see God or hear from God while leading an impure life. The Old Testament law given to the Israelites through Moses expressed the holiness of God and how difficult it is to approach such a holy God. It required certain purification processes for certain things. Even to enter into the sanctuary the people had to purify themselves. Some people think that because Jesus has come we don't have to bother about the law, no dear ones Jesus himself told he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it Matthew 5:17. The OT law required external purification but the new covenant of Jesus mandated purity of heart. David also mentioned this in one of his psalms Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.Psalms 24:3-4

Unfortunately some of us learn it the hard way that without purity of heart, purity of thoughts and purity of words what ever we do is never pleasing to God. How ever big our ministry may be and however wonderful you may appear to people on the outside without purity of heart everything we do is wood, hay and sticks and they are only going to burn and turn into dust.

How are we made pure? Because of Jesus' death on the cross as a substitution for us we are redeemed from our sins and are cleansed from our iniquities. So the moment we repent of our sins and accept the redemption work of Jesus and invite Him into our hearts to be our Lord and Savior we are made pure in the eyes of the Lord Almighty. But after that maintaining/protecting that purity in our lives is a daily process.And how do we maintain it? As the psalmist says How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word Psalms 119:9 We need to fill out hearts with the word of God. As we do that during the time of temptations and during our times of need the Holy Spirit will remind us of the required scriptures that will help us overcome. I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.Psalms 119:11

At the same time we should aim for purity in speech, purity in thoughts and purity of eyes then we can have a pure heart. So what we fill our hearts with and what we think upon becomes very important. We should be careful with what we watch on tv or internet and watchful about the thoughts that we allow our mind to ponder on. We need to think upon things that are true, honorable, pure, just, lovely, commendable, excellent and worthy of praise Philippians 4:8. As we faithfully continue to do these things the Lord will give us His grace to be pure and blameless for the day of Christ Philippians 1:10

4 Sept 17

Like a tree that yields it's fruit

Psalms 1:3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Some of the promises of God comes with a condition and today's verse is one of them. A person is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither if he does some things and does not do some things. If you can recall we meditated on a similar verse in Jeremiah 17:7-8 "But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." a few months ago. According to this verse a person will be like a fruitful tree if he trusts in the Lord and if his confidence is in Him. And as per today's verse a person can also be like a fruitful tree if he
1. walks not in the counsel of the wicked
2. stands not in the way of sinners
3. sits not in the seat of the scoffers
4. delights in the law of God and
5. meditates on the law day and night.
The first set of don'ts are part of verse 1 and second set of do's are part of verse 2 of Psalm 1. Let us look at these don'ts and do's in detail.

1. Walks not in the counsel of the wicked:
As per the word of God, the counsels of the wicked are deceitful Proverbs 12:5b. The wicked are full of evil, mischief and lies Psalm 7:14, does not seek God and does not fear Him. Psalm 10:4,36:1, plots trouble Psalm 36:4, borrows but does not pay back Psalm 37:21. The thoughts, ways and sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord Proverbs 15:8,9,26. So if a person wishes to live a fruitful life he should not walk in the deceitful ways of the wicked but should forsake evil & mischief and seek God & fear Him.

2. Stands not in the way of sinners:
I heard the following definition of sin from a man of God, Sin is trying to satisfy God given desires by using God given talents& gifts at the wrong time in a wrong way. Sin is disobedience to God and His word. The way of sinners leads only to destruction and death. So if a person wishes to live a fruitful life he should walk in the ways of the Lord and forsake sinful ways.

3. Sits not in the seat of scoffers:
Scoff means to mock and according to scriptures Scoffer is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride.Proverbs 21:24 So if a person wishes to live a fruitful life he should not judge, be little or mock others and act arrogant but should encourage and uplift others.

4. Delights in the law of God:
Law of God is nothing but the word of God. Delight is joy or a high degree of pleasure or enjoyment. Delighting in the law of God means enjoying ourselves and finding our utmost joy in the word of God. When we love someone we want to know more about them and spend time with them. Similarly if we love God we desire to know more about Him and spend time with Him. And the best way to know God is by reading His word. Actually it goes as a cycle, the more we love God the more we will spend time reading His word and the more we read His word the more we will love Him. So if a person wishes to live a fruitful life he should find delight in the word of God.

5. Meditates on the law day and night:
Meditation of God's word means to read, re read the scripture and ponder on it till it becomes so real to us and its truth sinks into our heart. God's word becomes bread and life to a person when he meditates on it. So if a person wishes to live a fruitful life he should read and meditate upon God's word.

Concisely, a person who is fruitful like a tree planted by the streams of water, delights himself in the Lord and forsakes the ways of the world.

Many of us believers are leading a fruitless life even after knowing the Lord for many years. It is because we might be missing out one or some of these don'ts and do's. Today let us compare our lives with Psalm 1:1-3 and ask the Lord to show us where we fall behind and grant us the grace to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Colossians 1:10