I am...the Life

My devotions this week covered a lot of ground. Reading from Psalm 109 to Isaiah 13, but one of the familiar themes of Proverbs caught my attention again. It tied in well with one of the daily devotionals I read on Wednesday, as well.

The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied. (Proverbs 19:23)

The fear of the Lord gives wisdom. The fear of the Lord gives knowledge. The fear of the Lord gives understanding. But here it says the fear of the Lord leads to life. God gives us physical life, but He also promises that those who seek Him will find Him, and the only way we will live eternally is to know the Son of God.

Paul opens his second letter to Timothy in this manner: "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus." We, who are spiritually dead, are made alive in Christ's life by His work on the cross. We're given a new life, a renewed mind, and a new mission as a Christian. We won't find eternal life in anyone or anything else, for Christ is the source and giver of Life. He is Life Himself. Jesus came that we "may have life and have it abundantly". (John 17:3)

We live in the flesh, but it's only temporary, and it's purpose serves to sanctify us and bring glory to God. The contrast of Christ's life in us is magnified all the more when we see the depraved nature of ourselves. "Always carrying in teh body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies." (2 Corinthians 4:10)

The fear of the Lord, a reverence and respect for His name, leads us to life, and it's by this life that we live eternally. "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." When we become a child of God, we are forever secure in His presence and protection, and nothing can separate us from His love. We are no more secure anywhere here on earth than the angels are in heaven. And when we are finished this physical life on earth, we will have life eternal in heaven.

This life in Christ, in return, should also increase our fear of the Lord, for we should be growing day by day in the Word and in communion with Him. Resting in the Lord for assurance of salvation, sanctification, and security is what will satisfy our hearts. By fear of the Lord we live with the promise of eternal life, and with the physical life He grants us now, we must learn to walk in the fear of the Lord all the days of our life. It is the Living God who grants us life, physically and spiritually. Our time here on earth is for a purpose, and we are immortal until we fulfill it.

"As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God." (Psalm 42:1-2a)

"Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." (1 Timothy 6:12)

His Holiness!

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name. 
~Psalm 97:12


I was reminded of the holiness of God after reading this verse. I have heard it said that God's holiness is His most important attribute, because this is what sets Him apart from other gods. The KJV says it this way: "give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness". This is the attribute that the angels speak of around the throne of God. "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come". (Revelation 4:8). 1 Peter calls us to be holy as the Lord Himself is holy. Holiness means consecration to the service of God. That means that all our thoughts, our actions, and our being is set-apart for the work of God. We are His ambassadors here, and our life must demonstrate that we were called out of the world's darkness and into His light.

God's holiness is not only something we're to emulate, but His holiness also shows us what we are not. God's purity stands in stark contrast to the lives of mankind, and the more we know of God's holiness, the more we will see the sin in ourselves and others. The holiness of God in the Old Testament caused men to fall on their faces in worship to Him. Moses and Joshua were told to remove their shoes as they were standing in the presence of a holy God. Isaiah recognized his sinfulness as he saw the Lord on His throne. God's presence filled the Temple with His holiness and those who entered without permission into the Holy of Holies would die.

God's holiness is something we're to give thanks for. Without the holiness of God no one can see the Lord, and to be judged for all eternity would mean certain death for us. But it was the holiness of God and His Son that enabled Him to die in our place. Because of His perfection, He could stand before God--a God before whom no man could stand--and call us holy, righteous, and pure, because of our faith in Christ. Because of His holiness a Perfect Sacrifice was offered once and for all, providing the means to cleanse our sin forever. Because of Jesus' holiness, we live under grace, and are freed from the bondage of sin. And because of His holiness we continue to be sanctified and conformed to the likeness of Christ. We have good reason to be thankful.

Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! 
(2 Corinthians 9:15)

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. (Proverbs 9:10)

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
(Psalm 103:1)

"You shall have no other gods before Me"

This past week I read through the book of 2 Chronicles. It starts out with Solomon's building of the temple--a Holy Place and the Holy of Holies where the priests and people would worship God and offer the necessary sacrifices for their sin. But after Solomon's death, his kingdom is divided, and then comes the long list of kings and rulers who attempt to control the kingdoms of Judah and Israel.

Many of the kings were wicked in God's sight, and didn't do much, if anything, to bring the nation back to God. Some were righteous, though. But the one thing that particularly stood out to me was the use of the high places of false worship, which were often built by the kings who turned their hearts from the one true God. The wicked kings blatantly built and used these areas of false worship. Yet sometimes when a righteous king reigned, the places were destroyed and the people turned back to God. However, there were a few kings who followed the Lord, but not fully, and many times this was because they did not destroy the places of false worship.

Jotham was one of these. "And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord...except he did not enter the temple of the Lord. But the people still followed corrupt practices." (2 Chronicles 27:2) Manassah was another, for while the people served the God, they used the high places of false worship to sacrifice to the Lord. Both these men allowed the influence of pagan people and nations to corrupt their worship towards God, and because they permitted some sin in their lives, the Israelites did not follow God wholeheartedly. Their intended to follow God (though Manassah didn't until later in his reign), but this sin distracted them and their people from restoring complete fellowship with God.

It's was also interesting to see that after many wicked or weak rulers, there came a godly king who completely destroyed all the false places of sacrifices and worship, called the people to repentance, and celebrated the Passover. After Jotham, Ahaz led the people into further wickedness, building more high places and leading the people in false worship. But after Ahaz, came Hezekiah. Amon reigned after Manassah, and he, too, served false gods, and refused to humble himself before God. But after Amon, came Josiah.

Hezekiah and Josiah were the two kings who sought after God. They weren't perfect, but they turned Judah's heart to repent and seek God. They purged the land of false images and places of worship. They both restored and ordered the holy Temple, and they both celebrated the Passover once again. They refused to allow the pagan influence to corrupt the land, and by doing so they preserved the nation--the line from which Christ would come--for yet a little longer.

Perhaps this can be a lesson to us, too. When we allow sinful influences, thoughts, and action to creep into our lives, it slowly draws us away from God. Sometimes it isn't noticeable at first, but it takes conscious action to destroy the false strongholds of our hearts and to restore our relationship with God. If we're going to allow just that "one little thing" to plant seeds in our mind that turn us from God, then it's going to weaken our appetite for spiritual things. We need to guard the purity of our hearts and minds if we desire to follow after Christ. Single-hearted devotion to Christ and unity with fellow believers requires that we lay aside sin and live in obedience--for that brings blessing.

And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statues, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.

Then he made all who were present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin join in it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

And Josiah took away all the abominations from all the territory that belonged to the people of Israel and made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.

2 Chronicles 34:31-33

January Quotes

The Will of God never takes you to where the Grace of God will not protect you.

~Unknown

Circumstances are the rulers of the weak; they are but the instruments of the wise. 

~Samuel Lover

I will accept this office, but no crown must be put on my head and I must never be called king. 

I cannot wear a crown of gold where Christ wore one of thorns, 

nor will I be called king in the land where once lived the King of Kings. 

~Godfrey of Bouillion

(his response after being chosen king for the Holy Land)

…men cannot be always fighting. A breathing spell today gives tomorrow’s struggle new zest.

~To Have and To Hold (book)

You are as much serving God in looking after your own children, and training them 

up in God’s fear, and minding the house, and making your household a church for 

God, as you would be if you had been called to lead an army to battle for the Lord of 

hosts. 

~C.H. Spurgeon

The One who gave the vision still calls, and what God calls us to do He gives the grace to accomplish. 

~Pendragon (movie)

You cannot love a fellow creature fully until you love God. 

~C.S. Lewis

I have learned to kiss the wave that strikes me against the Rock of Ages.

-Charles Spurgeon

Truth does not fear the closest investigation. It does not shun the light, but courts it. It is the evil one and his emissaries who love darkness and secrecy, and act under the cloak of mysticism.

~A.W. Pink 

Give me the Gospel, and let me be culturally awkward. 

~Voddie Baucham 

Why should souls who are quickened with Jesus, wear the grave clothes of worldliness and unbelief? Rise, for the Lord is risen.

~Charles Spurgeon

The righteous may fall, yet he will not be ‘utterly cast down.’ The flax may not burn brightly, yet smoke will evidence that it has not quite gone out. Life in the believer may wane to a low ebb, yet sooner or later it will give proof that it is still there.

~A.W. Pink