Joy for our Protector

Psa 28:7  The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

Is it not interesting that Joy goes with protection. We will always have enemies that pursue us and attempt to destroy the gospel we preach and the life we live. There will always be mockers and those that ridicule. We must continue faithful with our Lord because He is always faithful to protect us. We always need to call upon the Rock.

Let me tell you something about my Rock. This rock I stand on is not a pebble but an immovable boulder. I stand on a Rock that cannot be moved. I am on a firm and safe foundation that will never crumble or was away.

My enemies can assault and assail this Rock and it is to no avail. My Rock is my shield and protection. There is no life storm that can remove me from my Rock. My Rock is a sure foundation that cannot be moved.

I can sing praises to my Savior because of the joy in my heart because of His protection. May I always love and be faithful to the Rock of my salvation and the source of my joy.

MARCH 31 – Where is your expectation?

MARCH 31 – Where is your expectation?

Psalm 62:5  My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. 

6  He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. 

7  In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. 

8  Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah. 

This gives us the thought that our soul should be fixed upon God. A time of silence and pray will bring us to the point that we will give ourselves to the Lord. We will more readily come to an agreement with God and submit ourselves to Him. Why begin our day without Him when His desire to guide us and have us come into an agreement with Him over the day that is here. Notice that our expectation is from God. What is our great hope? To be in the presence of the Lord. What we are hoping for, our expectation comes from God. He is the author of our expectation.

We no surer foundation that God. When we build upon Him and accept His salvation, nothing can shake us loose. We can suffer sorrow and understand that God is with us to succor us. We suffer attacks and know that God is my defense. We will suffer many things in this life but we are secure on the foundation of God. The defense of God is impenetrable. There are none that can come through His defense.

I consider that I have many brethren in the Lord and I love them, but they are not my salvation or glory. They are not my strength or my refuge. They are weak and fallible just like I am. God is my salvation and I glory in Him. He is the rock that gives me strength daily. He is the one I flee to when I need a place of safety.

Does your soul wait upon the Lord? Do you trust Him implicitly?

FEBRUARY 7 – A STEADFAST MIND

FEBRUARY 7 – A STEADFAST MIND

Ruth 1:18 When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.

I like this word, stedfast. It seems to indicate something that is solid and unmovable. Webster puts it this way – Fast fixed; firmly fixed or established; constant; firm; resolute; not fickle or wavering. The story of Ruth is a remarkable story of a woman that was stedfast in her resolve to continue with her mother-in-law to a land that was not hers. The scripture says that Ruth clave to her. Cleave – To stick; to adhere; to hold to; To unite aptly; to fit; to sit well on; To unite or be united closely in interest or affection; to adhere with a strong attachment. The Arkansas dialect uses the word – stick-to-it-iveness.

Ruth must have had her reasons because she gave a list of what she would do. Where you go I will go; where you live I will live; your people will be my people; your God will be my God; where you die I will die. Who of us has had that kind of influence on anyone? Naomi must have lived in such a way in front of Ruth to make a deep impression upon her.

Should we not live in this manner to influence the lives around us? What change within us would have to be made for someone to tell us those words. Who do we know that could influence us in such a manner.

What was the result of this closeness of relationship? Ruth finds a way to provide food for Naomi and herself. By the means provided to provide food, she met a man that became her husband, a very wealthy husband. Naomi’s land was redeemed.

We are taught the lesson of Jesus Christ as our kinsman redeemer. I was sold into the slavery of sin and my kinsman, Jesus Christ redeemed me from the curse and death penalty of sin. He has enriched me with a new life of service which gives me purpose and meaning for living. He showers His blessings upon me. He has brought peace and love and happiness and cause them to dwell in my life. He has set me on a solid foundation that cannot be moved.

Ruth, a Moabite by birth, and Boaz, a Jew by birth, are in the lineage of Christ. Here I am with an inheritance because I cling to Jesus my Savior.

May we all learn to cling to Jesus.

He Is the Rock

Deuteronomy 32:1-4

“He is the Rock; his work is perfect. For all His ways are judgment, a God of truth and without iniquity; just and right is he,” Deuteronomy 32:4.

From Genesis to Revelation God is represented as the Rock of our salvation, and man is represented as dust. In Daniel 2:34, 35, the rock is used to illustrate Christ’s return in judgment. The King of righteousness will rule the world with a rod of iron. The Prince of peace will have peace or else, and His kingdom will never end. God will cast the last stone, justice will prevail and the works of man will turn to dust.
In the desert, the rock or mountain was the only shade from the sun’s destruction. In the shadow of the mountain, David found rest from the battles of life and refreshing waters to quench his thirst. God brought water from the rock for His people in the wilderness, and Paul said that Rock was Christ. Jesus taught that when we build our house on the shifting sands of the world, it will fall. But, the house built on the solid Rock will stand the storms of life. We must all build on the solid Rock that will hold our lives together or we build in vain.
Even the biblical anchor was a huge boulder buried deeply on the beach. A forerunner was chosen from among the mariners to swim ashore with a rope and tie off the ship to the rock anchor. Then, the sailors could hold to the rope and make it to shore safely. Thank God for the forerunner who has gone before and tied us to the throne of God for safekeeping (Heb. 6:18-20).

JUST SAYING
He is the solid Rock compared to our dust running through the hour glass. Tie up and hang on—your little bark is in good hands.
Robert Brock

God of Truth

 

’Ēl-’Emûnâ

 

Few words captivate and consume this writer more than the word truth (grace is another). Sadly, however, few words are under more attack than this one. We live in an age of unprecedented relativism, where truth is “up for grabs,” is different for each person, and changes according to circumstances.

 

In stark contrast, God is the God of truth. As Moses sings, “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he” (Deu_32:4). The psalmist echoes in a messianic prophecy, “Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth” (Psa_31:5; cf. Luk_23:46). And the prophet Isaiah repeats, “That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth” (Isa_65:16).

 

Truth is a translation of ’emeṯ (H571, or ’emûnāh, H530, ), which has at its root the ideas of firmness and certainty and includes such concepts as truth, rightness, and faithfulness. Also inherent in the word is the idea of faith, which in biblical usage “is an assurance, a certainty, in contrast with modern concepts of faith as something possible, hopefully true, but not certain.”

 

It is extremely significant that the Septuagint translates this Hebrew word with the Greek alētheia in some 100 instances. As one Greek authority defines it: “Etymologically alētheia means nonconcealment. It thus denotes what is seen, indicated, expressed, or disclosed, i.e., a thing as it really is, not as it is concealed or falsified. Alētheia is the real state of affairs.” The fundamental concept of truth is that it is absolute and certain, is incontrovertible, irrefutable, unarguable, and unchanging. If something is true, it is always true and can never be untrue, no matter what the circumstances.

 

This name greatly helps us understand who God is. He is the God of certainty, firmness, and assurance. He never changes and is absolutely dependable. Again, Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Heb_13:8, ). As we rejoice in the certainties of the God of truth, let our desire in turn be the pursuit of absolute truth in all things and in every area of life.

 

Scriptures for Study: What does Joh_14:6 declare? In Joh_16:13, what is one ministry of the Holy Spirit? In Joh_17:17; Joh_17:19, what is a result of truth?