Category: Old Testament

What Do Your Words Say About You?

Proverbs 10: 19, 31-32

In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.(19)  The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out.(31)  The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness. (32)

Scriptures: Proverbs 4: 24

Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.

Scripture Commentary:  The words you use say a lot about the person you are

The words you use to express yourself offers a picture of who you are and what you are about.  You know what is appropriate and what is not; you know right from wrong.  When in conversation, expressing yourself in a godly manner is respectful to God.

Be careful not only about what you say but also how you say it.  Chose your words as you would chose your friends.  Bad friends can lure you into doing the wrong thing.

Young people are quick to want acceptance, and as a result, they would never want to confront or criticize a friend for wrong actions, plans, or language.    Remember this: it is easy to get opinions from people who will tell you only what they think will please you but such advice is not helpful.

Instead look to those who will speak the Godly truth, even when it hurts.  These words, said in love, have the most value.

Think about the people from whom you get your advice.  What do you expect to hear from them?

Think about the words you chose and the advice you give.  Chose those words prayerfully!

Read the Entire Chapter:
Proverbs Chapter 4
Proverbs Chapter 10

All You Have Is a Gift of God

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 5: 18-20

Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.  Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God. For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.

Scripture Commentary: Rejoice – every good thing you have is a gift of God

How did you get your job, or home, or your family?  Do you think it was luck?  Or do you see it as a gift of God?

Look around you.  What do you see?  If you’re honest about it, you’ll see the hand of God at work in your life.  We are drawn into the falsehood of thinking that we are running on our own steam.  You can do nothing by yourself.

Did you get here by yourself?  God has placed you here at this time for a reason.  God wants you to see that what you have – whether it is much or it is little –  with the correct perspective.  Your possessions are a gift from God.  Although they are not the source of joy, they are a reason to rejoice because everything good thing comes from God.

Focus more on the giver than the gift.  Be content with what you have and realize that you have everything you need with God.

Live as God wants you to live.  Be content!

Read the Entire Chapter:
Ecclesiastes Chapter 5

Praise Ye the Lord, Place Your Trust in Him

Scripture: Psalms 146: 1-4

Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.  While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.  Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.  His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Scripture Commentary: Praise Ye the Lord for his splendor and majesty

Praise ye the Lord, for God lasts forever.  We, on the other hand, are here for a moment only.  Think about it – we may have known our parents, grandparents, and maybe our great grandparents, but chances are we don’t personally know our family further back.

We are but a moment, but Our Lord is forever.  That said, we have his Holy Spirit within us.  When we praise God, we see His power and His love.  Praising God takes our mind off our problems and shortcomings and focuses us on Him.

Praises cause us to consider and appreciate God’s character.  Praise lifts our perspective from the earthly to the heavenly.  God is able to lift us up because His greatness is unfathomable.  The Lord is full of glorious splendor and majesty. He is righteous, gracious, compassionate, patient and loving.  He is our source in this life.

Jesus is ready to lift us up and bear our burdens if only we will let Him.  What will you do?

Read the Entire Chapter:
Psalms Chapter 146

Let Your New Year’s Resolution Be to Learn God’s Word!

Scripture: Psalms 119: 97-104

MEM. O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.  Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.  I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.  I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.  I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.  I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.  How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!  Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

Scripture Commentary: Wisdom comes when you learn and apply God’s word to your life

God’s word makes us wise – wiser than our enemies and wiser than any teacher who ignores it.  True wisdom goes beyond amassing knowledge; it is applying knowledge in a life-changing way.

Intelligent or experienced people are not necessarily wise.  Wisdom comes from allowing what God teaches to guide us.  In this life, we walk through a dark forest of evil.  But the Bible can be our light to show us the way ahead so we won’t stumble as we walk.

It reveals the entangling roots of false values and philosophies.  Study the Bible so you will be able to see your way clear enough to stay on the right path.

God Bless You and Yours, and Happy New Year!

Read the Entire Chapter:
Psalms Chapter 119

To Build Without God Is Futile

Scripture: Psalms 127: 1-5

(A Song of degrees for Solomon.) Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.  It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.  As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.  Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

Scripture Commentary:  All you have is a gift from God

Families build homes and watchmen guard cities but both of these activities are futile unless God is with them. A family without God can never experience the spiritual bond God brings to relationships.  A city without God will crumble from evil and corruption on the inside.

Don’t make the mistake of leaving God out of your life.  If you do, all of your accomplishments will be futile.  All that you have – home, car, family – is a gift from God.  He gave you the ability to have all of this, but without His grace and mercy, what would you have and/or who would you be?

Look at some of the homeless and say to yourself, “If not for God, this would be me.”

Make God your highest priority, and let Him do the building.  Get from being into yourself and get into the Lord Jesus Christ, Our Savior.

Return to God and Ask His Forgiveness

Scripture: Hosea 14: 1-2,4

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall!(1) Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.”(2) “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.”(4)

Scripture Commentary: Our only hope is in God’s mercy – we cannot save ourselves

God punished Israel for its gross repeated violations of his law, but he did so with a heavy heart. God wanted to restore the nation and make it prosper. The people could return to God by asking him to forgive their sins. The same is true for us. Return to God.  We can pray Hosea’s prayer and know our sins are forgiven because Christ died for them on the cross.

Forgiveness begins when we see the destructiveness of sin and the futility of life without God. Then we must admit we cannot save ourselves; our only hope is in God’s mercy. When we request forgiveness, we must recognize that we do not deserve it and therefore cannot demand it. Our appeal must be for God’s love and mercy, not for His justice.

Although we cannot demand forgiveness, we can be confident that we have received it because God is gracious and loving and wants to restore us to Himself just as He wanted to restore Israel.

God never fails!

Read the Entire Chapter:
Hosea Chapter 14

Pray Unto the Lord – He Will Respond

Scripture: Isaiah 38: 1-5

In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.  Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,  And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.  Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.

Scripture Commentary: Pray unto the Lord for help for He is able to supply your needs

The Bible tells us often to pray unto the Lord.  How many times have you prayed to God for help? How many times have you promised the lord you will do better if he helps you? God answers our prayers, but we forget our promises to him. Even if God doesn’t answer our prayers the way we expect him to, he still answers because we are still here.

We ask, promise, and cry for wants and needs from our Lord. God always responds. But what do you do when God asks for something from you? The Lord asks us to do things like love one another, spread His Word, and live a Christ-like life.

Hezekiah prayed to the Lord and God added fifteen years to his life. How many years has the Lord added to your life, or to the life of someone you prayed for? Do not pray and forget later how good God is to you.

Thank God everyday.

Read the Entire Chapter:
Isaiah Chapter 38

Is Your Heart Set on Idols or on God?

Scripture: Ezekiel 14: 2-3

And the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?

 

Scripture Commentary: Let your faith be personal and real – open your heart to God

God condemned the elders for worshiping idols in their hearts while coming to God’s prophet for advice. Do you go to your pastor and your friends with evil in your heart and mind, asking for forgiveness without any change?

Do you go to church and pray but are not sincere?  Are you dedicated to pursuing the idols of reputation, acceptance, wealth, or sensual pleasure?  Refocus your attention and dedicate yourself to God.

Nothing should captivate your allegiance and imagination as a replacement of your devotion to God. Each individual has his/her own relationship with God. We are weak but God is our strength.

God wants to recapture your heart. Let Jesus Christ show you the way. Do not become spiritually dormant. Do not be unfruitful to God.

Let your faith be personal and real.  God’s arms are open for you.

Read the Entire Chapter:
Ezekiel Chapter 14

Watch for God’s Message To You

Scripture: Habakkuk 2: 1-3

I will stand upon my watch, and set upon the towers, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Scripture Commentary: Be in a position to receive God’s message

Are you on the watchtower? Do you watch to see what He will say to you?  Can you hear God talking to you?

Stone watchtowers were built on city walls, ramparts, and vineyards. Watchtowers monitored who was approaching; enemies or messengers. Habakkuk awaited God’s message. Are you in a position to receive God’s message?

We see the evil in the world. We might doubt and wonder what God is doing. How long will evil prevail? God answered Habakkuk, and the same answer applies today: judgement will come.

God is giving us time to cleanse ourselves and bring others to him. If God passed judgement on you today, how would you fare?  Take the time God has given you to repent and go to Him.

As Christians, we live for God. We trust him in directing all things according to his purpose.

Read the Entire Chapter:
Habakkuk Chapter 2

Bless the Lord For the Gifts He Gives You

Scripture: Psalms 103: 1-8

Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thy iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.  The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.  He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.  The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

Commentary: Bless the Lord who forgives, heals, redeems and loves you

What a mighty God we serve. He is a God of mercy, kindness, love, and forgiveness. Think about your life. What have you accomplished by giving yourself to God?  Bless the Lord!

David’s praise focused on God’s glorious deeds. Do not complain about life, look at what God has done for you. This chapter gives us plenty for which to praise God. He forgives our sins, heals our diseases, redeems us from death, crowns us with love and compassion, satisfies our desires, and gives righteousness and justice.

We receive all of this without deserving any of them. No matter how difficult your life’s journey, you can always count your blessings. God will always be here for us.

Where would we be without Him?

Read the Entire Chapter:
Psalms Chapter 103