Get Up!

GET Up!

Psalm 96:7-8:  “Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.  Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering and come into His courts.”

            God only puts up with people’s pride here:

            “My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.”  Psalm 34:2.

            “In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise Your name forever.”  Psalm 44:8.

            Romans 3:27a:  “Where, then, is boasting?  It is excluded.”

            1 Corinthians 1:31:  “Therefore, as it is written: ‘He who boasts boast in the LORD.’”

            James 1:9:  “The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position.”

            People have secrets.  But faith in God should never be one of them.  Let us get up to our feet.  Believers-in-Christ have so much to be thankful for:  God loved us as He knit us together in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13).  Then, He sent His only Son Jesus to earth to demonstrate Himself (John 14:9).  God accepted Jesus’ sinless life and death on the cross as payment for all human sin.  Through faith in Jesus, Believers are offered eternal life with God!

            Grace.  Mercy.  Gifts showered on people that we never asked for nor deserve.  But both are necessary for us to get to know the Father.  Jesus is our righteousness in God.  Jesus is our perfection in God.  People are encouraged to pray—a direct path straight to His throne.  Jesus sits at God’s right hand.  Angels fill the throne room with praise songs. 

            Satan is forbidden there. 

            Get up!  Let’s boast in the LORD! 

            This is when we’re not shy.  This is when we tell others about Jesus.  This is when we shout what God has done in our lives.  We are encouraged to boast—about God.  People are His megaphones, the mouthpieces that tell others about Jesus.  

            We sing songs of praise in worship where Believers belt out our admiration of God.  “Arise and shine in splendor, let night today surrender; Your light is drawing near, above the day is beaming, in matchless beauty gleaming; the glory of the Lord is here.”  Martin Opitz, 1597-1639.  Heinrich Isaac, 1450-1517, tune. Lutheran Worship. Concordia Publishing House. 1982. Hymn #85.

            May our Father never be a secret to His children! 

Take Home Nugget

            King David’s son Solomon warns about pride in Proverbs 8:13 and 16:5, “To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.” … “The LORD detests all the proud of heart.  Be sure of this: they will not go unpunished.”

            But, get up to brag about Jesus!

“May I never boast except in the cross of our LORD Jesus Christ.” Galatians 6:14.

Adapted from “Go Public” by Pastor Mark Jeske.  www.TimeOfGrace.org.  May 27, 2017.

 J.D. Griffith

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God's Use For Me

GOD’S USE FOR ME

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions.”  Psalm 51:1

            King David was a lot like you (and me).  Check out the lesson linked below for facts, both good AND bad things about David.  Yep.  David grew up his family’s shepherd boy.  His “goody-two-shoes” youth was truly innocent.  Yet as this young man waited patiently for decades to be crowned king, he stumbled AFTER resting in popular success.

            David was driven by the written word.  He certainly would have journaled today—the word we’ve changed from a noun into a verb.  God was closer than a brother to David…can any of you relate to that?  David appreciated all of creation that our Father created for our pleasure, and told Him so.  More than half of the psalms in the Bible were penned by David.

            Whether lavishly praising God, hiding from foes, or repenting of sins, David’s free time was consumed jotting down his awe.  Shepherding his family’s flock grew David’s faith.  God never left David’s side as wild animals like a bear and a lion licked their chops over tender lambs.  When the biggest challenge stared down David, he never flinched.

            The Philistines were dreaded enemies of Israel.  One giant warrior named Goliath confronted Israelite soldiers in 1 Samuel 17.   David sought out his brothers on the battle lines in the Valley of Elah.  Goliath challenged them and David accepted the fight.  His brothers argued that David was wicked and conceited. 

            “You came down here to watch the battle,” they mocked.

            “All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’S, and He will give all of you into our hands.”  The soldiers overheard David’s promise. … “So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.”

Take Home Nugget

            David knew that his approval from God was not his own performance but from God’s mercy.  David prayed every aspect of his life.  He prayed for forgiveness.  He prayed for help.  He prayed for protection.  AND David prayed for glory to God for His great and mighty acts. 

            Yeah, David was extraordinary.  So are you!  May God one day compliment you: “I have found [David son of Jesse] a man after My own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.” (1 Samuel 13:14).

Thank You Father, for finding use for me during my earthly life.  May I find happiness in serving You.  May I also seek Your mercy over praise, as David did.  Thank You, Jesus for my forgiveness!  Amen.

Adapted from “Imperfect Heroes” by Pastor Mark Jeske.  www.TimeOfGrace.org.  August 3, 2017.

 J.D. Griffith

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Make One's Flame Brighter

MAKE ONE’S FLAME BRIGHTER

Numbers 22:6:  “Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me.  Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country.  For I know that those You bless are blessed, and those You curse are cursed.”

            Twelve-year-old Jeremy shook his head No.  “I’m not going to play on your team, Scotty.  You don’t play fair.  I will not tackle below the waist, knocking a guy’s legs out.  I will not head-butt, either.  Haven’t you heard that tackles can cause brain damage [(CTE) Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy]?  Concussions are from bruised brains!”

            There are two ways people get ahead in life.  One way is to push others down.  Wine is made from squeezing the grapes’ juice out, after all.  (An ancient procedure for wine making was to stomp grapes with bare feet).  Some think this is an okay way to treat people.  Squash someone below yourself.  Stomp another who competes with you.  Step over that person.  Walk away whistling a happy tune.  

   

Another other way to get ahead is to cooperate with God’s indwelling Spirit.  His job is to grow Believers-in-Christ past milk (the Bible) to solid food (spiritual growth in Christ).   Apostle Paul advises to “work out salvation with fear and trembling” AFTER one believes and accepts Jesus in Philippians 2:12. 

Jesus’ finished work on the cross offers people forgiveness and eternal life. The salvation part is God’s work, but we got to want it!  God’s Spirit lights Believers’ spirit flame.  As we grow up in salvation, we glow brighter!

The opening Scripture is about Balak’s wanting to crush the Israelites.  As the king of the Moabites, Balak was at wit’s end deciding the best way to deal with so many Hebrews.  He asked the sorcerer Balaam to curse them.  See the lesson linked below for God’s response in Numbers, chapter 22.  Balaam understood why God answered the way He did.    

            Let’s thank God that Balak never crushed the Israelites.  If he had succeeded, he would not only have hurt himself, but the whole world!  In Genesis 12:3, God says to Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  Blessing Israel blesses the whole world, and is why we’re encouraged to pray for peace in Jerusalem!

Take Home Nugget

            Tradition has people lift a cup of wine high and say a blessing.  This symbolizes raising up what had been crushed.  Like Jeremy, we choose to make our flames brighter by not hurting or crushing others.

 

Holy Father, may our flames glow brighter making the whole world a brighter place for us all!  In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Adapted from “Blessing Others” by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein.  www.HolyLandMoments.com.  July 4, 2017.

 J.D. Griffith

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Small Hills Are Do-Able

SMALL HILLS ARE DO-ABLE

Joshua 2:24:  “They [two spies Joshua sent to explore Canaan] said to Joshua, ‘The LORD has certainly given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.’”

            Their report sounds small hill do-able.  However, the original report that God told Moses to get about Canaan returned with mountains of impossible obstacles.  “The people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.  We even saw descendants of Anak there. … We cannot attack these people; they are stronger than we are.”  (Numbers 13:28, and 31).

            Numbers 13:32, and 33 reports, “The land we explored devours everyone in it.  All the people we saw there were of great size. …  We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”  

            These faithless spies intended to arouse fear in the people.  Their plan worked.  Numbers 14 shows the people wailed loudly.  They didn’t want to enter Canaan anymore.  In fact, they wanted to name a new leader who’d return them to Egypt and slavery!

            Only faithful Caleb and Joshua tried to sway the people to enter their “Promised Land” that God gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exodus 6:2-4).  Numbers 13:30 says, “Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, ‘We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.’”  The lesson linked below shows more debates by Caleb.  

    

            The Israelites’ rebellion against God began their 40-year journey.  Canaan is only an eleven day “small hill”-do-able obstacle (Deuteronomy 1:2).   The people had a bad attitude and no faith.  They envisioned entering Canaan was impossible.  They never reached their “Promised Land” nor their potential. 

    

            God reacted to Israelite mutiny in Numbers 14:23, “Not one of the men who saw My glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert who disobeyed Me and tested Me ten times—not one of them will ever see the l and I promised to their forefathers.  Not one who has treated Me with contempt will ever see it.”

Take Home Nugget

            Both the righteous and the wicked envision the same life landscape.  The picture only changes compared to one’s perspective.  The wicked see a mountain and say.  “I can never do that!”  While they could have reached their goals, a bad attitude and little faith stops them cold.  At life’s end, they are tormented with regret.

            The righteous see a small hill and think, “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13).  At life’s end, the righteous see their accomplishments as monumental!

Help me Holy Father, to seize challenges You present as do-able by the power of Your Son and Spirit.  Amen.

 

Adapted from “Reaching Our Goals” by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein.  www.HolyLandMoments.com.  July 25, 2017.

J.D. Griffith

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Heart of the World

HEART OF THE WORLD

Psalm 122:6

 

“Pray for peace for Jerusalem: ‘May those who love you be secure.  May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.’”

            Do you believe that whatever happens in Israel will determine the fate of the whole world?  Why is a land mass smaller than the size of New Jersey, with 0.2% of the world’s population claim worldwide headlines daily?  Israel is the center between good and evil; between peace and terror.  Jerusalem means peace.

            Shalom.  (Check out the lesson linked below).

            Israel should have disappeared long ago.  About 1/800^th the size of her Arab neighbors bent on her destruction, Israel exists AND is recognized as an independent state!  No other nation had her population exiled—TWICE—and survived to return to the land.  538 B.C.E. (Before Common Era, or Before Christ), and 1948, more than 2,000 years later, Israel remains a miracle today. 

            What is the secret to Israel’s immortality?

            God says in Jeremiah 30:11, “‘I am with you and will save you,’ declares the LORD.  ‘Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you.’”  Why was God so angry with Israel?  “I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.”  Jeremiah 30:15b explains, “Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done these things to you.”

            King David wrote about Israel’s secret weapon in Psalm 124.  When the Hebrews walked uphill to Israel on their pilgrimages, they sang, “…if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive.”  Read the rest of Psalm 124 for the praises Israel sang so gratefully during these happy occasions.

Take Home Nugget

            Perhaps there is no more important prayer than peace for Jerusalem.  In Genesis 28:17, Jacob says, “How awesome is this place!  This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

O Father, if Jerusalem is the heart of the world, the body is only as healthy as its heart.  Peace to Jerusalem!  Amen. 

 Adapted from “The Most Important Prayer” and “Israel’s Not So Secret Weapon” by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein.  www.HolyLandMoments.com.  June 4, 2017 and June 18, 2017.

J.D. Griffith

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Generous Giver

GENEROUS GIVER

Luke 12:32:  “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”

              Some traditions send the wrong message about our heavenly Father under false “honoring God” claims.   They are pointed out here so that we can re-program our minds the correct way that our heavenly Father acts.  Usually, the wrong ideas about God spring from human intellect.

            Without knowing that Satan was behind God’s allowing his problems, Job wailed, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked will I depart.  The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” 

            The Father’s never wanted Job to lose his children and property.  (Job 1:1-20).

             Preachers attempt to comfort the grieving at funerals with Job’s same thinking.  “The LORD giveth and the LORD taketh.  Blessed be the name of the LORD.”   Surely, our Father can call home loved ones anytime. 

            Yet, let us always remember that it is the devil who takes! 

            John 10:10 says that Jesus warned the devil who He calls the thief “comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”  Then He softens and reverses the passage with, “I have come that they may have life; and have it abundantly.”

            That is our Father’s position, too!  Cancer is a scary disease that strikes men, women, boys and girls alike.  When that disease robs people of dignity and even their lives, God gives comfort to those who mourn.

            When Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven in Matthew 16:19, He instructs His followers to use them.  Christians are authorized to pray for things that bring the Father’s will from heaven to earth!  We may “loosen” the cancer from another and pray that healing and wholeness be “bound” to that same person.

            John 16:23b and 24 is the first time Jesus tells His followers to ask for things in His name.  Jesus’ name gives us authority to ask the Father whatever we want.  See the lesson linked below for why Believers can act on Jesus’ authority to do God’s will. 

Take Home Nugget

            As God’s kids, Jesus taught us what the Father’s will is.  He said in John 14:9, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.”  God is a giver, not a taker.  Jesus met every need and healed every sickness brought before Him.   Then He went willingly to the cross to sacrifice His own life to redeem us!  Jesus NEVER took anything from anyone.

 

            Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will we also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?”

Thank You, heavenly Father, for giving me every good thing in life!  Amen. 

   

Adapted from “God is a Giver, Not a Taker” by Rev. Joseph Prince.  www.josephprince.org.  July 19, 2017.

J.D. Griffith

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Who Do You Say I Am?

WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?

Matthew 16:15:  “But what about you?” He asked [Simon Peter].  “Who do you say I am?”

            Who do you say Jesus is?

            Every person will have to answer this question one day.

            People’s faith in Jesus determines how He ministers, or serves them.  Those who worship Jesus as healer, He heals.  Believing Jesus to be a refuge and fortress brings protection and security.  Followers who trust Jesus to live through them find transformed lives.  Those who knew Him growing up in Nazareth saw Him as a regular guy.  Matthew 13:55-58 identifies Jesus’ life.  He was son to a carpenter.  Mary was His mother.  He had brothers and sisters, too.

            But no one recognized Jesus as God in the flesh (John 1:14). 

            Jesus must have shrugged His shoulders in reply: “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”

            Because homies did not see Jesus as God, His miraculous signs weren’t demonstrated in Nazareth.  Faith attains miracles!

            See the lesson linked below for Scriptural references of Jesus’ various gifts to the world He came to serve.  Jesus just wasn’t a good person who led an exemplary life.  No, no, no.  Of course, if we all were like Him, the world would be a better place.  But while Believers are being transformed into His likeness a little every day, we still sin!  (2 Corinthians 3:18).

            Jesus is the bread from heaven.  Everyone who eats this bread has life (John 6:33).  Jesus is the source of living water, or the Holy Spirit (John 4:10, 14).  He is the Passover Lamb of God who died to forgive us all our sins and offer eternal life (Matthew 27:50-53).

            Nazareth homies never thought Jesus was THAT guy!  

            But Peter revered Jesus as the Christ, Son of the living God!  (Matthew 16:16).   Peter knew Jesus as Redeemer.  So, not only were his sins forgiven, but he knew that Jesus shone his own righteousness in Peter.  This strength enabled Peter to continue living after being totally humiliated (Matthew 26:74-75).  

Take Home Nugget

            The other disciples saw Jesus differently than Peter in Matthew 16:14.  When asked who people said Jesus is, they responded, “John the Baptist, Elijah, perhaps Jeremiah—or one of the other prophets.”  

            Philippians 2:9-11 says, “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Help me confess that Jesus is Lord and bow before Him, heavenly Father.  For He is my Redeemer and Savior, there is other!  Amen. 

Adapted from “Who Do You Say that Jesus Is?” by Rev. Joseph Prince.  www.josephprince.org.  June 18, 2017.

J.D. Griffith

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