Isaiah 1:18 – Let Us Reason Together

Isaiah 1:18
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
 
-There are times when it is important to simply follow the Lord no questions asked.  Thankfully, the Lord doesn’t hold us to such a standard when it comes to developing our belief in Him.  Instead, He asks us to come to Him and reason the whole thing out.  Bring your doubts, bring your concerns, and talk them out with Him.  He doesn’t forbid your questions and doubts and He isn’t afraid of them either.  A faith that stays quiet and conforms is no faith at all because, if you really think about God and His Word, you will have questions sooner or later.  Talk them out with the Lord; you’ll find that believing Him is perfectly reasonable.

Psalm 107:1 – Give Thanks Unto The Lord

Psalm 107:1
1 O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

1 Thessalonians 5:18
18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

-The idea of being thankful is high on everyone’s list this time of year.  We are often asked to share what we are thankful for, but I think a better question would be who are we thankful to?  When you give thanks, do you have someone in mind deserving of your gratitude, or do you just throw thankfulness vibes out into the atmosphere?  If you think about it, the idea of expressing gratitude is really a two-party deal.  Thankfulness, by nature, should be directed towards a benefactor.  James 1:7 teaches that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.”  If you have been blessed and feel grateful, remember that it wasn’t the random chance of a cold universe that provided your blessings, it was the Lord. (Psalm 136)

Genesis 50:18-20 – God Meant It Unto Good

Genesis 50:18-20
18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

-There came a day in Joseph’s life when all of his brothers turned on him,  They threw him in a pit and planned to kill him before ultimately selling him into Egyptian slavery (Genesis 37:18-36).  God took this circumstance and eventually positioned Joseph so that all of those in the land would depend on him for survival including his brothers.  It would have been easy for Joseph to approach this day with thoughts of revenge and bitterness, but Joseph had only love and kindness to offer his brothers despite how they had treated him.  How did he manage that?  The answer is found right here in verse 20.  Joseph recognized that what his brothers had intended as bad, God made it good.  What’s more important than the happy ending here is the fact that Joseph didn’t see the evil of his brothers as a separate thing from the goodness of God.  He grouped them together so that when he looked at one, he automatically saw the other.  Do the same when evil befalls you; wrap your circumstance up so tightly in the fact that God can use it for good that whenever you look at that bad thing, you can’t help but see God also.

Matthew 4:23-24 – And they brought unto Him…

Matthew 4:23-24
23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
24 And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.

-Certain professions should be seen as callings rather than careers; physicians and social workers come to mind.  By entering these professions, people choose to surround themselves with those who are experiencing some of life’s worst circumstances.  When Jesus began His earthly ministry, He made the same choice.  As we see in Mathew 4:24 when Jesus started healing and teaching, the people didn’t bring out the kings, wealthy people, and high society to break bread with Him; rather, they brought those experiencing the worst of life’s problems.  That didn’t stop Jesus from reaching out though.  What can be seen in the physical sense becomes even more apparent in the spiritual sense.  God reached out to fallen humanity, He knew He wouldn’t be met with the best and brightest because there are no best and brightest (Romans 3:11), just a bunch of sin-sick lepers ignorantly marching to Hell.  The Lord could have remained in Heaven surrounded by holiness and purity, but He chose to come to us.  He chose to become a part of humanity so that we could become a part of Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Hebrews 11:1 – The Substance of Things Not Seen

Hebrews 11:1
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
 
-What is substance?  The dictionary defines it as “the real physical matter of which a person or thing consists and which has a tangible, solid presence.”  The most important things in life, the things of God, cannot be touched, tasted, or held in the same sense as non-spiritual things.  Faith exists to bridge the gap between what is seen and what is known.  It is more than just an acknowledgement that “God is up there”; rather, faith enables us to hear the voice of God in His scripture and gives us the assurance that God walks beside us in our darkest night.  It is easy to mock or dismiss faith, but that’s only for those who have never truly experienced it.  For those who have experienced it, it transcends any earthly experience and makes us so certain of the Lord’s abiding presence, that we could almost reach out and lay our head on His bosom.  “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” (Psalm 34:8)

Exodus 22:20 – Worship the Lord Only

Exodus 22:20
20 He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.

-In the time of the ancient Hebrew, just as now, God set standards for how He expected His people to live.  In the midst of a series of commands and statutes, He gives verse 20: under penalty of death, no one worships any god but the Lord.  Consider the language “utterly destroyed.”  Don’t think of this verse simply in terms of the Hebrew issuing someone the death penalty, because no person has the power to “utterly destroy” another.  Remember the Lord’s teaching in Matthew 10:28, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”  Those who choose to follow anything or anyone other than the Lord God of the Bible will be utterly destroyed by the only One who has the power to utterly destroy, God Himself.  “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:23)

Mark 6:2-5 – Jesus Christ: Man and God

Mark 6:2-5
2 And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
4 But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.
5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.

-Humans are inevitably skeptical unless we have proof; it’s just how we are.  Then, when we get proof, our stubborn side kicks in and shuts everything down.  Here in Mark 6, the people witness Jesus’ miraculous power and are astonished by it, but instead of trusting Him, they dismiss Him because of His humble earthly roots.  Isaiah prophesied that the coming Messiah would be undesirable to the people and that He would be a humble root (Isaiah 53), so the people should have been looking for someone just like Jesus.  God had to become man to be the substitute for our condemnation, but often people can’t see past the Man to see the God.  Don’t make that same mistake.  Don’t get hung up on Mary or Joseph and don’t get hung up on regular people being used to pen down the Word of God.  Jesus Christ is God.  He said He would save us, He said He was the only Way, He said He was Truth- The scriptures bear witness that He was right every time.

Romans 6:16-18 – Serve God or Serve Sin?

Romans 6:16-18
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

-The God of the Bible is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 19:16), nothing can change that and no one can argue it.  But how often do we regard Him as King and Lord in our own life?  Those of us who have been redeemed have been given freedom from sin and its trappings (Galatians 5:13), but we still have the choice to put ourselves under the bondage of sin.  In reality, the Lord may be our master, but in practice, isn’t our master going to be whomever or whatever we are serving?  It is illogical to call God our Master while living contrary to His Word, and yet that’s the choice many of us make every day.  We credit God for what He has done and all the while we harbor evil in our hearts, spite on our lips, and mischief in our hands.  But don’t be deceived, “no man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.” (Matthew 6:24)

Proverbs 28:21 – The Price to do Evil

Proverbs 28:21
21 To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.

-They say every man has his price.  I believe this to be true, just as I believe that we should all be in continuous prayer to the Lord so He will keep us from “selling out.”  No matter what your price may be, Satan will be able to match it; and once you’ve sacrificed your principles and integrity once, it becomes easier to do it again and again.  Eventually, you will find yourself in a place where you will be willing to sell yourself to do evil for something as trivial as a morsel of bread.  Could our convictions ultimately mean so little that we would throw them away for so meager a price?  Remember the Bible’s warning from 1 Corinthians 10:12, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”

1 John 4:8 – God Is Love

1 John 4:8
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

-Can you imagine how much different this universe and our lives would be if this verse of scripture said that God is hate?  We spend so much time questioning God and picking apart His methods when we should all be thanking Him on bowed knees for not being a cruel, sadistic God.  Think about it, if God was hateful or evil- what could any of us do about it?  But for all the things that God “could” have been, He is instead loving, selfless, just, empathetic, and wonderful.  I could go on, but I could never do it better than John did. God. Is. Love.