Month: May 2020

266. God is Good

Lamentations 3:25 The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

God is good., all the time. This is an essential truth that every believer knows and believes. Whether we believe it or not, God is always good. This is just true. The promise inherent in this confession is that God will be good to us and for us and for our benefit.

This promise given here, that the Lord is good unto them (to us), however, is conditional. If you wait for Him and seek Him, then God will be good to you. God is good and God is good to you, whether you wait for Him and seek Him or not, but the positive effect of that Truth comes into actual effect in our daily lives when we wait for Him, when the soul seeks Him. Waiting means waiting in faith. It means believing that God’s Word is true and good for us, even if it takes a while for us to see it or to experience the positive effects. Not waiting long enough is equivalent to quitting on God and His promise and giving up our faith. God will be good and He will work out all things together for good in His wise timing, not in our time. God is good to you not if you wait, but when you wait you will see it. The waiting in faith is not the cause of God’s goodness, but it is the necessary condition for our seeing it. Faith waits, and since faith knows it is able to endure.

The Lord promises to be good to the soul that seeks Him. “Seek and you will find.” The truth is that if one is honestly looking for God he will find Him, or rather, he will be found by God. If one is not looking for God, then even if he stumbles across God he will not recognize Him when He shows up, Seeking is also believing; it is trusting that God does exist, that He is nearby, and that He is good. Seeking the good from God is a terrific exercise. When you know that the soul is empty and you know that it can only be filled by God and His good, then He will find you. He tells you the Gospel and He draws you to Himself. Then He fills you with good, because He is good.

265. My Portion

Lamentations 3:24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

We hear it said by some people, “That’s my lot in life.” It’s a kind of resignation or acceptance of bad things in life that one is powerless to change. It’s a sort of “given” that this is what my life is like. It’s the hand I’ve been dealt. A portion, or a lot, is the situation in life that I find myself in. It is my inheritance, whether by chance or by someone else’s design. We consider it something I have little or no control of. My lot comes from the outside.

Our portion is the part of something that I have received. It may be a lot or a little, it may be large or small, it may be prosperity or poverty. My portion seems to be the size and shape of the slice of pie that has been given to me. We all, like children, have a tendency to compare the portion I have received with the portion someone else has received. This comparison often leads us to complain, “That’s not fair.” All of us feel like we “deserve” more that we actually have. Then it would be fair; I would have the right portion.

The only solution to the fairness or portion problem is to say with faith, “The Lord is my portion.” If I believe the Lord is my portion then I can believe that I have just the right amount of everything I need. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not need.” It is not easy to believe that the Lord’s provision is sufficient, but the miracle of faith given by the Spirit is that I am content with my portion. When that happens I am happy and content with my lot in life, and I want no more. I thankfully accept with grace what I receive as my portion or inheritance from the Lord.

God promises to be my portion; He promises that what I have is all I need. God gives and He gives extravagantly. This I believe when the Lord is my God, when Jesus is my Lord. The promise is this: God gives Himself; He gives His life. If I have Him, what more could I possibly need? The inheritance I have received is just right; the life of God is my inheritance. That is what the Lord promises. Therefore I hope.

264. Mercy new every day

Lamentations 3:23 They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.

The mercies and compassions of God are new every morning. In other words, the compassions never fail. God’s mercy and compassion have been for us in the past, they will be present to us in the present every single day, and they will always be there for us in the future. We can always count on the Lord to be merciful and compassionate whenever and wherever we need Him. We do not need to rely only on past experiences of mercy to sustain us, but the mercies of God are fresh for each new day, always available for every present problem, and applicable to any new situation we encounter. Mercy will never be lacking or insufficient.

The mercies of God are evident for all people in the cross of Christ. There the mercies of God are plain for all to see. The mercies of God have been clearly revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. But that is in the past; that’s history, we might say. But No! That great one time event is renewed and refreshed for us today every time we “remember” it. Remembering activates the power and effect of the event and brings it into the present moment, and the mercy we see in the Cross applies to the present need. We need to hear again the Gospel and trust the Holy Spirit to make it effective for the issues of this day. So we “remember” our Baptism; we partake of Holy Communion “in remembrance of Me;” we are reminded of the concrete and real mercies of God when hear the abstract truth of the Gospel. Knowing that the mercies are new every morning makes practical use of the eternal truth of the love of God. The Spirit knows how to use the Word of God in our lives to make the mercies practically effective for today’s needs. The Gospel has a present power. The Cross may be a past historical event, but it is also a present reality and powerful truth. Indeed, His mercies and compassions are new every morning. The story of Jesus dying and rising for us is not dry and dusty history; it is refreshing mercy applied specifically to the needs of he moment. In this way they are new.

The reason the mercies of God are new and useful daily is because the faithfulness of the Lord is really great. He will do what He says. He can’t forget about us. He made promises and He will keep them. We turn to God for mercy every morning, for we are in desperate need of His solutions and answers every single day. To ignore God and His mercy for one day is more death dealing than we realize. To remember God every day is more life giving than we will ever know.

263. Compassions will not Fail

Lamentations 3:22 It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

Lamentations is 5 chapters of serious and terrible wailing over the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. In the middle of the book, however, is a bright spot of positive hope and joyful expression. In the face of devastating judgment, God is still merciful and compassionate. It is God’s mercies that prevent total consumption. Without mercy it would have been worse. We deserved the judgment for we have been unfaithful, but undeserved mercy keeps the Lord from completely wiping us out.

Then the promise comes: the Lord’s compassions fail not. God loves us, yes, but we didn’t know He loved us that much. No matter how bad it gets, it could always have been worse. Evil, if left alone without restraint, wants to make a complete end of all life and good. Because of sin God allows Satan to go so far, but He finally limits him at some point. God will have compassion on His children. Because of compassion, He protects and delivers from evil; because of compassion, He uses evil and works it out for good; because of compassion, He will not let “bad things” destroy us; because of compassion, He makes good things and blessings come our way; because of compassion, He sent the Son to be our Savior.

The promise is this: the compassion of God will not fail. Compassion will not fail in its mission. Compassion’s mission is to save, deliver, rescue, restore, redeem, bless, give life and love and peace and joy, and much more. God’s love will do what love does. It looks out for another and accomplishes for him or her what he or she needs for emotional health and mental and physical wellbeing. Compassion compels God to do the good and right things for those He loves, because unconditional and total love is the essential character of God. Compassion is the emotional and practical action expressing His love; and it will happen; it cannot fail. So, no matter how bad things may seem to be presently, Jesus never fails. He promises. He will do it. 

262. End of Enemies, but Correction for You

Jeremiah 46:28 Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the Lord: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.

The Lord promises His people that their enemies will be made a full end of. This promise introduces Jeremiah’s next four chapters, in which He declares judgment on Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, Elam, and finally Babylon. These judgments on the enemy nations represent the Lord’s judgment on our spiritual enemies (sin, death, devil). The promise for us is that He will make a full end of our deadly spiritual enemies. All of this is prophesied to come true in the Book of Revelation, especially the judgment on Babylon (the world). Sin, Death, and Satan are all thrown into the Lake of Fire to burn forever. We appreciate the fact there will be a full end of all enemies of the soul. There will come a day when we shall no longer be tempted and tormented and frightened.

A part of the promise for believers is that the Lord will not make a full end of us, His people. In other words, judgment is good since it finishes the power of the Enemy. The judgment sets us free; the person is not judged but the sin within the person is judged. All Enemies are judged decisively at the Cross, completely at the Tomb, and ultimately on the Last Day. The believer escapes the judgment by faith in the forgiveness of sins earned and granted by Jesus Christ. The sin is judged; the person is saved through the judgment. I will not come to a full end.

However, one aspect of this promise does not at first appear good or pleasant: the Lord will correct us in measure; we are not wholly unpunished. This is the discipline of the Lord, which the Holy Spirit uses to train us up. The experience of discipline is not pleasant, but the benefits and results are pleasing. Everyone, even Job, needs “correction in measure.” We actually learn and grow through the discipline of the Lord, even while we do not always know what is being disciplined and what it is for. We can still trust God to correct in measure for our spiritual growth. Discipline of the Lord is good, and it is temporary. But I will not come to a full end.

261. Rest, Ease, No Fear

Jeremiah 46:27 But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.

The common admonition, “Fear not,” is given because of the promise that God will save. “I am with you to save you, so you have nothing to fear.” God promises to save us no matter how far off we feel like we are from God and His “Land;” He will save us from captivity to the Enemies of the soul. The people of God will return to God and to the Kingdom, where they belong. Salvation always involves being saved from one thing and then to another Salvation brings us from far off to being near; salvation is from captivity to freedom; salvation is from fear to safety; salvation is ultimately from death to life.

This promise came true for the Jews in Exile, and it is spiritually and eternally true for all believers in Christ our Savior. Jesus has saved us, and He will continue to save us every day for the rest of eternity. This salvation applies to our present situation, whatever it is: we are saved from a specific sin and guilt to forgiveness. Whenever we are convicted of sin or a sin we confess specifically and believe the gospel. We are saved from eternal death to eternal life. We suffer many “little deaths” while we live: sickness, injury, hurt feelings, loss of anything, worry, anxiety, even boredom, and many other issues that rob us of enjoying life abundantly. He saves us from the evil of it. Whatever “diminishing of life” we suffer reminds us to repent and believe the gospel. We are saved from the spiritual lies and attacks of the devil to the freedom of truth and life with God. We don’t always see what Satan is doing, but we can remember that he is probably behind most of the ill feelings we endure mentally and emotionally and sometimes physically. When we repent and believe the gospel the devil must flee. God promises it.

God promises that we shall be in rest and at ease. Humans devise many, many ways and means to find rest and ease: food, drink, drugs, money, comforts, vacations, and so much more. But God promises the rest and ease we seek. This rest and ease comes from being in Christ by faith. So we pray, “Thy kingdom come.”

260. Show Mercies

Jeremiah 42:12 And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.

God is a God of Mercy, and He shows mercy to His created beings by sending His Son to buy back humanity from the slavery, kidnapping and usurpation of the Devil, and Sin and Death. It is mercy that judges and condemns all evil. Our Evil, the Sin in us, was judged and condemned at the cross. And the resurrection sealed that Liberation for all who will believe in Christ. In this way God loved the world; in this way God showed mercies.

By mercy the Lord returned the people from exile to their own land. By mercy the Lord returned us believers from exile to the Land of the Kingdom of God. By mercy Jesus saves us. By mercy the tax collector went to his house justified. Mercy is, in a sense, the opposite of justice, for justice demands punishment while mercy exempts from punishment. But God’s mercy is also just, because Jesus Christ unjustly suffered the just judgment for our sin. So God is both merciful and just. God showed mercies, while maintaining justice. God can justly be merciful because of Christ. God does not just willy-nilly decide to be merciful; He judged His own Son. God showed mercy and He was just to do so. 

We may on earth “beg the mercy of the court,” but we may not do so in the court of heaven, because the Judge has an obligation to His own character to be just and holy. God could theoretically “just forgive,” but, on the other hand, God could not just forgive. God’s Love found a way, the only way, to justly forgive. Because of Christ’s death and resurrection we can be absolutely certain of the mercy of God. We cannot simply just “hope” the Judge of all the earth will be merciful. We need to know for sure that He will show mercy. “In this way God loved the world….[John 3:16].”

God showed mercies by sending Jesus to die and rise for us. But also in addition, God continues to show mercies to us every day for our specific needs for mercy. We may claim the mercies of God, not just because God is good, but God is good and shows mercies in time of need because of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we pray “in Jesus’ name.” And we can pray with confidence that He will show mercy on account of Christ. So we may present our needs to a God who shows mercy, not because we deserve it but because Jesus deserved it for us.

259. With Us to Save and Deliver

Jeremiah 42:11 Be not afraid to the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the Lord: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

Babylon is a symbol of the world. The king of Babylon symbolizes Satan, who is the prince of this world. Babylon and the king of Babylon are opposed to God and the kingdom of God (that’s us). We have been in captivity to the King of Babylon (Satan), and we were in exile in Babylon (the world). And we were afraid of this king. The Lord says simply, “Be not afraid!” He says this often, “Fear not!”

The work of the devil is to lie to us and frighten us. He makes us afraid of all the bad things that could happen to us; he gives us many things to worry about; he causes anxiety and fear for the future, and guilt and shame for the past. Then the Lord steps in to be with us while we live in the world, which is under the control of the devil. He promises to “be with us;” Jesus is Immanuel. He has come into our lives to save us from the Satan, who causes us to be afraid. We may believe the Lie, “Be very afraid;” or we may believe the Truth, “Be not afraid.’ The reason for “no fear” is that the Lord has saved us.

The Lord is with us to deliver us from the hand (power or control) of Satan, the ruler of this world. We pray to be delivered from the Evil One; and so the Father does in answer to our prayer.  Just as the Lord delivered His people from slavery in Egypt (also the world) and from the Pharaoh (the god of this world), so has the Lord delivered us from Sin, Death and the Devil with His mighty strong hand, which is His great love for us, which put God on the cross. The Pharaoh is judged and we are delivered from his power.

We put this promise into effect when we receive the forgiveness of sins through the Gospel and the Spirit. Once this happens, and it happens often, God is with us to save and deliver. Identify and name the chains that bind and the demons that enslave, declare your deliverance, and enjoy life in the new kingdom. Apply the salvation and deliverance specifically to the problem. God is with you to do it.

258. Build and Plant

Jeremiah 42:10 If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.

A conditional promise: if you abide in the land, then God will build you and plant you. The context is Jeremiah’s warning to the remnant still in Jerusalem, while the rest of the nation is in exile in Babylon, not to flee to Egypt but to stay in Jerusalem. As it turned out many fled to Egypt anyway, and they even took Jeremiah with them. The prophecy was meant to say that the Exile would be over eventually, the Jews would return, and they could stay in the land that would be rebuilt. Just wait it out and trust God’s promise.

The essence of the promise spiritually for us is that we believers are in the Land, the Kingdom of God, and heaven in the heart. God says, “Stay there; don’t leave it; don’t fall away; trust Me.” If we will abide in Christ and stay there with Him in faith, then the Lord will build us up. God will not forsake you or leave you on your own. You are in the kingdom and you are under my care while you are in Me. Even if it doesn’t look like it and you may be tempted to wander, believe the Lord. When you abide in Christ He promises to grow you to bear fruit, and He will build you up. This is the process of sanctification, in which the Spirit is continually working in your soul to make you holy. Your life will be built up to match more closely the holiness of the Holy Spirit who lives in you.

Over time, He also promises to plant you in the Kingdom. The longer you abide in Christ the stronger your roots become and the thicker your branches. Also the more fruit you will bear. God is planting and growing a strong and healthy inner person in faith and character. Trust the Lord to do what He promises, even if you have to wait longer than you want to in order to see the results of going to church, reading the Bible, being constant in prayer, and hearing the Gospel. Trust God’s process. Stay in the Kingdom, trust His promise, and enjoy His protection, provision and blessing.

257. Dwell in the Land

Jeremiah 35:15 I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doing, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.

The promise of dwelling in the land is a conditional promise: if you return from your evil way and amend your doing, then you will dwell in the land that God has given. The cause is repentance; the effect is dwelling. This is Biblically true and always has been true since Adam in the garden and Moses on the mountain. The consequences of keeping the Law are blessings; the consequences of disobedience are curses. But the prophet says that if you do listen (keep) you will not dwell. The call to repent and turn to God, or return, motivates with the blessing of dwelling in the land.

The promise of land was first given to Abraham, and then filled under Moses and Joshua. The “land” was taken away because they did not believe in the Lord God alone above all things, in other words, repent of idolatry. The prophets gave the promise of return to the land after captivity and exile, if they return and amend. The Jews in Exile did repent, return to God, and return to dwell in the land, mostly at the urging of a rereading of Moses and the Prophets.The historical promise of “Land” comes out in the New Testament as the Kingdom of God, or heaven, or eternal life with God. Those who repent and believe in the Gospel enter into the Kingdom of God, or have eternal life. This Land, this Kingdom, and this Life is in the heart of the believers now spiritually, and we will be in it physically forever after death. This is what Jesus earns and gives to us. Repentance and faith receives it. Returning and amending is repenting and believing. “He who believes in Me has eternal life.” This is “dwelling in the land.” Returning to God is returning to the Land. This happens every time we hear the Gospel. Because of Christ we may and we can live in this promise: we shall dwell in the land, we shall have eternal life, we shall enter into the Kingdom, we shall enter into the joy of the Lord, we shall return to the Paradise we lost. Enjoy it today and enjoy it forever.