Month: September 2020

398. Filled with Knowledge

Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

God promises us that we shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. Everyone will know the Lord from the smallest to the greatest. Of course, this promise still lacks fulfillment today and will not be fully filled up until the end of the age. In the new heaven and new earth it will be perfectly and fully fulfilled, for every person alive will know, see, experience and love the glory of God. Then, such knowledge will be universal on the earth, like the waters cover the sea. No one will miss out on the glorious presence of God all over, everywhere they might be, day or night (though there won’t be any night). In the literal sense, the promise will come true for us in the eternal future. We can count on it. Every person present in that Eternal State will know the Lord. Can you imagine what a difference that will make on social life and daily living with people?

For the present age, however, the promise is still in process. The knowledge of God, by faith in Jesus Christ, is actually spreading and growing. If one looks at a map the Word has gone out to the ends of the earth, and there are Christians among every nation and people group. Even in our day everyone has heard about Jesus, but most people still do not “know” the Lord, that is, they do not know Jesus by personal faith, nor are they saved, nor do they have a personal relationship with God. They do not know Jesus as Savior and Lord. 

There is so much mission work still to be done, but we have this promise that when the Word goes out many people will be converted and saved. There is still a crying need to “preach the gospel to every creature.” The Lord has not pulled back the Great Commission. Urgency is still demanded. The Spirit urges us to preach, and He calls His people to do so. The mission is not completed yet, but when it is finished according to God’s purpose then the end will come.

For us today we are able to take this promise to know the glory of God by faith in the heart wherever we go and whatever we do. The Lord goes with us. He does not leave us alone. We can know Him any time and in any place. He is there for us.

397. Live by Faith

Habakkuk 2:4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.

A person is declared just by faith in Christ. By that faith he shall live, be alive, and have eternal life. God declares us righteous (justifies) on account of Christ. We receive this justification by faith, and by that faith we live. Three connected promises are present here:

1) We shall be just, or righteous, by believing in Jesus and thereby receiving the imputed righteousness of God. This promise has already been fulfilled in history on earth with the death and resurrection of Christ. The effects and results of this fulfilled promise are presently active and effective in the lives of believers. We are always counted as righteous and we shall be so forever. We have been thoroughly transformed, losing our sin, guilt, condemnation, ungodliness and gaining righteousness, acquittal, forgiveness and godliness. Think how far we have come: from darkness to light, from death to life, from filth to purity, from utter sinfulness to perfect holiness.

2) We shall live, live fully and live forever by believing in Jesus and thereby passing from death to life. We were walking dead zombies; now we are enjoying life that never ends, a renewed life, born again to a lively hope. Think how far we have come: from hell to heaven, from eternal separation from God to union and connection with God, from a life that beats us down to a life that lifts us up. Only a believer who has experienced the new life understands the difference between existing on earth to really living in heaven on earth. It is so much better than not even knowing we are dead. 

3)Faith is the instrument or means of receiving the gift of righteousness and eternal life, which faith is planted in the heart by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel. We by our self cannot make a decision to believe in Jesus since we are dead in sins, weak in the flesh, and stupid in understanding, but the Spirit has used the Gospel to generate a living faith within the heart. By the gift of faith we are truly just and alive. Thank God for His unspeakable gift, the gift of faith! 

Martin Luther was transformed, born again, when he read this promise quoted in Romans 1:17. The Spirit revealed it was by faith alone that he was justified, righteous, and right with God. No works or human efforts could be added to the saving faith worked by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel. He said, “Heaven was opened to me.” We also may experience the same thing every day.

396. Stronghold

Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.

All sinners have several strongholds in their soul, some from sin, some from birth, some from addiction, and some from trauma. A stronghold is a place in the soul where some habit or tendency has a strong hold upon us. These particular besetting sins are difficult to get rid of, because they have a strong hold. They are forgiven, but we can’t seem to stop doing or thinking them. It is like a castle or a fort where Sin and Satan are allowed to reside, for we invited them in and kept them there.

In I Corinthians 10:4 God says we have spiritual weapons that have divine power to destroy strongholds. But the Lord promises here that the Lord is good, and the Lord is a stronghold in a time of trouble, and the Lord knows those who trust in Him. We have the possibility of running from one sinful stronghold into the other stronghold, which is the Lord Himself. He promises to be there as a stronghold. We get into trouble at various times and seasons, but the Lord will be a stronghold during those times. Run into Him and be safe. The temptations and attacks of Satan will never stop until we die, but at the same time we have a safe place to hide, while at the same time the Spirit, using spiritual weapons, destroys the destructive strongholds.

The Lord is good to give us a defensive place and offensive weapons to use in the day of trouble. He also knows us: He knows our needs; He knows our weaknesses; He knows our strongholds; He cares; He loves; He heals; He makes it all better. We run to Him and we trust in Him alone for every good thing needful.

395. Sins Cast in the Sea

Micah 7:19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

The prophet promises that God will turn again, He will have compassion on us, He will subdue our sins, and He will cast all our sins into the depth of the sea. When the Lord turns to us He turns with compassion. God’s awesome compassion on us and love for us caused the Lord to find a way (the only way) to justly forgive sins, overcome them, declare us righteous, make us holy, grant eternal life, restore us to Himself and receive us into the heavenly mansions. He sent His only Son to live and die for us. This is the kind of God we have: one who loves forever and finds a way to express that love in an effective way, one who comes to us and draws us with cords of love, overcomes sin, and causes us to return to Him where we belong.

We know this is true, and that God has kept His promises, when we hear the gospel, look at the cross, and see the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. One lifetime is not enough time to exhaust our comprehension of and appreciation for the Love of God. “Jesus looked on the crowd and had compassion on them.” The Lord looks at us and has compassion on us. Because of Christ, Almighty God, the Eternal Judge, does not look at us with scorn, contempt, disdain, scolding, judgment, a critical spirit, disappointment, or condemnation. He does not accept our sins and He does not overlook them; He forgives them and takes them away. In this way, God loves each of us in Christ. He sees Christ in us, the righteousness of God, the perfection of holiness, a cleansed and purified vessel. If only we had God’s compassion to see others and ourselves the way He does! It would change our lives and make us better people. The love of God for the person subdues iniquities and grows the fruit of the Spirit.

He can do all this because He loves the sinner but hates the sin. He promises to take all our sins and cast them into the depths of the sea. Our sins are removed from us as far as the east from the west, that is, an infinite distance. When our sins are gone, really taken away, out of sight and out of mind, and figuratively cast into the sea never to be seen again the only thing left in us is Christ in us. And the Father is well pleased with us. With this gospel promise come true and real in our hearts we live a better life and enjoy God ever more every day.

394. Pardon and Mercy

Micah 7:18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity; and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.

One will never find another God who is like our God: He pardons and passes by the sins of His people; He does not keep His anger forever; He delights in mercy. This is a Good News promise for all people. Those who believe God by believing in Jesus have received the forgiveness of sin. They know God. The Lord is slow to anger, and when He does finally get righteously angry over sin He does not hold on to it for a long time. Mercy trumps judgment. Mercy is the overriding characteristic of the Lord God. He loves to show mercy, because God is Love. Mercy makes the Lord feel good; it delights Him.

We need to appreciate God’s goodness and mercy, grace and forgiveness. We don’t deserve it; we have deserved damnation and judgment. When we have entirely received the mercy of God we are more apt to show mercy to those who have trespassed against us. Our lives run on mercy. If it weren’t for the mercy of God and the gracious forgiveness through Christ we would be dead, dead forever, forever separated from God and all good. This very thought should cause us to be constantly thankful and full of joy. Mercy means we get what Jesus deserved, not what we deserve.

Once we receive mercy by faith, we joyfully show mercy to others. We instantly and gladly forgive them because God in Christ Jesus forgave us a much greater debt. The only problem we might have with such a wonderful promise and such great good news is that mercy is so good, rich and full that we have a hard time believing it. In fact, we cannot believe it in our own flesh and mind and strength. If the Spirit does not give us saving faith to receive undeserved grace we would be left in our sins to suffer the eternal punishment. But the Spirit does work through the Gospel preached and heard to work faith in such awesome mercy. It is a worthwhile exercise to reflect and ponder on the mercy of God. Let yourself be amazed.

No one has a God like we have.

393. See Marvelous Things

Micah 7:15 According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things.

God promises He will show us marvelous things. We will see marvels, miracles and wonders. All of these signs are designed to lead us to praise and thank the Lord, and the signs point us to Christ as our Savior. The marvelous things are nothing special in and of themselves. The marvelous things are temporary, and soon after the miracle, the healing, the deliverance, or the great salvation things return to normal and life goes on. Nature miracles subside and nature returns to normal processes; healings are good for a while and then we die later anyway; resurrections from the dead are nice but then the person dies again anyway.

The purpose of the marvelous things is not just to experience wonders nor even is it to fix everything. The purpose is to point us to the wonder-working God who is the Person who saves eternally. God is our marvel; God is our wonder; God is our miracle; God is our life. He is eternal and makes us eternal through faith in Christ. We don’t need the temporary healing as much as we need the permanent healing and eternal life. This is the marvel God gives, and we trust His promise that the Lord will show us these things.

The marvels He will show us will be according to the days of our coming out of the land of Egypt. The Exodus Event is the bedrock of the Biblical revelation. God did many signs, wonders, and miracles in the days of Moses. God did many marvels in the days of Jesus and the Apostles. He is still doing wonders and working marvels in our own day. “The days of the coming out of Egypt” showed God’s judgments upon idolatry and unbelief, and they showed God miraculous salvation and provision. These are wonderful things, but they are still pointers. The marvels point to the God who saves us eternally in Christ. It is all about knowing Him and knowing Him better and better. He is life. He is Salvation. He is eternal. Christ worked the same kind of salvation from bondage. Sin was judged; salvation earned; life given.

What God did once through Moses He did again through Jesus Christ, but it was spiritual and eternal. What God did once through Christ He does again and again in our lives. And He promises to do it forever in the future.

392. Light and Righteousness

Micah 7:9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.

God fulfills this promise in Jesus Christ, who has brought me forth to the light, and in the light I can see the righteousness of God. We have come out of darkness into His marvelous light. He has turned us from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. This light is the light of Glory, the light of God Himself in all His glory, the beatific vision of the Lord God Almighty. When we get to heaven and dwell in God’s eternal presence we will forever, day and night, walk in the light of God, and there we will see what righteousness is really like. It will be awesome, mind-blowing.

This wonderful future life is also present in the heart of faith even now, today, while we are living on earth. Heaven is in the heart since the Holy Spirit lives there. He has brought light to us, or us to the light, and the light is inside every believer. “You are the light of the world…Let it shine.” We should understand that Jesus does not tell us to shine the light, but that He will shine it and let it out into a dark world if we don’t hide it or cover it up. He does the shining;; we do the hiding. When people see your light and good works they will give glory to the heavenly Father. Jesus brings us to the light and He shines it. Jesus makes it happen. We don’t. We can’t go to the light; He must bring it to us. The Lord gets credit for all our good works and light-shining. We enjoy living in the light and walking on the path.

By faith we have received the righteousness of God. We are declared righteous for Christ’s sake as that righteousness is in us. Faith sees it, gives thanks, rejoices in the Lord, and goes about life serving God by serving others. Without realizing it we actually “see” His righteousness on earth during this life. Believing is seeing. We believe that we are declared righteous because of Christ by faith. Faith sees. Faith knows. We know that we are righteous and will live in the light of righteousness forever. Jesus bore the indignation of God for my sin, pleaded my case before God, that is, pled His own blood shed for me, and executed judgment upon my sin, over death, and on the power of the devil. The promise is fulfilled in Christ for me.

391. Arise and Shine

Micah 7:8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.

The Lord causes me to arise against my enemy (sin, death, or devil). Jesus has earned the victory over all my enemies and defeated them utterly at the Cross and the Empty Tomb, He has saved me to the uttermost. Indeed, I do fall, time and again, but every time I arise, get up and go forward. Because of Jesus I will not stay down; I can always get back up again, even after seven times a day. We do get frustrated with ourselves after failing so many times, but in Christ I may always arise again. “You can’t keep a good man down.” I am not good, but Jesus is good in me; Jesus is the good man. He is always there to pick me up again, dust me off, and set me on the way. Sin brings discouragement, frustration and stumbling. Jesus renews, encourages and strengthens. Sin, as the enemy, brings about a fall; Jesus, as the friend, brings about a rising again. I need to believe this promise or I may begin to believe that I am hopeless, can’t shake the depression, and am sinking in the mire. We may have periods when we are tempted to say, “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up.” Jesus says, “Arise!”

Darkness, bleakness and emptiness surround us all the time and at times the darkness threatens to engulf us, but the promise is that Jesus will be a light for me. Jesus, the light, penetrates the darkness and pushes it away. Light has power; darkness has no power. The Enemy uses it to scare, threaten and lie. But the truth and life of the gospel has the dynamic force to overpower and drive back the darkness. Darkness cannot push back the light. “Let the light shine” means to repent of sin, receive Jesus and believe the Gospel, and when He shines a light we see. Then we find out that there was nothing to fear from the darkness after all. “Your Word is a light to my path.” With Jesus the Light we always know where we are and where we are going. Both the future and the present are bright.

390. God Hears

Micah 7:7 Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.

God promises over and over again to hear us. He always knows our needs, and He will always respond to our prayers. Because all God’s promises in Christ are “yea and amen” we can say with confidence: “My God will hear me.” This kind of promise encourages us and motivates us to pray and talk to the Lord any time and all the time. Even though the Lord cannot always answer our prayer requests according to our will,He does promise to hear and listen and respond and care and comfort.

Because God makes such a promise “I will look unto the Lord and wait for the God of my salvation.” As a sinner, I do not look to the Lord for everything, but as a redeemed child of God, the Lord who lives in me does indeed look unto the Lord for every good. This is the essence of the First Commandment: fear, love, and trust in God above all things. The sanctified Christian, as a result of the Holy Spirit prompting us within, looks to the Lord alone for every good. 

We have constant temptations to look to the empty promises of the things we can see and semi-control: we look to ourselves and our abilities, our money and means, science and technology, other people and institutions, family and friends, and other things for help in time of need. Anything else in either the physical or spiritual world will disappoint, let us down, lie, and not keep their empty promises. Only the Lord will do and can do what He says. For this reason we trust in Him alone. He can hear me because He is God; He wants to hear me because He loves me and has compassion. The Lord is ever waiting you us to call on His Name.

Because God makes a promise “I will wait for the God of my salvation.” I wait for His perfect timing. Waiting necessitates patience; patience requires faith; faith is simple trust that God saves. I know He is my salvation because I have seen the Cross and the Empty Tomb. I look at the cross and I have no doubt that God loves and cares and hears. Jesus says, “I promise.”

389. Power over Enemies

Micah 5:9 Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.

The Lord promises that our hand will be lifted up upon our enemies, and all of them shall be cut off from defeating us. Jesus has fulfilled this promise at the Cross and the Tomb. Our enemies were violently overthrown. Jesus has given the results of His victory to us who believe in Him. It is our hand (power) that defends against and defeats the adversaries. Jesus gave to us the power to tread Satan underfoot. Jesus does it all, but He also expects us to use His authority in specific circumstances. He gave us His Name, His Blood, and His Authority against the temptations, lies and scares of the Evil One. We pray in Jesus’ name, we plead the blood of Jesus, and take authority over the Enemy.

We will still sin, we will still die, and we will still lose to temptations and worrying thoughts, but Sin, Death and the Devil cannot gain the upper hand and bring us down to ultimate defeat. With Jesus our Overcomer we are more than conquerors. Our Lord will deliver us from evil. That’s a promise. Believe the promise and use it for comfort and strength, even, and especially, in difficult times. Hang on with patient faith, even when it seems to take a long time for deliverance to come. We keep praying and trusting and we don’t give up or give in. Satan is the one who loses patience and gives up when He sees our faith in the promises of God’s Word.

Our enemies will not quit. They are relentless in their attacks, lies and temptations, but we have Jesus and His promise of victory in time of need. Your hand, or your power, that is lifted up is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The love and forgiveness of God is the most powerful force in the universe. Believe the Gospel.