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Meditation: January 22

“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.” Romans 12:9

True love is balanced with an attraction towards purity and truth and a distain and hatred towards evil. It is not the imbalance that embraces any behavior as being acceptable for sake of peace. True love often disturbs the peace of the wicked, in order to confront his wickedness. There are matters of the heart in need of deep change. It is mere pretense to ignore the initial promptings that occur within one’s own conscience, until it is silenced for the sake of expediency. The more those warning signs are ignored, the stronger and bolder steps are taken in the direction of hypocrisy. People are not born hypocrites. They become hypocrites by much practice. Once the plight is to move in that direction, true love is never known because the person that is not real himself cannot accept realness from others. Their own hypocrisy raises suspicion regarding all who would be honest with them. We must hate evil in order to embrace what is good. It is never both ways. It is either good or evil that we must choose.

14 Jan 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: January 14

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“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Galatians 6:9-10

The act that becomes a habit, the habit that equates into a lifestyle of doing good, is the life we have been called to live. We enter into the life and experience of Christ and grow into giving a fuller expression of Christ. It has to do with a new nature of the believer. He focuses his attention on the Lord, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit will compel him to do things that are pleasing to the Father. It is easy to begin to feel used and not appreciated by the recipients of your benevolence. There are even times when it may even feel that all of your efforts are in vain, but God has promised benefits to those who would remain faithful. You will first reap the reward of being like Jesus when we see Him as He is, then we will be enabled to enjoy all that God offers throughout eternity. We are being changed to appreciate heavenly things and heaven’s order on the earth so that we are made fit to love God and to enjoy Him forever.

12 Jan 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: January 12

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“I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways.” Psalm 119:15

To give deep thought of what God requires is necessary if we are to align ourselves with His will. It is not a casual or passing thought that captures the truths contained in His Word, but rather to savor those morsels of insight until they become a part of our nature. God allows us to meditate on His precepts for our good. They will not become grievous requirements when His ways are better understood. He does not require more of us than He Himself is willing or has already done for us. When we are able to compare His requirements to His ways, we will rejoice because of the opportunity He has afforded us to more fully participate with Him in His work. His precepts prepare us for further participation in what He is doing. How glorious it is when we fit perfectly in His divine plans. That is why His Word must be hidden in our hearts that we would not sin against Him by omission or commission. We “will” where He stands, and receive the power to stand with Him for righteousness and against all things that oppose Him.

26 Nov 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: November 26

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“But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.” Luke 12:48

God’s requirements are commensurate to the measure of His grace. He gives to one a portion and to another a different portion. He does not expect the same from each but expects both to use what they have been given for His glory. When His boundaries are tested, whether it be from one who has full knowledge of the law or not, both must pay the penalty for their transgression. Yet again, what has been made known to them will determine the severity of their punishment. His gifts are freely given but to empower us to freely respond to His initiatives. To know to do what is good must be from the heart and not just the head if His grace is effectively working within us. We are then doing what we will to do, not just for the sake of avoiding punishment, but because it has been made known to us what is best for us. But if the knowledge is lacking or the willingness is not in place to do what is right, then God will judge on the merits of His investment.

19 Nov 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: November 19

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“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily.” Isaiah 28:16

With all that the Church and the believers must suffer in these last days, doubt may enter into the minds of many. Evil appears to triumph over good and decisions to support what is wrong outweighs the support of the truth. Yet God has made a promise to His people. His foundation is sure for He knows His own. The foundation stone or touchstone of the Lord has been laid in Zion which represents the Church. It is the support of all that God is erecting. He will hold His Church together to weather the storms of adversity because His very life is invested in her. This is the hope of the believer, not to be a reactionary to the sudden storms that may arise from time to time, for our lives are anchored in the hope of His promises. God will have the final word, but we must endure to the end. The time will come when what in the past has been ignored will be greatly treasured. People will flock to hear the Word of the Lord when all that they have desired to hear has failed them. Not only will they hear but also see the glory of the Lord rising upon His people.

03 Nov 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: November 3

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“He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered.” Proverbs 28:26

It is too easy to feel that a particular thing is right and rely totally upon one’s feelings. Many place their confidence in the inclinations of the heart rather than the established truth of God’s word. Our hearts may guide us in the direction away from the things we despise, but will eventually crash against the jagged rocks of reality. The good is often despised if the heart remains unchanged. Nothing is within us to embrace the truth if all we have is an empty heart in search of significance. Nothing within fallen man is able to deliver him from perishing along with the weight of passions sinking him deeper into the quagmire of sin and rebellion. His feet are not established upon any solid substance enabling him to be upheld on shaky ground. He trusts in what is within him and around him. He foolishly stumbles along in life until he utterly falls. But the wise will walk wisely because he is steadied by the power that comes from on high. God is able to lift him above the traps set before him. He is raised up while others are falling down. God sustains him through all that he may face because his heart is fixed on Jesus.

23 Oct 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: October 23

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“Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” (34) Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God….” 1 Corinthians 15:33-34

The company of the deceived is hard to penetrate. There is strength in numbers among them. Even God had to come down and confound the language of those who would have built a tower that would reach the heavens. They would have made a name for themselves and stood in competition with God Himself. The company that is evil influences the behavior of those who gather together. Only the pursuit for righteousness will awaken them from the daze and cause them to be aware of what has taken control of their lives.

The wisdom of God shouts in order to draw their attention away from the path that leads to destruction and death. The warnings are for their good. But the loss of familiar companions often arrests their reasoning and they continue on the track leading to hell. Be not deceived. There is a way that leads to death, but God wills us to learn and live.

22 Oct 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: October 22

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“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,” Psalm 124:1

The possibilities of failure and calamities would have been overwhelming if things had been different. God chose Israel, for no other reason than His love being bestowed upon her. She was protected from dangers and blessed to prosper. The Lord had favored her thus stood in opposition to her enemies. Yet her worshipful response to God’s favor was expected. God, who blesses deserves to be blessed. When He is acknowledged as the Source of every good and perfect gift, He reveals more of Himself and His purposes to us. Even though the tide may swell and the rivers may rise with their tumultuous currents, yet they will not overrun their borders. He regulates the degrees of testing allowed to cross our path, Instead of being used to destroy us, they are measured and their pressures can only prove what He has established within us. We have received from Him the grace to withstand all the fiery darts of the wicked. It is His strength within us that sustains us along the way. He is on our side. Not only that, He is with us and in us and will never leave us alone.

21 Oct 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: October 21

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“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” 2 Corinthians 3:17

The living Spirit of God frees us to give a fuller expression of His will. We are no longer bound to obey His Law as heavy restrictions levied against us, but rather freed inwardly to joyful give expression to what we have become. We are made alive to His righteousness while the Spirit reveals to our spirit a standard no longer alien to us. He gives us both the will and the ability to do for His good pleasure. What a life; to please God and at the same time be pleased ourselves! The old nature of sin of which we had grown accustomed, has now be exposed as a slave master. We have now been liberated from his controls and freely ruled over by a Beneficent and loving Lord. He rules by placing His will within us so that there is no struggle between us. We know that He loves us and we know that His will is perfect. As we progress in our knowledge of Him, we surrender even the most stubborn portions of our lives to His government. We want His Kingdom be fully established in our hearts that His will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

24 Sep 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: September 24

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Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. (3) For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.” (4) For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Romans 15:2-4

A selfless heart cannot be prefabricated. The fallen nature of man hinders him from becoming altruistic. Yet God is able through one who has yielded himself to Him, do what is pleasing and for the good of his neighbor. Christ died for us. It was not a pleasant experience leading up to His death. But He had us in mind throughout all He had to suffer. The Scripture does not tell us to do whatever is pleasing to our neighbor. That would reduce us to becoming men-pleasers. We must consider what is good for him and do what is best even if it cost us in our efforts in assisting him. The love of God given expression through us will lift him to a level where Christ becomes visible to him. As we seek God for the good of others, expecting nothing in return from them, God’s grace flows freely through us.