New Mercies Each Morning

This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. It is of the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul, therefore I will hope in Him.

Lam. 3: 21-24

These are more than just nice sounding words on a page . These are absolute truths. Every day can be a new beginning, no matter how bad we blew it the day before.

Pride is so sneaky. Sometimes I think I'm doing well. It's easy to think of others and how they might be failing in one way or another. But the Spirit pulls me up short and I realize in this thick skull of mine that I am no better than any of them. We all need God's mercies.

If I do well, it is because He helps me to avail myself of His neverending supply of mercy and grace. If I fail, He is not surprised, He  wants me to come back to Him. Could we really think that God is surprised by any of our failures when He knew every day that was appointed to us? (See Psalm 139.)

Christian, do you, or could you, really believe these gracious words?

Come to Me, all who are growing weary to the point of exhaustion, and have been loaded with burdens and are beneath their weight, and I alone will cause you to cease from your labor and take away your burdens and thus refresh you with rest. Take at once my yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find cessation from labor and refreshment for your souls, for my yoke is mild and pleasant, and my load is light in weight.*

* The New Testament, An Expanded Translation by Kenneth S. Wuest, Teacher Emeritus of NT Greek, The Moody Bible Institute, 1956.

A. T. Robertson, in his Word Pictures of the New Testament, Volume 1, Kregel Publications, 2004 Revised and Updated by Wesley J. Perschbacher, says this of Christ's yoke:

Jesus promisess that we shall find his yoke greatly lightens the burden, "Easy" is a poor translation of chrestos ( χρηστός  ); Moffatt puts it "kindly."... We have no adjective that quite carries the notion of "kind and good." The yoke of Christ is useful, good and kindly (cf. Song 1:10). 

So, if you think living the Christian life is hard, think again. It was hard for Him, so it could be easy for us to receive a new start and His mercies each day. 

 Christianity isn't a list of rules but a relationship with the Living God. And He is the One who accomplishes it in us as we simply let His Word dwell richly in our hearts.

Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it. I Thessalonians 5:24

For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Phil. 2:13

Finally, remember Jesus' gentle rebuke to Martha when she was so busy trying to serve Him. He simply said:

...Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Luke 10: 41-42 

Jesus did everything necessary to make me good before God. He is a good and kind Master. When I fail Him, I come again to His throne of grace and receive abundant mercy.

Who His own self bare our own sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.                 (*my emphasis) I Peter 2: 24 

 

 

Satisfying our soul's hunger...

Ecclesiastes 6:7 "All the labor of man is for his mouth, And yet the soul is not satisfied."

The pace of life seems way too fast for me. I can't keep up with technology, and it seems my attention is scattered so easily. Every day, I get book deal emails for bargain books to read on my Kindle, and no sooner do I get started with one book when I get distracted with another. The same goes for surfing the internet, I can never seem to get my fill of everything on there that I want to absorb. Then there are movies, most of which I don't see, but if I decided to become a movie buff, I am sure I could devote the rest of my life to it.

Then I think about my interests. I love writing and need to devote time to that. Then I also love quilting and sewing, so much so that the hobby has overtaken my dining room. In fact, my whole house is filled with projects that drew my attention: whether it was a book to be read, or little collections, or even stuff for recipes I was going to make but did not get to yet.

When I homeschooled my kids years ago, I never felt like I could keep up with all I wanted to teach them, and all the new products for homeschoolers coming out on the market. I always felt as if I was a "day late and a dollar short." Yet the verse from Ecclesiastes speaks to the vanity of it all. All the work we do to keep up in the pace of our busy lives and yet our souls are still left hungry.

The longer I live, the shorter the amount of days are left to me. Yet what will I fill them with? If I try to keep up with the pace of technology and the latest and greatest inventions of man, I will only fall further and further behind. But yet, there is something far greater that calls my name, something I can only accomplish in this life, and not in eternity. That is, time to learn about my God and take in as much of His Word as I can.

That is not something that most people are seeking after. How easy even for believers to be distracted from keeping the main thing of our lives to stay the main thing of our lives. The Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:13-14:

"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

That is the main point. That is what matters. Everything else pales in light of that one thing. The enemy of our souls doesn't want us to realize that. He uses his many distractions so that we will not pursue that one thing that matters.

Martha wanted to serve the Lord. She was so busy preparing dinner for Him. It seemed to her that He did not care that Mary her sister wasn't helping her. She finally asked Him why Mary could not help her, but Jesus saw that Mary had the one thing that she really needed, and did not rebuke her for sitting at His feet and learning from Him. In the end, Martha was the one who was rebuked.

38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42

The only time I have to grow in my relationship with Christ is reserved for me in this life. Everything has been decided by the time I reach eternity. How I need to be reminded to number my days, that the Lord would give me a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)

By knowing this, it helps me to be able to say "no" to some good things, in order to gain the best thing: growing in the grace and knowledge of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (II Peter 3:18) I just read this morning in Matthew 7 that the way is narrow that leads to life. Pastor James Leake once told my husband (who was newly saved) that "the good can be the enemy of the best." In choosing my relationship with God over earthly things, it may seem to be a "narrow" and difficult road to follow. But in giving up my own wants for my life, I find soul rest, the thing that my soul is really craving for. The Psalmist implores us:
"Taste and see that the LORD is good! How blessed is the one who takes shelter in him!" (Psalm 34:8 NET) He alone will satisfy our soul's hunger.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry." (Matt. 11:28-30 NET version)

Help me Lord, to choose the "one needful thing" in this life, satisfying my soul hunger and so that I might grow in my capacity for enjoying the next life. Amen.

Has God forgotten?

Proverbs 19:3 "The foolishness of a man twists his way,
And his heart frets against the LORD."

I caught myself "fretting against the Lord" in the last couple of days. Actually, it's something I used to do a lot. When I found myself fretting this time, God showed me grace by reminding me that all the answers to the questions I seek are in His Word.There's no other place I can find them, but if I search for His wisdom like a treasure, He will reveal His answers to the questions in my heart. And so, in spite of despair that threatened to wash ashore like a great storm into my soul, I was reminded to look instead for God's,(not my) answers.

The question that bothered me was "Can God really be good when the suffering in this world is at an all time high?" Oh, perhaps I didn't think of it exactly in that way but that is what it boiled down to. I think of another being who questioned God in the Garden of Eden, whispering slyly to an unsuspecting woman, "Yea, hath God said?" (Genesis 3:1)

When I was a younger woman, this question nearly destroyed my faith. In one particular time of struggle before I was married, I carried index cards around with me, on which I wrote encouraging Bible verses and quotes about God's love. Whenever I felt an attack of doubt or panic coming on, I would rifle through the cards, reading them and encouraging myself in the Lord. I I probably looked like a spectacle, but then Peter did write that we were a "peculiar people" in I Peter 2:9!

I found other verses which correspond to this thought of fretting against the Lord, and some verses that tell us what the remedy is for this terrible problem. Years ago, the words of Matthew 25:24 haunted me: "The wicked servant said: ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed." I could have agreed with him. That would prove I was a wicked servant too! God seemed to ask an awful lot of us, and my failures shouted at me to just quit the Christian life already. Praise God, now when I find a thought has popped into my head and I know it is a lie, I try not to even let it germinate in my mind. I often turn to my Nelson's Cross Reference Guide to the Bible (edited by Jerome Smith to find other verses to support what I know to be true. In particular, this time I looked up verses stemming from Matthew 25:24 where the Lord is speaking to the wicked servant in the parable of the talents.

Job lost everything, and in contrast to the wicked servant,he did this:

Job 1:21 "Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said:
​
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
​​And naked shall I return there.
​​The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away;
​​Blessed be the name of the LORD.”
​
22 In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong."


It is the way of the transgressor that is hard! "Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard." Proverbs 13:15

Matthew 11:28-30: Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

God is good to all people, and He wants all men to be saved. "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." II Peter 3:9

It is because I do not yet know Him as I ought that doubts about His goodness creep into my mind. Yes, there is a terrible amount of suffering going on in the world today, but that is not God's fault. He did everything He could to provide us with a great salvation. But He does not force men to accept it. Much of the suffering we see is the result of man choosing in His rebellion to go his own way, without God.

Here then lies the answer for me when I doubt God's Word, or think He has forgotten about us on this planet:

Psalm 77:9-12
9 "Has God forgotten to be gracious?
​​Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?
10 ​​And I said, “This is my anguish;
​​But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 ​​I will remember the works of the LORD;
​​Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
12 ​​I will also meditate on all Your work,
​​And talk of Your deeds.
13 ​​Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary;
​​Who is so great a God as our God?
14 ​​You are the God who does wonders;
​​You have declared Your strength among the peoples."

Three answers to my question I see right here: remember the works of the Lord, meditate on all His work, and talk of His deeds. I do not yet know Him as I ought (I Corinthians 8:3) , but this one thing I do, I press on as Paul wrote in Philippians 3 verse 12: "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me."

Let us press on then to know Him, refuting the enemy's lies, as we see the day of His coming draw near!

Agape Triumphs when Eros Fades

Because it is Valentine's Day, here are a couple random thoughts on the difference between God's love and the love we celebrate today- eros love- romantic love. God's love is of no comparison with eros love. God's love is called agape love and remains far superior to eros love.

It is the kind of love that is unconditional, the kind that would hold a Saviour to the confines of a bloody tree for a bunch of people who could have cared less, that were busy spitting on Him, cursing Him. Could we not use that kind of love today in our relationships with our families, the very ones we care about most? In fact, isn't it really what this whole world is crying for?

But back to eros for now. Eros says, "You're attractive. You don't have wrinkles or grey hair. You are not heavy or slobby or ..."{whatever you want to fill in there.} I once read on a Christian board a woman complaining about her husband because he had become unkempt with bad teeth. All the other women were advising her to dump him! The person receiving the love usually has to uphold something in order to be loved, to stay in the good graces of the lover. They need to wear fancy clothes or drive the right car or have the right degree or hold the right job or.... you get the idea. They have to merit the love in some way, shape or form. They have to earn it somehow.

What happens when you promise each other to love each other for the rest of your life but then your spouse gets grey hair or slobby or heavy or....? Does that give you free reign to go out and get a new one then? Eros is conditional in this way. It is not a "till death do us part" kind of love. It is only a "till my feelings do change" kind of love. That is why you see the break up of so many marriages today. Eros didn't hold them together. The marriage only lasted as long as the passion did. Once the passion left, so did the commitment.

But God and His love are so different from ours. Thank Him for that! Jesus could have given up on us, but He did not. Agape, not nails,is what held Him to the cross that day. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, did you know that God does not see you in your sins? The last time He saw them was when He judged them in His Son upon the cross. So He sees you as being perfectly righteous. (II Corinthians 5:17) Agape is what is needed if we want our marriages not to be added to the casualty list. But we cannot produce it. It must be Divinely produced within us.

If we have not been walking in agape, we need to confess it before God. He will not be surprised, nor will He be angry with us. He took out His anger on His Son.(Hosea 14: 4)
We ask Him to teach us His way of agape, He will not despise us if we ask Him in genuine humility. We need to come, and keep on coming, to Him. He never tires of us coming, or asking. (Matt. 11: 28-30, James 1: 5)

"Show me your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day." Psalm 25: 4-5

But we must realize we bring nothing before Him, our hands are empty. It is not, we do a little and He'll do a little. No, He must do it all. God shares His glory with no one. (Isaiah 45: 22-23)

"And this is the commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also." I John 4: 21