Today's the day that I am to be baptized. I have believed in God for twenty-seven plus years, but have only found faith in the Lord about a year and a half ago. I understand that the Christian life is one that looks forward, not back, but I wondered for much of this time what my "born on date" truly is.
I received a question through my main site this last spring from someone who questioned their own salvation. The gist of the question was, "How do I truly know if I am saved?" I thought long and hard about this, and realizing that this person had likely heard the same responses from others in the church, with the same scripture passages, I decided to take a different approach in my answer. I answered the question with a short list of questions that the reader was encouraged to answer in their heart.
- Do you have a desire to read the Bible that wasn't there before you were saved?
- Do you ever have an inner yearning for God?
- Would you feel cheated if you went to Heaven to find that God wasn't there, just His gifts? That is, do you want to see His face?
- Do you have a strong desire to keep His commandments and to serve His will?
- Did Christ die for you? If you insert your name in John 3:16, does it send a chill up your spine?
- Do you look forward to worshiping God in church? How about in your daily life?
- Does God have anything to offer you in this life?
- Do you ever have a childlike wonder of God?
- Does God listen to your prayers?
- Finally, what is the rock of your salvation? Are you saved according to the emotions of the day or is God's promise sufficient to carry you when you are weary?
The list goes on with changes in me that have happened in a relatively short period of time. I thank you, the reader, for keeping me honest in my reading of the Bible, for my transformation began there. Actually it began with a calling of the Lord, but you were used as an instrument in my conversion from an intellectual believer to one that has found faith, hope and desire in my walk behind the Lord. Where He leads me I will follow.
Sometimes, the Lord leads you through valleys where you may not wish to go. Acts 9:10-19 shows God speaking to Ananias, telling him to approach Saul to restore his sight and to be used as an instrument in his conversion. In this brief dialogue, God says that He will show Saul (later to be named Paul) the things he would suffer for the sake of the Lord. This suffering can be in the form of various levels of persecution, and I have had a bit of that. It is also found in the sanctification of the believer, which is the work of the Holy Spirit waging war against your sinful nature.
Having your heart serve as a battleground is not comfortable. That is something I didn't understand until recently. It tears you from those things you once enjoyed and salves the wounds with new things that the Lord has for you. The suffering is a precursor to the delight! It is not a contrast for you to appreciate your salvation more. It is a necessary, systematic, lifelong, process of cleansing. It is the act of a husband, preparing his bride for himself, making her suitable for a union with him (Ephesians 5:25-27). It begins at salvation. The battle scars were not felt in my heart until I truly believed. Reciting the "Sinner's Prayer" over and over through the years didn't begin this. This happened through a belief in the saving power of Jesus that was placed in my heart by God and consummated by the power of the Holy Spirit. At that time, I became a bride of Christ.
Today, I will make my marriage a matter of public record through baptism by immersion in the presence of my church, my family, some of my friends, and in the loving presence of my savior, my lord and my treasure. I ask you today to pray for me, that I may remain true to the end and not wander like I had for so much of my life. I ask that you pray for a blessing on this event, for myself and for others in attendance. Above all, I ask that the Lord be glorified in my submission to this sacrament. It is for His glory alone that I do this, and it is by His grace alone that I be allowed to partake in this celebration. Finally, I selfishly ask that you request a few more degrees on the thermometer!
For your prayers and your commitment to the reading of the Word, I thank you in advance.
Today's reading is found in Lamentations 2-4.
New were getting into Lamentations. What does it mean to lament? It is a showing of grief and suffering. It's difficult to keep a stiff upper lip when God is the one punishing you, and these Israelites hadn't had an easy time of it. In it's day, Israel was a powerhouse that no nation could stand against. A nation of immeasurable wealth. Now it was a bitter memory with starving citizens scattered among kingdoms that didn't want them.
What a lonely feeling, though. Even to call out to God, the writer felt that God marked his prayer "return to sender. II I can't imagine a more hopeless feeling than that. At least they knew that the Lord's love hadn't been completely tom away. This is shown with the comment that they hadn't been completely destroyed. They knew they were powerless to stem the tide that was rushing to them, but they knew that God wouldn't kill them to the last man. They also understood that they would be punished in full before their exile was completed
I love this response, though: Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. They knew they were in violation of His decrees, and only needed to confirm that to themselves. People, in general, are not good at accepting blame.
Today's reading is found in Lamentations 5, Obadiah 1, 2 Kings 25:22-26 and Jeremiah 40:7-41:18.
Here are more examples of how tough it was. They had enjoyed virtually free necessities before. Wood for burning was abundant and water for drinking was plentiful. Now they paid dearly for these. The people were complaining here of having to pay for the sins of their parents, but honestly, they were old enough to be every bit as guilty as their parents.
Today's reading is found in Jeremiah 42-44 and Ezekiel 33:21-33.
A week and a half is not a whole lot of time, you know. Apparently, though, the Jews only needed that much time to change their minds from following God's wishes. They developed an accusing tone and expressed their resolve to walk in the exact opposite direction from God's wishes. In Egypt, It was foretold that Babylon would overrun the nation and Nebuchadnezzar would rule there. If I were Pharaoh, I would have expelled all of the Jews from my borders immediately. It wouldn't have done any good, but for these people to have been warned of what terror would follow them into another country that they had worked with before, and then still go there is irresponsible.
The Jews argued with Jeremiah about this point and said that they would continue to worship false gods, as everything went well when they did this before. Umm. Sure. If you want to call the times they were invaded by different kingdoms, only to be rescued after years of slavery (when they turned back to the Lord) a time when everything's just fine. That was enough to enrage God. He swore by His name that none of these people would ever be allowed to invoke his name again. That is a definite sign of finality. He wouldn't call on them. They couldn't call on Him. That's the ultimate restraining order set by the highest judge in the land.
Today's reading is found in Ezekiel 34-36.
In those days, a shepherd had quite a bit of responsibility to care for the flock. Even an excellent shepherd may only bring half of the flock home after a long grazing journey, but they knew their role as protector and took it seriously. That's not the case of the shepherds of the Jewish flock of Israel. They didn't care what the flock did and let them stray until they were all snatched up by the predatory evils that were in the world.
So, what does a good owner do when the shepherds fail him? He goes out and does the work for them right after sending them to the unemployment line (you get the idea). He finds his lost sheep and gathers them again. He cares for them even more lovingly than the shepherds were expected to do. And then comes the new shepherd... David. Let us not forget that Jesus was of the house and lineage of David as we read this. We are the chosen people that the Good Shepherd will care for! That is a blessing that nobody could deny.
Today's reading is found in Ezekiel 37-39 and Ezekiel 32:1-16.
In the midst of all of the suffering of the Jews, this vision must have seemed very unlikely in its symbolism. The revival of the dead bones is a sign that Israel would be revived and restored and the two kingdoms of Israel would be united under David. This revival would not go unnoticed or unchallenged, but God would fight for them so they could just worry about the cleaning up after it is all over. With this resounding victory, Israel would be virtually untouched from that moment on.
Today's reading is found in Ezekiel 32:17-33:20, Jeremiah 52:28-30, Psalm 137 and 1 Chronicles 4:24-5:17.
Ezekiel was once again given the role of a watchman. Once again, he was to look for dangers to the people and warn them, lest the disaster be on his head. He did a fine job of it before, but the warned people didn't respond. He must have felt bad for this, but it couldn't be his fault.
The fairness of God in all of this is astounding. I also see more proof of God accepting all people into His fold, rather than just Israel. All people would be judged by their own hearts. The wicked could change their ways and be as good as any and those who were righteous could change at their peril, but the choice is always theirs. That's why a watchman is needed. Without someone to warn you that your actions are dangerous, most people will continue to do evil, despite what they know the outcome must be. In this sense, remember, God didn't even have to declare a watchman, for the people had His expectations in writing for generations.
Today's reading is found in 1 Chronicles 5:18-26, 1 Chronicles 6:3, 1 Chronicles 6:49, 1 Chronicles 6:4-15 and 1 Chronicles 7:1-8:28.
This reading is mostly about the genealogy. In the beginning of the verses, though, it is mentioned that an army of Jews still had God on their side. Why? Because they trusted in Him. This story wasn't even a blip on the biblical lessons that I ever had as a child, but I believe it is an important reminder.
Our country is not the God fearing nation it once was. God is being chased out of our schools and every other part of public life at alarming rates. This makes room for other things that ought not be accepted. Same-sex marriage, an embrace of homosexuality and other alarming elements are being welcomed to this country with opened arms, all in the name of tolerance. We are told to tolerate abortion, but the word of God is not to be tolerated at all. Scary, huh?
This moral of this story is to stick to your guns, no matter what. Are you prepared to accept the intolerance of others? Are they prepared to tolerate your intolerance of what they represent?
Weekly LinkCharles Spurgeon was a great preacher whose writings are just as powerful today as they were 150 years ago. There are no recordings of the man behind the pulpit, there is only the written word, but that doesn't keep the fire from his words from burning brightly! In this site is a section of verse by verse commentaries of many of the Psalms that put my words to shame! And when Spurgeon describes the detail of God's sovereignty to the degree that man is able to do so, you will be in awe of what it means to say that the Lord is in control of every situation. From the site: |
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Thanks for sharing my goal of reading the Bible in its entirety this year!