TO KNOW CHRIST AND TO MAKE HIM KNOWN

TO KNOW CHRIST AND TO MAKE HIM KNOWN

Friday, July 18, 2025

God is always right and, therefore, He is always good.

 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, "Where is your God?" These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.

Psalm 42:1-4 (ESV)
 
What will it take to get you to the point where you "thirst" for God? How precious it would be for a man to thirst for God without going through impossible and tragic times.
 
Yet, often, life's disasters bring the most precious truths to the surface, and allow us, once again, or for the first time, to revel in what is rather than in what is perceived.
 
God is always right and, therefore, He is always good. The sooner we recognize this, the sooner we can enjoy life.

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Living In Reality

 

"O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather! Psalm 39:4-6 (ESV)
 
Proper perspective is critical to experiencing a significant and secure life. There is a God; I am not Him. God loves me, which means I have a choice. God has a plan; I need to discover that plan and adjust my life to it.
 
Those who live in reality have a real chance of living significant lives because of what God will accomplish through them. Those who lack perspective cannot be significant.
 
As I get older, this passage makes more sense. I see how fast life moves and how futile it is to live for the moment.

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

My Ways Can Be His Ways

 The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand. I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing.

Psalm 37:23-26 (ESV Strong's)
 
When I listen to God, my ways are His, and there is no way for His ways to fail. Therefore, there is no way for me to fail when I listen to Him. We may not always understand, but we can always obey, and obedience is far more important than understanding. Wonderfully, God eclipses life's obstacles and allows us to overcome them instead of succumbing to them.
 

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

The Meek

 But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.

Psalm 37:11 (ESV)
 
The meek are those who are humble and who do not think that the world revolves around them. These are those who have placed themselves in the correct position of created ones, not creator ones.
 
The meek see the world clearly. They understand that God always was, is, and will be, and that they once were not. The meek, not the strong, are the heroes of the faith, and the strong are the losers. The meek have no one and nothing to depend on but God. The strong have a temptation to trust their perceived strength.
 
The meek delight in God, and the strong put up with Him. The meek revel in God's Word, are intentional about spending time with Him, and desire nothing more than to give Him a vessel in which to demonstrate His power, love, and plans.
 
The meek are commended in Psalm 37 and by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. The meek are God's people doing life God's way.
 

Monday, July 14, 2025

Anger leads to evil.

 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

Psalm 37:8-9 (ESV)
 
Being angry is best left to those who are perfect and can use their anger to benefit those with whom they are angry. My anger does not achieve much good. It makes me tense, causes grief, and makes many not want to be around me. Often, it is motivated by my self-centered worldview, and aimed at those who do not acknowledge that the world revolves around me (at least my world).
 
James tells us that man's anger does not produce God's righteousness. It produces many words that one regrets uttering, many gestures one regrets giving, and many situations in which one regrets being placed.
 
Anger leads to evil, and evil doers are cut off from the life that God has for them now and in eternity. Anger is the fruit of the tree of self-centeredness, and it needs to be dealt with swiftly before the generation consumes its fruit to come.

Friday, July 11, 2025

Stillness

 

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
Psalm 37:7 (ESV)
 
Be still has no hidden meaning. It means be still. Those who are not still before God will fret over the circumstances of this life. Meaningful relationships require "still time."
 
Being still implies both listening and, as mentioned in the verse, waiting patiently. God's timing is not always evident, but He will always work things out, in the end, the way it should be for those who love Him.
 
Loving God is defined as doing what God says. This is a unique response to God because God is always right. Loving each other means to do whatever is "best" for the other person. This changes because we change.
 
That is why, the wise are those who are "still" before God then active carrying out His orders. This is perhaps, most appropriate in prayer. Constantly telling God what to do is not wise, but sitting and pondering what God is doing and saying is quite valuable. Be still…..
 

Thursday, July 10, 2025

Commitment

 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.

Psalm 37:5-6 (ESV)
 
We are to check our ways and ensure that they align with God's ways, even when we do not understand or agree with God. Committing our way is just that; those who commit need to trust.
God has never and will never give us a reason to doubt Him, even though we have given Him multiple reasons to doubt us. As we commit our way to Him, our righteousness (our doing what is right) and our justice will eventually be evident.
 
Commitment is the foundation of a solid relationship. One does not have a solid relationship, and then a commitment, but is committed and gains a meaningful relationship.
 
Those who mess up the order mess up the relationship. It should be easy to commit to a perfect God unless we think He is not perfect, in which case we will be proven wrong.