He Knows 

2 Chronicles 6:30 “Then hear Thou from heaven  Thy dwelling place,  and forgive,  and render unto every man according unto all his ways,  whose heart Thou knowest;  (for Thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men;)“

He knows us;  will we seek Him out in all our ways?

As Christians, we should grab  a hold of all of God’s Words to us;  of what He will do for us.   That He knows us, our feelings, our troubles, our situation, our plans;  should be a fortress around us.  

Psalm 44:21 “Shall not God search this out?  For He knoweth the secrets of the heart.”

He Knows.

Nahum 1:7 “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him.”

2 Peter 2:9 “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations,….”

God knows everything about us.  How great a comfort this would be, if we let it.

Job 23:10 “But He knoweth the way that I take:  when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”

This says that the trials that come to us, are allowed by His hand, to bring us closer to Him.

If they are from our own folly and sin;  then they are to bring us back to Him, and to His care.

Psalm 41:4 “I said,  Lord, be merciful unto me:  heal my soul;  for I have sinned against Thee.”

If they are sent from Him as a hurtle in our way;  then He wants to show us, that He will supply the ability to jump it. 

Psalm 18:29-30 “For by Thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.

                               As for God, His way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried (tried and proved):  He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him.”

But in some trials,  He knows also how much we can grow,  now:  so….

Psalm 103:14 “ For He knoweth our frame;  He remembereth that we are dust.”

John 16:12 “I have yet many things to say unto you (His disciples),  but ye cannot bear them now.”

God knows, and He helps us to know ourselves:

Psalm 139:1-4 “O Lord,  Thou hast searched me, and known me.

                            Thou knowest my downsittings and my uprising,  Thou understandest my thought afar off.

                             Thou compasseth my path and my lying down,  and art acquainted with all my ways.

                              For there is not a word in my tongue,  but, lo,  O Lord,  Thou knowest it altogether.”

The psalmist saw that God knew, and saw everything about him!  It was a comfort that God saw him even in the womb, and every time since.  

Since God knew him;  he understood that God would not lose him in the crowd.  God would not forget him.   

God would not leave him, even because of his sin;  but lead him like a child with His hand:

Psalm 139:10 “Even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.”

 And so he praised Him for His thoughts of him:

Psalm 139:17 “How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me,  O God!  How great is the sum of them!”

God knows us, what we need (both spiritually and physically), and the way we will grow closer to Him (for each of us there is a way.  Some need more attention here,  and others need more attention there.  Each child of God is seen to according to that need).

This should be a safe place to rest, in every situation:  I may not know;  but God does…and He will surely lead me on.

Luke 12:30-32 “For all these things do the nations of the world seek after:  and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.

                             But rather seek ye the kingdom of God;  and all these things shall be added unto you.

                              Fear not,  little flock;  for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

Let us seek to Him, that knows;  and rest in His will and word.

To Count the Cost

Luke 14:28 “For which of you, intending to build a tower,   sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?”

Luke 14:31 “Or what king, going to make war against another king,  sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?”

The Lord told His disciples that they were to count the cost of service, and following Him.

He gave two examples;  and one of building, and one of warfare.

We are to do both.

If we follow Christ, we will be in a battle against the wiles of the Devil.  The Adversary will seek to dissuade us, by fear.  Or seek to hinder and destroy our peace,  if we stand with Christ.

If we follow Christ, we are to build.  First we are to build our house upon the Rock of Christ and His Word.

Then we are to add to the building of the Church.  From the foundation to the roof,  we are to build up His Church, by edification (teaching); exhortation (to wake up) and comfort.

1 Corinthians 3:10 “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, another buildeth thereon.  But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.”

We are to count the cost, because to stand with Jesus in this world, will cause you to be mocked, hated, ridiculed, and left out of, a lot of what the world has.

You sit down and count the cost.  And He says to do it first.   

To run after Christ emotionally,  will play out.   (Emotions do)

To run after Christ mentally, will lead you to reasons, and when reasons run out, so do you.

To run after Christ willfully, will lead you to count the cost for yourself, and choose.

Christ wants you to run after Him willfully;  eyes wide open,  to what is ahead.

He has a great life for all who follow Him;  here:  peace, and joy in Christ Jesus, even amid the trouble this life gives (and He always tells His disciples that there  will be trouble).  

There, in Heaven: face to face with Christ;  which makes heaven, heaven.

Luke 14:33 “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”

“Forsaketh” here means to bid adieu, to depart from, to leave.

We are to count the cost of giving up all that we have, for the life Christ has for us.

This is not saying that He will require all things;  He certainly will require you to give up sin, and anything which leads to it.

But, you need to count the cost, as He says.

That way you know, if there is something in your life that you will refuse to give up, even for Christ’s sake.

That is what counting the cost means.   Christ requires of His servants, that they should obey Him, and His words to Him.   It costs everyone the same amount: everything.

Jesus did not seek to persuade men to follow Him with false promises.

He spoke plainly, that to follow Him was the most costly of decisions.

Luke 14:25-26 “And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,

If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters,  yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”

Multitudes were following Christ,  but instead of encouraging them,  He put a hurtle in front of them.

Why?  Because to follow Christ for any other reason but love for Him,  will not stand the test of time, of battle, of worldly affections.

But love for Christ will follow on.  Maybe slowly here, and faster in other circumstances.  With failings and triumphs; our life with Christ, in love,  moves ever forward.

“To follow Me means that the emotions you feel for everything else, even yourself,  will be like hatred in comparison to the love you have to Me.”

Are you a disciple of Christ Jesus?   Have you counted the cost?

Forgive me, O Lord, and Restore a Right Spirit within Me.

In Psalm 51, David pours out his heart to God for forgiveness.

He had sinned terribly, by adultery; and then, the fixed murder of the woman’s husband.

Worse, he had refused to seek forgiveness for it,  trying to hide it;  until God sent someone to show him that God knew, and was very displeased.

Sin is rebellion against God.  It is seeking my will over His Will;  seeking to have me as ruler of my life, even in just this one thing.

This is what happened to David.  It started innocently enough.  He had been home from the war with the Ammonites.   And he wanted to stay home;  to have a little more rest and relaxation than God wanted.  It was the time for kings to go out to war, and he should have been at the head of his army.

2 Samuel 11:1 “And it came to pass,  after the year was expired,  at the time when kings go forth to battle,  that David sent Joab,  and his servants with him,  and all Israel;  and they destroyed the children of Ammon,  and besieged Rabbah.    But David tarried still at Jerusalem.”

But instead, he stayed in Jerusalem, and “took time off”.   He was sleeping all day, and got up;  and went on top of the roof of his house, when he saw Bathsheba.

If he had been at the battle, all the other things would not have happened.

He first lusted after a little more rest. (Was his army “resting”?  Did he think because he was king, he could skip his duty?)

Then he lusted after a woman.   And when lust was conceived:  sin.

Instead of setting it right,  he continued in it for months;  for Bathsheba told him she was “with child”.

Then, came the choice of a lifetime.   David comes up with the plan to dupe her husband into thinking the child was his.

This did not work, so he plans it, that the husband would be killed by the enemy.

2 Samuel 11:15 “And he wrote in the letter,  saying,  Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle,  and retire ye from him,  that he may be smitten,  and die.”

David, even now was not repentant.   

You wonder how a man so close to God, could be so overcome with sin!   But, the truth is, we underestimate the power sin has on our life.  It’s power grows as we refuse to deal with it.   Had David stopped, and sought forgiveness after the first sin with Bathsheba;  God’s power would have easily overcome the power of the lust; and saved him from continuing on to deceit, and murder.  (2 Samuel 12:9)

He went on, till God had to send someone to him.  First the rebuke, then the chastening.

David was forgiven;  but suffered by illness, and rebellion in his children because of his sin.  He was not paying for his sins;  but reaping what he had sown.

Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived;  God is not mocked:  for whatsoever a man soweth,  that shall he also reap.”

Though David sinned terribly,  yet he repented greatly.    True repentance comes, as we come to God, without merit of any kind from ourselves,  to get an answer from God,  Himself.   Not to just be satisfied with the seeking of forgiveness;  but the word of forgiveness from God,  personally.

Psalm 51:1-2 “Have mercy upon me,  O God,  according to thy loving kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

Wash me throughly from mine iniquity,  and cleanse me from my sin.”

David calls upon God for mercy.   Mercy presupposes sin.  And David had sinned.  And he knew it.  He had known within his heart for months, and he had known it by the word of the Lord through His servant.  The rebuke brought about the right results.  He sought for spiritual mercy.

It is the benevolence and kindness of God to a sinner,  who seeks forgiveness, and salvation from their sins.

In God’s mercy, was his only hope, and so David’s faith reached out to that character of God, and cries for God’s mercy.   It is only in God himself that the wiping away of sin could be found.  (For the promise of the coming Messiah, who would bring victory over sin, and sin’s consequences, was known.  And all who trusted in God, looked forward to Him.)

David could do nothing.  There was no sacrifice for the sin he had committed, “else he would give it” 

Psalm 51:16 “For thou desirest not sacrifice;  else would I give it:  thou delightest not in burnt offerings.”

The mercy he asks of God was “according to his loving kindness”; according to the character of God. 

He did not know whether God would hear his cry;   for David had turned a deaf ear to God.

He wasn’t asking because he had earned it, even with the repentance.

He was asking God to do according as His character was.

And David spoke plainly concerning his sin.

“Blot out my transgressions”, or “revoltings”.   These acts he had committed were not “slips”,  or just defective obedience.   No, they were acts of rebellion against God.

David had revolted against God’s rule in his life, and wanted to do his own will.  

His actions were great perversity;  the twisting of God’s grace into sin.   

God had given David the kingdom, and great help in all that he had done; and with God looking on, David had misused the grace, and despised His goodness.

What would God do with him?

He wanted forgiveness;  he would not be able to come before God without it;  but he wanted complete removal of all this defilement within.

To be throughly washed from his the mass of his filthiness, and iniquity!

Here is a way we can all test ourselves and “our repentance”.

Are we content if we just ask for forgiveness, and not to seek cleansing?

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins,  he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,  and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

It is forgiveness and cleansing.

God had sent a man to rebuke him.  This was a great grace, not to let him continue in his rebellion.

God had made David willing to confess, so he asks God to finish the work of grace within him.  To forgive and cleanse him.

Psalm 51:9-10 “Hide thy face from my sins,  and blot out all mine iniquities. 

Create in me a clean heart,  O God;  and renew a right spirit within me.”

God’s “hiding” His face from our sins, is putting them away. (Psalm 103:12)

So David prays for a new life.

“Create in me a clean heart”  cries out for a new heart within him.   David realizes that he will revolt again, if God does not give him clean affections.   And God needs to create them within him.   

Give me a submissive heart, and make me steadfast to You.

Psalm 51:11-12 “Cast me not away from thy presence,  and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;  and up hold me with thy free spirit.”

Do not leave me to my own way.

Do not throw me away; or take away Your Holy Spirit from me.

David had know the joy of God in His life, and he prayed that it would be restored.

And that he would be kept (“lead me not into temptation, and deliver me from evil”, as the Lord Jesus taught us to pray.  Matthew 6:13) from falling into evil again.

To be free from sin is true freedom indeed.

Sin is the worst bondage.

Though some call it “freedom”;  it enslaves, by a constant growing desire for “more, more, more”.

With each step forward, the slave is “unknowingly” sinking.  As quicksand does not suck the victim in immediately, but slowly brings him down, till the mire covers his head in death;  so sin does the same.

Only God can free us from sin.  

First, He brings us to repentance:  a “repentance not to be repented of”.

2 Corinthians 7:10 “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of:  but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”

Do we want to be free from our sin,  or just the consequences of it? 

Second, He leads us to Christ.  

John 1:12 “But as many as received him,  to them gave he power to become the sons of God,  even to them that believe on his name:”

Third, He leads us in the desire for true liberty of Spirit,  which is the freeing us of the power of sin over us.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

But we all,  with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,  are changed into the same image from glory to glory,  even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

David’s faith in God,  lead him to cry to God, for this forgiveness and cleansing.

The desire to be able to worship, and come near God again.

Is this what we want, as well?

Christ’s Sacrifice is able to cleanse us from all sin.

Will we seek it from Him?

The Calling of Matthew

Matthew 9:9 “And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew,   sitting at the receipt of custom:  and he saith unto him,   Follow me.  And he arose and followed him.” 

Matthew was a publican, or tax collector.  These men were hated of their own nation, because they worked for the Romans.

They were also often corrupt, and took more than they were suppose to, or stole from their own people.

But Jesus passed that way, and did something others would not (unless it was in cursing).  He spoke to Matthew.

And called him to follow Him as one of His disciples.

By this time He had called the fishermen,  Peter, James, and John.

He had preached the sermon on the mount;   and a conversation with the scribes, and Pharisees, had been started.

This conversation was about His authority.  

Did He have the authority from God to do what He was doing:  healing the sick,  forgiving sins,  and calling disciples?

Many people were interested in His authority;  not to submit to it,  but  to prove it wrong, so they could go on in their own way.

(And this is what Jesus came to save his people out of:  

Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray;    we have turned everyone to his own way;  and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”)

So the Pharisees and scribes  every opportunity to question His actions,  and His words.    If they could just prove Him wrong,  then that would prove themselves right.  Right?

(Of course, it would not;  but sin makes us believe a lie.   How much we need a Savior from it!)

Matthew 9:10 “And it came to pass,  as Jesus sat at meat in the house (of Matthew),  behold,  many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.”

After his call to follow Jesus,  Matthew invites Him into his home.  Anxious to have others of his acquaintance, know Jesus,  he has a supper for Him, and invites many.

(Perhaps Matthew was going to give his testimony about how Jesus had called him, and how he knew that it was a call from God;  and he had answered it.   

They would not see him at the receipt of customs any more, for he knew that Jesus was from God, and he would leave all and follow Him.)

Matthew 9:11-13 “And when the Pharisees saw it,  they said unto his disciples,  Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?

                               And when Jesus heard that,  he said unto them,  They that be whole need not a physician,  but they that are sick.

                               But go ye and learn what that meaneth,     I will have mercy,  and not sacrifice:    for I am not come to call the righteous,  but sinners to repentance.”

Jesus is quoting what God has told His people in the Old Testament.  Verses that set forth what God wanted from His people:

Hosea 6:6   “For I desired mercy,  and not sacrifice,  and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”

Micah 6:8   “He hath showed thee,  O man,  what is good;  and what doth the Lord require of thee,  but to do justly,  and to have mercy,  and walk humbly with thy God?”

God wanted His people to love Him, and each other.   The sacrifices, set forth the means of coming close to God because of sin,  and in fellowship.

But they were to be given, along with the inward love of their hearts;  not just in outward show.

“Mercy”,  here, means brotherly kindness.  They were always to be helping each other, as brothers.  They were to be seeing to their well fare.  

And what better way to give mercy to another,  than to introduce them to Jesus?

Jesus then rebukes these Pharisees,  by saying what His work, as the Son of God is:

“…for I am not come to call the righteous,” 

For if they were truly righteous, they would know that I am the Son of God, when they hear Me;  or hear of My works.

“…but (to call) sinners to repentance.”    

That is what this supper was about.  To introduce Matthew’s Master to Matthew’s friends.   

Yes, they were publicans and sinners.  

But they,  like Matthew,  needed to hear and see Jesus.

Matthew loved his friends,  so he wanted them to know Him,  who was the Savior.

This is true love.

Jesus said later:

John 13:35 “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples,  if ye have love one for another.”

Surely the Pharisees knew that Matthew was now a disciple of Jesus.   

How many believed on Jesus because of this supper, it does not say.  But love was present;  even for the Pharisees,  if they would receive it, and receive Jesus.

To “receive” Jesus, is to let Him come in as Master;  into our hearts, and lives.(John 1:12)

Matthew certainly did this,  for he manifested the greatest calling of a disciple:  mercy and love.

Have you Heard the Lord call you?

Song of Solomon 5:2 ” I sleep, but my heart waketh:  it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh,  saying,  Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled:  for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.”

This is a story of a believer, who has gone to sleep.   But she hears the voice of her Lord, in her heart, and she awakes.

So far, so good.

Then with her understanding, she hears Him call to her to open to Him.

This opening up of her life,  is different than the Salvation she has already experienced.      For He calls her, His sister;  being joint-heirs with Christ.

Romans 8:16-17 “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit,  that we are the children of God:

And if children, then heirs;  heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”

This calling is to His love, for she has had fellowship with the Lord;   and has gone on in that fellowship to be called  His dove.

Now a dove can see only one thing at a time, and this has been her experience in Christ;  keeping her eyes on Him.

Song of Solomon 1:15 “Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves eyes.”

Matthew 6:22 “The light of the body is the eye:  if therefore thine eye be single,  thy whole body  shall be full of light.”

This calling is a deeper calling,  for He calls her His undefiled.   This shows that in that love relationship, she has gone on with Him;  so she is being saved from the defilements of the world,  and self.

1 John 2:15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.  If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

For all that is in the world,  the lust of the flesh,   and the lust of the eyes,   and the pride of life,  is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

And so Jesus calls her,  as the One who sweat great drops of blood in the garden (Luke 22:44);  putting aside everything, that He might fulfill His work, and save us.

But there seems to be a hinderance.

Song of Solomon 5:3 “I have put off my coat;  how shall I put it on?   I have washed my  feet;  how shall I defile them?”

It would seem that having experienced so much of Her Lord, she has become a little proud. (Remember, one of the things the Lord deals with His own about is the “pride of life”)

I have put off my coat;  simply means she had begun to put off the old man with it’s deeds.

Colossians 3:9 “Lie not one to another, seeing ye have put off the old man with his deeds;”

Was she now to be defiled by working in the world?

I have washed my feet.  All her sins were confessed, up to date.  And she had been cleansed from them.   If she ventures out into the world to work for Jesus, won’t she again be contaminated by it?

These might have been very good questions,  if  Jesus were not the One calling her to go out with Him, to the work of bringing souls to Christ.

Song of Solomon 5:4-5 “My beloved put his hand by the hole of the door,  and my bowels were moved for him.

I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh,  and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh,   upon the handles of the lock.”

The ancient doors used to have holes in them by the handle, so that when someone dear would come, they would put perfume (myrrh) on the inside of the door handle, to show they had been there.

Though she had hesitated to go further with the Lord, for what she thought were good reasons;  still she loves Him and is moved to go and open her hearts door again to His  Call.    When she does, her hands drip with the perfume of myrrh.

Myrrh was used to anoint the bodies of the dead, before burial.

So Jesus Christ is calling this loved one to go with Him into the experience of intercession, and travail for those He wants saved;  and for those who are babes in Christ, to grow up in Him.

Often, this is a hard work, for it recognizes our imperfections, as well as those of others.   Also, it is a long work;  it is not done in a day, or even a week;  but till Christ be formed in them.

Galatians 4:19 “My little children,  of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,”

But she had opened,     but she found Him gone.

Christ never retracts a calling;  but He often withdraws the feeling of His presence, to prove us.

Will we become angry?

Or will be seek Him?

Song of Solomon 5:6 “I opened to my beloved;  but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone:  my soul failed when he spake:  I sought him,  but I could not find him;  I called him, but he gave me no answer:”

She seeks Him.  She sought Christ Jesus in the usual means, hoping to find Him there.

She calls to Him to speak to her again, but it seemed as if He was refusing to call again.

She had come so far with Him,  and now she had failed Him, the dearest Friend she had ever had.   She wanted to go back to the way things were….but the call had come, and she was either going to seek till she did find,  or  yield to the pride she had shown earlier.

What follows is a conversation between her, and those who would seek Him also.

“What is thy beloved more that another beloved?”  They ask.

Then she describes His  Greatness,  His strength in times of her weakness, and that He is the altogether lovely One to her.

Song of Solomon 5:16 “His mouth is most sweet:  yea,  he is altogether lovely.  This is my beloved,  and  this is my friend,  O daughters of Jerusalem.”

When she describes Him,  she realizes that He has never left her,  but proved her love to Him.   

Did she love Him?   Or His gifts?

She loved Him,  and found Him.  They were united in the work as well as in life. 

Theirs was a love relationship;   And true love follows to the end for the Loved One.

Have you heard the Lord call you?    Perhaps you have hesitated, too.   Listen to the love in your heart for Jesus, and answer His call.    

Jeremiah  29:13 “And ye shall seek me,  and find me,  when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

His,  is an everlasting love, for us.

 Perfection for a Christian

Hebrews 13: 20-21. “Now the God of Peace,  that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,  that great shepherd of the sheep,  through the blood of the everlasting covenant.

                                     Make you perfect in every good work to do his will,  working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight,  through Jesus Christ;  to whom be glory forever and ever.  Amen.”

Only God is Divine, and Sinless.  

But He calls us to be perfect,  which in the Bible means that we are to attain to that which you were brought into being for.

We are to fulfill the Purpose of God for our lives.

How can this be done?

“..through the blood of the everlasting covenant.”

Or  “…through Jesus Christ;..”

You see, God made a covenant with His Son Jesus Christ, before He created the earth.  

It basically was a promise on both sides,  which said:

God, the Son would become the Man Christ Jesus and come to earth, live a perfect and sinless life, and then die on the cross;  taking all our sins on Him.

So that whosoever would come to Him and be saved from their sin,  could be saved.

God, the Father would raise up Jesus from the dead, in the tomb.  He would reward His Son with a people that would love Him.   God the Father would draw them to Christ, and take them home to heaven when they died.

When we are saved,  Jesus becomes our Shepherd.  And by His guidance and strength;  we are lead through this life.  He makes us perfect by leading us in and out of many situations where we are to help, pray,  speak about Him,  or lend a hand.

When we follow Him, and are obedient to what He wants us to do,  then we have attained to the Purpose for which He created us.

This is Bible perfection for a Christian.  To see all the “good works” done.

I have “good works” in quotes, because there are so many ideas about the words. 

When the Bible speaks of good works,  it means anything the Lord wants you to do.    Whether that is a lot or a little,  what ever His will is,  is good.

And Jesus never leaves us.   He has sent His Holy Spirit within each Christian to encourage them,  strengthen them, and guide them into the life He has for each of them.

Let us follow on to perfection:  to do God’s Purpose for our lives,  everyday with Him.

The Rock of our Foundation

Matthew 7:24-25 “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine,  and doeth them,  I will liken him unto a wise man,  which built his house upon a rock:

                                 And the rain descended,  and the floods came,  and the wind blew, and beat upon the house;  and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock.”

Ephesians 2:21-22 “In Whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple unto the Lord: 

                                   In Whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.”

A building is laid on the foundation and attached to that foundation;  then built on that attachment.

As Christians, when we are born again,  we choose to build our “home” on the Foundation of Christ, as our Rock.

But we are attached to that Rock by faith, and love.   We build on that.

Our “home” here, in this world, is the life we dedicate to Christ Jesus.  We persevere to the end of our life in obedience to Him by exercising our wills to do His Will.

Then we are building our homes on Christ.  This is to get for ourselves, all the spiritual blessings Christ has won for us.

Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:”

This we do when we will to let Christ reign within us.  The channel for blessing is open,  nothing hinders it.

So let us look at our building, and see how our building stands:

Is it straight?

Have we progressed in the straight and narrow way of God, through His Word?  Or have we settled unevenly?  

Is our faith giving in to doubt?  Or our love turning cold?

All houses settle; in fact it is a good thing, if it settles together.  

It actually firms up the house on it’s foundation.

But a house, when it settles unevenly,  is (just a little) down on one side, and straight on the other.    Doorways are affected, strength is lessened.

It is not a “bid deal”,  but it is not as it should be.

Sometimes, it is not the winds or storms which hinder our building on Christ;  but weariness in well doing, and discontent.

We feel we are not getting “ahead” like we should.  

(often this is caused by looking at others, and what we think is happening to them;   Instead of looking to Jesus. Hebrews 12:2)

But where has the imbalance come from?

Often is comes from focusing too much on the present or the future:

When you get to focusing on the present [let’s face it,  things happen that gets us “out of sort” with what we intended to happen.], and forget that there is a goal to reach out for,  we need to heed Paul’s exhortation:

Philippians 3:13-14 “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:  but this one thing I do,  forgetting those things which are behind,  and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 

                                    I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

For you see, it is always how we deal with what happens that makes the difference:  going to God for help with it,  or struggling through yourself.

When you get to focusing on the future [the someday things will be great], and forget to see the work done for now,  we need to:

2 Timothy 1:6-7 “Wherefore I put thee in remembrance,  that thou stir up the gift of God,  which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

                               For God hath not given us a spirit of fear;  but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind [or disciplined mind].”

Hebrews 10:35-36 “Cast not away therefore your confidence [boldness],  which hath great recompense of reward.

                                   For ye have need of patience,  that, after ye have done the will of God,  ye might receive the promise.”

Our lives are a “holy habitation” where the Holy Spirit abides with us.

We  are to face each day with Him,  as another chance to “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, praise His holy name.” (Psalm 103:1)

It is when our joy gets silenced, by doubt, hesitation, anger, guilt, or worldliness;  then the praise becomes just words. 

Then our peace is attacked…for we feel like God has moved;  when it is actually us.

[you see how our building does not settle evenly]

Christ, as our Foundation, our Rock does not move.  We often do.

It is how we deal with that movement;  Who do we cling to, in obedience, that makes the difference.

Are You Listening?

Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door,  and knock:  if any man hear My voice,  and open the door,  I will come into him, and will sup with him,  and he with Me.”

If any man (person) hear My Voice.

Are we hearing what Jesus is saying to us? Each day?

Jesus said:

Luke 8:18 “Take heed therefore how ye hear:  for whosoever hath,  to him shall be given;  and to whosoever hath not,  from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.”

Take heed how ye hear.  If we have been born again,  then we,  as His children are to hear what He is telling us:  in this set of circumstances [sometimes this is the only way He gets through to us],  by His Holy Spirit through the Word, or by direct communication in our spirits.

He speaks to us.

The promise here is:  If you have the Holy Spirit within you,  and have heard Him;  more will be given you.  More light, more ability, more knowledge, more everything we need.

And this is because we hear Him. 

But the promise also says:  If you are one who has heard the invitation of Christ Jesus,  and answered it with all the right words.  

But it has been just that, an answer of words;  not an answer of a life open to and receptive to Christ.

Then that which he “seems to have”, he does not.

[Not that that person can not be saved by opening their heart to Jesus Christ, but that they, have not as yet been.]

Remember,  when Jesus Christ saves a life,  He claims that life.

He will not be used as a “fire escape” from Hell;    but He is a Savior, from sin.

Matthew 1:21 “And she shall bring forth a son,  and thou shalt call His name Jesus:  for He shall save His people from their sins.”

Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  

When we are saved;  from that time on we are bought with a price and no longer our own.  

Luke 8:16 “No man,  when he hath lighteth a candle,  cover it with a vessel,  or putteth it under a bed;  but setteth it on a candlestick,  that they which enter in may see the light.”

This is what we are to do with what we hear:  light a candle.   

By our obedience to what Jesus says,  we are manifesting Him in this lost world.  We are lighting a candle.

It is amazing when you go into a dark room…really dark.  Blackness seems to surround you.   Then to light a candle, there, will make the darkness flee.

True the whole room will not be as light, as it is around the candle;  but it will force the darkness into the corners, away from the light….even a small one, like a candle.

Raise that lit candle up,  and more light will be shone around,  for you are not blocking the light, but it shines all around.

Amazing, right?   The Lord Jesus uses this example for that very reason:  a candle can bring a lot of light,  if it is placed where “they which enter in may see the light.”

In another place, Jesus accused the religious lawyers of hindering those which would “enter in” to the kingdom of God. (Luke 11:52)

Let us not do this.  Instead let us hear Him,  and recieve the light He gives by His Word, and Holy Spirit;  and then let us shine the light, by holding up Christ Jesus to others.

Ephesians 4:21 “If so be that ye have heard Him,  and have been taught by Him,  as the truth is in Jesus:”

Are we hearing Him?  Are we learning from what we have heard?   Are we holding on to it, and sharing Christ?

(Years (yes, lots of years) ago,  I was called to preach.  I had recently been brought back to God; my rebellion and sin forgiven, and taken care of.  I had started to go to church, and after a while I had been asked to sing a song for the church services.

I sang “Trust and Obey”.  

Well, I sang it, and sat down;  and the minister had his message.   Then the Lord Jesus called me to be a preacher!

I could not believe it;  me?  The way I had been?  This must be some mistake!

But the Lord spoke plainly to me:   “You sang it [Trust and Obey],  now, do it!”

So I went forward and committed my life to be a preacher of God’s Word.)

Jesus Christ always shows us the truth, for He is Truth.  And as we face the truth,  He gives us grace.   Grace is the unmerited favor of power: the power in our lives to do what He has said…to be obedient to all His words to us.

John 1:17 “For the law was given by Moses,  but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

Will we receive Christ Jesus as Savior of our sin?

Will we hear His voice, and learn of Him?

Will we answer His call to lift our lights, and shine them in this dark world?

Well, if we will,  He has everything we need.  He can tell us everything we need.  He is everything we need.  

Whom shall He teach knowledge?    

Isaiah 28:9-10 “ Whom shall He teach knowledge?  And whom shall He make to understand doctrine?  Them that are weaned from the milk,  and drawn from the breast.

                              For precept must be upon precept,  precept upon precept;  line upon line,  line upon line;  here a little, and there a little.”

If we would go on to maturity in the faith of Christ,  this is the way we will go.

1 Peter 2:2 “As newborn babes,  desire the sincere milk of the word,  that ye may grow thereby:”

The Lord Jesus would teach us knowledge:  about Himself,  and about ourselves (who can really see the way we are without His truth?), and about the world around us (the snares, and phonies there).

Teach means to point out;  like the Lord pointing His finger and saying,   “Look,  this is the way things really are.”

Psalm 32:8 “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go:  I will guide thee with mine eye.”

And the Lord “shall make us to understand doctrine”.  In other words,  what we hear, we will understand with our minds:  we will not be confused about what He is saying to us.  The Holy Spirit will give us understanding.

For precept must be upon precept;  line upon line.

[precepts in the Bible, are God’s prescriptions.  They are like medicine which He gives us for our spiritual health.  They may not taste good going down, but will make us well.]

Growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord is by steps.   Putting one foot in front of the other.   A little victory here,  a larger one next.     There are falls,  but He is ever ready to pick us up.

And at every forward step, He celebrates with us, giving us joy and peace;  giving us His grace for the next step.

We can go on till our affections have reached maturity.  For the walk of a Christian comes down to:   Lord,  what is next?

1 Corinthians 13:11 “When I was a child,  I spake as a child,  I understood as a child,  I thought as a child:  but when I became a man,  I put away childish things.”

Paul is talking about charity, or love here.  Putting away our natural anger, and jealousy, and fear;  we are to go on and yield to the love God puts in our hearts.   Love to Him and others.     The more we love Him, the more we trust and obey Him.

Obedience does not save us;  the Lord Jesus Christ does that.  But we will never know Him in power, till we obey Him.

1 John 3:18 “Little children,  let us not love in word,  neither in tongue;  but in deed and in truth.”

1 John 2:5 “But whoso keepeth His word,  in him verily is the love of God perfected:  hereby know we that we are in Him.”

We are to be children of light, and shine that light:

1 Thessalonians 5:5, 8 “Ye are all the children of light,  and the children of the day:  we are not of the night,  nor of darkness.

                                          But let us,  who are of the day,  be sober (serious about doing God’s Will),   putting on the breastplate of faith and of love;  and for a helmet,  the hope of salvation.”

The Lord teaches us little by little; pointing out to us:   the way to go,  how to use the means of grace He gives us,  and giving us His light and love all along the way with Him.

The Temptation of Christ Jesus 

Matthew 4:1 “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.”

Jesus was “led up of the Spirit”.   This temptation, then, was God’s Plan and Purpose for His Son.

He was in all points tempted, like as we are, the writer to the Hebrews revealed. (Hebrews 4:15)

So this temptation shows us how to act when we, too, are tempted.

First, notice that our hardest temptations come after we have gotten more Spiritual power and grace.   

Jesus had just been baptized by John the Baptist, and the Holy Spirit had come down upon Him without measure,  as He came up from the water.  A Voice had announced that Jesus was  God’s Beloved Son!  And that He was well pleasing in God’s sight!

But then He was tempted.

Matthew 4:2-4 “And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights,  he was afterward an hungered.

And when the tempter came to him,  he said,  If thou  be the Son of God,  command these stones to be made bread.

But he answered and said,    It is written,  Man shall not live be bread alone,  but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

Jesus was hungry.  He had been fasting for forty days, and nights;  so when He could, He wanted to break the fast by food.

But when tempted by the devil to change stones into bread, so He could satisfy His hunger,  and prove that He was the Son of God;  Jesus refused.

But He did not just say “No”,  but rebuked the suggestion by quoting “It is written”.

What the Scriptures say,  help us to live right, and know what to do.

The suggestion of the devil, was that because Jesus was the Son of God, He could do what ever He wanted,  have whatever He wanted,  whenever He wanted, by simply  commanding it to be so. 

Of course Jesus could,  but that was not why He became man.  It was ever to do the Father’s Will, that He came, and that was what He lived for and died by.

So should we do the Father’s Will for us.  It puts us in the wonderful position of being able to stand back from suggestions and plans, and seeking His Will in everything.

That puts temptations in a new light.  It is not:  “You want this, it is not too awful, why not do it?”

It is:  “Is this what the Lord would have me to do, now?”

Notice this first temptation was for bodily wants.

Matthew 4:5-7 “And the devil taketh him up into the holy city,  and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple.  

And saith unto him,  If thou be the Son of God,  cast thyself down:  for it is written,  He shall give his angels charge concerning thee:  and in their hands they shall bear thee up,  lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Jesus said unto him,  It is written again,  Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”

Jesus had quoted Scripture, so now the devil quotes it.  Again he says, “If thou be the Son of God”.

Here the temptation is for public announcement.  Cast yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple.  What a better way to prove the fact that You are the Son of God!  

And it is said in the Scriptures,  so God will have to do it.

Sneaky.  

For God would certainly do it, and those that saw it, might have been awed into following Jesus for awhile, because of it.  

But that is not true believing.  It would have been useless, for the heart will only follow what it loves.   

And awe is not love.

But Jesus refused it, for it was not the Father’s Way of announcement.  His Way was for Jesus to go about preaching, “the kingdom of heaven is at hand”.  He was to do good to all. (Matthew 4:17)

Certainly it was not as exciting as angels catching Him.   But it was what God wanted.

The devil’s suggestion was just tempting God; and Jesus refused it and quoted that Scripture:  “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”  

(To tempt God is to make  God prove Himself or His Word,  by demanding that He do something for us,  now.    Do this,  or we won’t trust You.)

This second temptation had been for Fame, and prestige.   He would be Famous,  everyone would know He was the Son of God!

How often we get trapped into “seeking” these.

Matthew 4:8-10 “Again,  the devil taketh him up unto an exceeding high mountain,  and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world,  and the glory of them:

And saith unto him;  All these things will I give thee,  if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

The saith Jesus unto him,  Get thee hence, Satan:  for it is written,   Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,  and him only shalt thou serve.”

Some say that the devil had no right to offer the kingdoms of the world,  but he is the prince of this world:

Luke 4:5-7 “And the devil,  taking him up into a high mountain,  showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

And the devil said unto him,  All this power will I give thee,  and the glory of them:  for it is delivered unto me;  and whomsoever I will give it.

If thou therefore wilt worship me,  all shall be thine.”

The temptation here is:  Forget the path to the cross.   If You will fall down and worship me, You can have all the kingdoms and the power of them…now;  without the suffering and  shameful death of the cross.

This was the devil’s attempt to destroy Who Jesus was:   “I will  give you all I have, to make God finally submit to me, in the person of His Son.”

Of course Jesus refused this:

But after this final suggestion,  Jesus commands the devil to depart;  quoting the verse, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”

Jesus would do all the Father’s Will.   And He was confident that those kingdoms would be His,  God’s Way; and that was through the suffering of the cross, to resurrection and glory.

The third temptation was for personal power, and glory; without suffering.

And does not the devil tempt us in the same ways:

1)See to your needs  first.  Yes, your a Christian, but God has not “forbidden” you to do this,  so He probably doesn’t care.  Big temptation.

2)If you are going to have a ministry for God,  make it flashy.   People will remember you.  They will admire you.  They will think you are great!  (There is a whole lot of “you” in that “ministry”)

3)If you  will just go along with the world,  you could skip a whole lot of trouble.   Sure, you can look like a Christian, but you don’t have to walk in that “narrow”way.  

In other words, “Go ahead, lose your Christ’s Life, to have your self life”. (Matthew 16:25)

These, and others like them, are the things the devil tempts us with 

(For he tempted our Lord the same way.)

Looking to the Father’s Will, Jesus went through these temptations, standing on the Word of God.  

Jesus left the place of temptation by placing Himself in the Father’s hands by the Word of God.   

He did all the work the Father had for Him, and finished it.

So we need to look to Jesus, and go through all He has purposed for us,  with Him.  

He will empower us, to the measure of our devotion and obedience, by the Holy Spirit to know and to do His Will.