David’s Choice,  and Ours

David had been king of Israel for years.  He had fought the Lord’s battles to gain all the land that God had given Israel, which had not been theirs before.

He had brought the capital to Jerusalem.  He had victories on every side.

But, as with every believer, there are temptations.  And one of these was a whisper of our adversary, Satan.

1 Chronicles 21:1-2 “And Satan stood up against Israel,  and provoked David to number Israel.

                                   And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people,  Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan;  and bring the number of them to me,  that I may know it.”

[The children of Israel had been numbered in the wilderness (Numbers 1:2-3,18-19),  after the Tabernacle had been set up, so that they could each be in their place according to their tribes, around the Tabernacle.

And for each to give an offering for the service of the Tabernacle,  according to their tribes.  (Numbers 7:1-2)]

But that was the last time God had said, that all Israel was to be numbered.  

But now, David wants to number them.  The record shows that this suggestion was not his idea.

But he did yield to it,  and commanded that Israel be numbered.

1 Chronicles 21:7 “And God was displeased with this thing,  therefore He smote Israel.”

Now, we will pause here and ask:  why did God let Satan tempt David and fall into this sin?

Wasn’t he the man after God’s own heart? (Acts 13:22).   

He was,  but every man is tempted, when he is “drawn away” from God’s will,  by something he wants.  

James 1:14-15 “But every man is tempted,  when he is drawn away of his own lust,  and enticed.

                            Then when lust hath conceived,  it bringeth forth sin;  and sin, when it is finished,  bringeth forth death.”

Certainly David did not want to sin?  

No,  but he did want to see how great he had made his country.    A little pride,  yielded great trouble.

1 Chronicles 21:8 “And David said unto God,  I have sinned greatly,  because I have done this thing:  but now,  I beseech thee,  do away the iniquity of Thy servant,  for I have done very foolishly.”

One thing you could count on with David:  once he knew God was displeased,  he did something about it.

So God gives David a choice:

1 Chronicles 21:9-10, 12 “And the Lord spake unto Gad,  David’s seer, saying, 

Go and tell David,  saying,  Thus saith the Lord,   I offer thee three things:  choose the one of them,  that I may do it unto thee.

                                          Either three years famine,   or three months to be destroyed before thy foes,  while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee;    or else three days the sword of the Lord, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel.      Now therefore advice thyself what word that I shall bring again to Him that sent me.”

God was giving this choice to David to test him.  What did he really think of his God?  Or His Will?

He might think like this:

Three years of famine were harsh,  but they might get by.  Only the weakest would die.

Three months of fighting, where the enemies win. Perhaps he would think,  “I could always take back those lands; and it is only three months.”

Or three days of pestilence—illness, where God indiscriminately kills strong, and weak, old and young, according to His will.

Which would David choose?   

1 Chronicles 21:13 “And David said unto Gad,  I am in a great strait:  let me fall now into the hand of the Lord;  for very great are His mercies:  but let me not fall into the hand of man.”

David chose God’s hands.   God’s ways.   God’s mercy.

To “let me now fall now into the hand of the Lord”.

The pestilence began,  and many (70,000) died.  And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it;  but the mercy of the Lord, stopped the angel, giving David time to seek the Lord:

1 Chronicles 21:17 “And David said unto God,  Is it not that I commanded the people to be numbered?  Even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed;  but as for these sheep,  what have they done?  Let thine hand, I pray Thee,  O Lord my God,  be on me,  and on my father’s house;  but not on Thy people,  that they should be plagued.”

David took full responsibility for the sin.  He did not try and point to another,  but confessed fully, and asked that the plague stop for Israel.  

And he got an answer right away.

1 Chronicles 21:18. “Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David,  that David should go up,  and set an altar unto the Lord  in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.  

(This is where the angel with the sword drawn had been told to stop on his way to Jerusalem.)

                                  

1 Chronicles 21:22-23 “Then David said unto Ornan,  Grant me the place of this threshingfloor,  that I may build an altar therein unto the Lord:  thou shalt grant it to me for the full price:  that the plague may be stayed from the people.

                                     And Ornan said unto David,   Take it to thee,  and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes:  lo,  I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings,  and the threshingfloor instruments for wood,  and the wheat for the meat offering;   I give it all.”

A generous offer,  but…again David’s choice to honor the Lord:

1 Chronicles 21:24  “And king David said to Ornan,   Nay,  but I will verily buy it for the full price:  for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord,  nor offer burnt offerings without cost.”

                     

David would not give another man’s livelihood,  but would only give what was his, by “the full price”.  It was David’s responsibility,  and he would not skimp or bargain.  

(A burnt offering was a sacrifice of love.  David would not offer it, without paying full price for it.)

Six hundred shekels of gold was the price,  so he gave it.  He also built the altar from the lumber of the place, and sacrificed the oxen himself.

1 Chronicles 21:26-27 “And David built there an altar unto the Lord,  and offering burnt offerings and peace offerings,  and called upon the Lord;  and He answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offerings.

                                       And the Lord commanded the angel;  and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.”

David had sinned.   But he came in full confession and asked for mercy.

David’s choice was God:  His way.  For he knew God to be merciful,  and He was.

What is our choice, when it comes to God’s will and way?  Do we try and bargain a better “price” when it comes to our responsibilities?

Or do we chose God,  believing that even in corrections, He will deal with us in mercy?

“Who hath” 

2 Timothy 1:9  “Who hath saved us,  and called us with a holy calling not according to our works,  but according to His own purpose and grace,  which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began;”

Think God does not think much about you?  Think He has too much on His hands?

Before anything was, that is;  He saw you in Christ Jesus!  

He is never taken by surprise.   Never unprepared.   He is Eternal,  Immortal, Almighty, Omniscient (all seeing),  and Sovereign.

He reigns.  He is King of kings, and Lord of lords.  He is the “I am that I am”(Exodus 3:13-14).

Men may not recognize Him,  or receive Him,  or love Him.   But He changes not, He is faithful to Himself and His character, and Word.

Lamentations 3:21-25 “This I recall to my mind,  therefore have I hope.    It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed,  because His compassion’s fail not.

They are new every morning:  great is Thy faithfulness.

The Lord is my portion,  saith my soul;  therefore will I hope in Him.   

The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him,  to the soul that seeketh after Him.”

And in all His purpose from eternity past to eternity future,  He included man.  “Those that seek after Him”.

Are you one of these?

“In Christ Jesus” is where we, who are born again, are.    He is in us by His Holy Spirit, and we are in Him by the redemption.

John 17:21,23 “That they all may be one; as thou Father, art in Me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us:  that the Lord world may believe that Thou hast sent me.

                            I in them, and thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me.”

Now it is “Who saved us and called us”.   It is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Who saved (past tense:  which means our salvation was from planned from Eternity past),  and called us (also past tense).

It is according to His Purpose,  for He has a purpose for every life He saves. That purpose may be short or long;  of little impact (to our sight), or largely seen;   but it is His Will that we should live to His glory (light and blessing).

That is His purpose for every life He apprehends.

(As it was told Esther when death might be her reward for standing with God’s people:  “For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time,  then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise…from another place;…and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” [Esther 4:14]

God will take care of His own,  but He might have brought you to this set of circumstances,  to be used for His purpose for that deliverance [testimony, word in due season, or comfort] of His people, and that includes you.)

And it is according to His grace.  (Hallelujah). For grace is the unmerited favor of power.   By grace are we saved, and empowered to walk in that purpose He lays out before us.

It is a holy calling, not something we can in anyway earn. 

But to be “holy” means to be separated unto the Lord.  

We are empowered, then, to stand with God,  and not with ourselves (by denying ourselves).

To stand with God,  and not with the the world (which will definitely separate us).  

We did not come into being to live for ourselves, or to do our own thing.

We are God’s:  we are bought with a price and we are not our own.

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;  but of power,  and of love,  and of a sound (disciplined) mind.”

God gives every life who He has saved a purpose:  for which He enables by grace through His Spirit, 

so we may use the power from Him, 

know the love from Him, 

and our minds be disciplined to see things as He wants us to. 

(Remember Esther)

“Who hath saved us and called us”.    Are we fulfilling the purpose of God for our lives?

Well,  we can.   He will give us grace to use for ourselves (how much we need this everyday),  and for the calling He has for us. (Showing forth His deliverance).

Talk to Him.   He is waiting for such a conversation from you:

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now,  and let us reason together,  saith the Lord:  though your sins be as scarlet,  they shall be as white as snow,  though they be red like crimson,  they shall be as wool. “

Faith:  what it is and what it does.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Substance is Reality.  It makes real the things of God, to us.

We have so many virtual things.   Things which speak to our imagination or feelings.

But faith is not virtual,  but real.

It is the attribute of God which is imparted to us by the Holy Spirit, when we are born again.

The substance which is faith,  is Reality.   It is actual.  It makes a difference within us, and for us.  

And our lives should “evidence” that substance, if we have faith.

“Evidence” shows forth the change that is happening to us.

As Jesus said:  John 3:7-8 ” Marvel not that I said unto thee,  Ye must be born again.

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou nearest the sound thereof,  but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”

Simply, you see the effects of the wind, or what it moves;  but not the wind itself.

So it everyone that is born again.   You see the effects of the new birth;  not the birth itself.

We naturally fight against God;  as our King.

Romans 8:7 “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”

You might say:  “No, I don’t.  I go to Church,  and I am active in the ministries for charity, etc.”

But those “good” works are as the Pharisees of old–unless you love God in the doing of them.

(Doing to be seen or approved of men, does not count with God.)

Matthew 6:5 “And when thou prayest,  thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are:  for they love to pray standing in the synagogue and in the corners of the street,  that they may be seen of men.  Verily I say unto you,  they have their reward.”

Only works done out of love to Christ, count with God. (1 Corinthians 13)

Which brings us back to “enmity to God”.   If you have a fit every time the 

command of God speaks to your heart,  then your “natural” self is showing.

You can “tithe all that you have”, (Luke 18:12);  but if you do it to get something from God:  you won’t.

Faith, on the other hand, brings all things down from God, to you.

Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is,  and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

True faith makes real every promise given, except those for a future date. (And even these we may taste of right now, though we can not experience them fully.)

Faith pleases God, because  1)  it is from God.

2)Because  it makes the heart love Him, and the mind trust God.

Remember,  faith given us by the Holy Spirit at new birth, makes real the things of God.

Once we are born again, we receive a new nature.

Our “flesh”, or old nature is not eradicated;  but it is instead, brought into subjection to God, and His Word, by the Holy Spirit using faith. (Galatians 5:16)

Faith is the most powerful of the graces God gives us;  for it gives sight to our spiritual eyes, so we can see the truth.

It gives understanding to our ears, so we can hear what is truly being said, both by God and men.

And it moves or influences our hearts to love and obey Christ.

By faith we, as His children, walk from here to heaven, with Him.

Faith is not: “I hope so, or I think so,  or I wish so”;  but faith knows, in the only way True knowledge comes:  Personally by the Holy Spirit from God directly to you.

It makes His Presence real to us,  His commands powerful in our lives, and His Will is our best way to go.   His Holy Spirit our blessed companion, who guides us into more faith as we go along.

By faith Abel, Noah, Abraham, etc. did exploits, which manifested God to the generation in which they lived.  For it is promised in Daniel: “…but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.”  (Daniel 11:32).  

Faith makes us know our God,  Who He is, and what He will do for us.

What exploits should we do in the generation in which we live?

Hebrews 11:33-34 “Who through faith subdued kingdoms,  and wrought righteousness,  obtained promises,  stopped the mouths of lions.

Quenched the violence of fire,  escaped the edge of the sword,  out of weakness were made strong,  waxed valiant in fight,  turned to flight the armies of the aliens.”

Through faith in God, ordinary believers, by their obedience, did great things.

Again, what great things are we called to do by faith, through the power of the Holy Spirit?

“Subdue Kingdoms,  Obtain Promises,  and Stop the mouths of Lions.”

Subdue Kingdoms:   That is, we are to bring, by exercising our faith in obedience,  all other domineering influences in our lives,  under the control of Christ Jesus our Lord.

Whether this is our besetting sin,  our habits,  or other people’s influence;  we are to subdue them all to Christ and His Word.

Obtain Promises:  To “obtain”,  is to get the promise into your practical life.  (You may have a promise for your ministry,  your personal health, or your work;  but if you are not. experiencing those promises,  you have not obtained them)

It is not “claim them” only,  but to have them really for what they were given for.

You might have the assurance they will come,(blessed assurance-a foretaste of the reality);  but until they do come, they are not obtained.

(I have obtained promises by prayer–some prayed for a long time. Other promises, I have had to do the obedience commanded.   For as I did, the power was given. [Luke 17:14])

Stop the mouths of Lions:  These lions are NOT the ones Daniel was saved from;  but the roaring lions of the Adversary, the Devil.

1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant;  because your adversary the Devil as a roaring lion,  walketh about,  seeking whom he may devour.”

Roaring, they seek to frighten you from following the Lord Jesus.

Walking about, seeking whom he may devour.   In other words, seeking those who are not walking in God’s Light.

Our means of doing this is:

1 Peter 5:7 “Casting all your care upon him,  for he careth for you.”

1 Peter 5:9 ” Whom resist steadfast in the faith,  knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”

We cast ourselves, by faith, on God’s Care;   And we resist by faith the fear, and stay in God’s Way for us.

“Have faith in God.”  Jesus said, when He was here. (Mark 11:22).  And so we should.  He is our all in all.   He gives us His Holy Spirit to guide, and comfort us;  and His faith to bring us into  all He has for us.

Do you have the reality, which is the true faith of God in your life?  

If you are not truly born again,  the invitation to come to Christ is still going out.  

John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said unto him,  Verily, verily,  I say unto thee,  Except a man be born again,  he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

When you are born again,  it comes by yielding to the Holy Spirit, and walking in the Light of His love.

 The Battle of the Ages: Christ must Reign

There are two principles at work in all the Universe.

God’s Principle of Obedience.

And the Principle of our Adversary, the Devil; which is that of Rebellion.

The battle of the ages, for me is:   Who will rule in my life?

As Christians we can be obedient to God’s Will by the determining of my will to do it;  and the power of the Holy Spirit within.

When we are, we are standing with God in the battle.

2 Timothy 2:6 “The husbandman that laboreth must be first partaker of the fruits.”

This is the first verse the Lord gave me after He called me to preach.

He told me, that before He could require the Word that I preached to others;  I must get it into my experience first.

The experience of Spiritual Life is always: first in me, then by me and then through me.

And His power is Life.  Life flowing into me, and helping me in everything I do.

His power must be at work in me, before I can see this power used through me, in the calling God has given me to do.

He showed me these verses:

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 “Though we walk in the flesh,  we do not war after the flesh:

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (childish),  but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;  

Casting down imaginations,   and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,    and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”

If I am to think God’s thoughts after Him, then His thoughts must prevail.

And for this to happen, our minds must be transformed by His grace;  so that our natural and normal way we think, becomes Spiritual.

We are to pull down the strongholds. 

These are strongholds of reasoning.  They are the reasonings that prevent us from believing God, and acting on what we believe.

Like this:

“That is impossible.  Yes, I know God is God…but He just won’t do that for me, even if I thought He would do it.”

Or…

“That person will never be saved.  There is no use in witnessing to them.”

We are to pull these down by our willed obedience, even when we do not see how God will do these things.

We are to cast down imaginations.   Those flights of fancy which come across our minds.  

We are not to give them credence,  or continue in them.

This is what got a man of God in trouble:  He sat down and started thinking of all that he had just done (and it was miraculous) and was killed because, in doing so;  he put aside God’s warning to get out of the country immediately!

(1 Kings 13:8-9, 14-22). He was tricked, because he was not thinking as he should;  and then he was dead.

We all have thoughts which come into our head:  What would I do if….?

But it is what we do with our thoughts, that counts.

Do we bring them to the light of Jesus Christ,  or go ahead and fly into fantasy?

And we are to destroy every barrier which is raised against the genuine knowledge of God.

And there are a lot of barriers.

Such as the barrier of:

“I can’t read the Bible, because it is too complicated.   I just do not understand everything there.   I just let others explain it.

But I am not really sure they are right either.”

This is a barrier which the Holy Spirit can easily destroy.    He can give you understanding and light for your path, through the Word of God.

You may not understand in the original language.

But you will understand what the Holy Spirit tells you.  He speaks clearly. (Sometimes too clearly for some.)

Taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

This is stop thinking angry thoughts; continuing to be angry, because we want to be right…or are right; and others do not agree.

This is to start thinking that the awful neighbor is not to be hated, but to be prayed for;  or ignored.  It is to be at peace with them.

All our thoughts lead us to Christ;   Or to the world’s way,  which is influenced by our Adversary, the Devil.

It is really siding with Jesus about what comes into our heads;    And staying with Him, through it all.

Spiders, and their Webs 

God has three verses which talk about spiders.   I believe they are a good illustration of us, as sinners; unsaved sinners, as well as saved sinners.

Spiders spin their webs from inside of themselves.  Building a “home” from what comes out of them.  It is connected to things around them.  Some large and elaborate; others small and inconspicuous, till you are in contact with them.

Then they are sticky, and cling to everything.

Job 8:13-15 “So are the paths of all that forget God;  and the hypocrites hope shall perish:

Whose hope is cut off,  and whose trust shall be a spider’s web.  

He shall lean upon his house,  but it shall not stand:  he shall hold it fast,  but it shall not endure.”

The “hope” of a spider is it’s web.   It builds it to feed itself by the things it catches in it.  It nests there wrapping in it’s own web to anchor it in wind and storm.

But it comes from inside itself;   and although an amazing creation, it will not endure.

So is every person born.  We fashion a life, without God;  from within ourselves.

What we imagine,  we believe.

What we want,  we build to catch.

And we surround ourselves with a protection, which holds for awhile;  but does not endure the trials of life.   

Our minds become unproductive;  our affections run wild;  and our wills become hardened.

Isaiah 59:4-6 “None calleth for justice,  nor any pleadeth for the truth:  they trust in vanity,  and speak lies;  they conceive mischief,  and bring forth iniquity.

They….weave the spider’s web:….

Their webs shall not become garments,  neither shall they cover themselves with their works:  their works are works of iniquity,  and the act of violence is in their hands.”

God has promised that like the spider and it’s web,  the works of all who trust in that which they build themselves,  without Him,  will not cover them.   

The nakedness of the soul of man;  can only be covered with the righteousness of Christ.

Nothing else will do.  

All else is as the spider’s web;  blown away,  or swept away by cleansing storms, or the bristles of a broom.  Easily torn down, and stepped on.

So what can we “spiders” do, to have a permanent “home” with God?

Proverbs 30:28 “The spider taketh hold with her hands,  and is in kings palaces.”

(Some use this verse for the hypocrite.  Certainly there are many hypocrites in the church.   People pretending to love God, but weaving a garment of their own making.

But it also lends itself [and Bunyan used it the second Pilgrim’s Progress] to the “spider”,  who takes hold of Christ Jesus;  and because of it, is in the Palace of the Great King.)

The first thing required of all men, is repentance:

Acts 17:24,27-31 “God that made the world and all the things therein,  seeing as He is Lord of heaven and earth,  dwelleth not in temples made with hands;  

                              That they should seek the Lord,  if haply they might feel after Him,  and find Him,  though He be not far from everyone of us:

                               And the times of this ignorance God winked at;  but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent:

                                Because He hath appointed a day, in the which  He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained;  whereof He hath given assurance unto all men,  in that He hath raised Him from the dead.”

To repent:  to change our minds, affections, and wills about Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, and receive Him. (John 1:12)

To repent of the means within ourselves,  which we looked to and trusted, instead of Him.

To repent of the desire to “catch” for ourselves;  instead of having His Will for our lives.

So,  what shall we do?   

Keep weaving webs from ourselves, and having them knocked out from under us?

Or “take hold” of Christ Jesus by repentance,  and have what He has purposed for us?     In this life, and the one to come.

If Thou Wilt

James 4:13-14 “Go to now,  ye that say,   Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city,  and continue there a year,  and bye and sell and get gain

                            Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.   For what is your life?   It is even a vapor,  that appeared for a little time,  and then vanisheth away.”

Only God can say “So be it”.  For it is His Will alone,  that stands every test.

We, as Christians,  may say,  “If God wills”,  we will do this or that.

How many plans have been destroyed or laid aside,  because we have not considered what God wanted with our time?

That we should not walk through life “Willy nilly”:  this way, then that way.  

We should have a definite goal to head toward,  and find out God’s way to get there.

Philippians 3:12-14. “Not as though I had already attained,  either were already perfect:  but I follow after,  if that I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

                                 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.”

Paul “followed after”; not knowing what lay ahead.  But knowing that Christ Jesus did;  and that whatever was ahead, was prepared for.   Grace was laid up for him to get through each situation.

This should be the goal we are headed for:  what Christ Jesus has saved us for.

We are to grow up into Him.  For we are all called to go from babes in Christ to full grown Spiritual Adults.

We should ascertain our calling.  (We are all called as witnesses,  if nothing more.     A witness is a personal testimony of what Christ has done for me.)

And this should be the way we go:  forgetting those things which are behind me—really putting them behind me—failures and successes;  

And reaching forth (in heart, in mind, and in will)  to those things He has before me,  today,  tomorrow, and on.

We have family. We have jobs.  We have friends.   All of these,  we are not to neglect—that is not God’s will.

But before all of these, as Christians,  we have our personal duty to God,  and His Will.

1 Corinthians 4:2 “Moreover it is required of stewards,  that a man be found faithful.”

God’s stewards, are Gospel Stewards.  Their duty is to live the Truth of the Gospel.

Truly, if we put God first,  He will see to it,  that all the others are not neglected.

Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God,  and His righteousness;  and all these things shall be added unto you.”

God never forgets our faithfulness to Him.   Never. 

There is a famine in the Land

Amos 8:11 “ Behold,  the days come,  saith the Lord,  that I will send a famine in the land,  not a famine of bread,  nor a thirst for water,  but of hearing the words of the Lord:”

Have you heard God lately?

Have you heard Him in your Bible reading?   Or in your Church services?  Or in your innermost spirit, where the Holy Spirit dwells and speaks?

Well,  if you have not heard Him lately,  you are starving.

1 Peter 2:2-3 “As new born babes,  desire the sincere milk of the word,  that ye may grow thereby:

                        If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”

All our growth comes through Him;   by the interaction of His Word to us by the Holy Spirit,  and our receiving it.

This verse in Amos was given to Israel when they were turning from God, to idols.

And Amos was sent as a prophet to speak to Israel to warn them, so they would repent:  turn around and choose God.

Amos 7:14-15 “Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah,    I was no prophet,  neither was I a prophet’s son;  but I was a herdsman,  and a gatherer of sycamore fruit:

                           And the Lord took me as I followed the flock,  and the Lord said unto me,    Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. “

So he did,  but those around the king were afraid that the people would believe him,  for he told of God’s promise of judgement on those who followed the idols.

So they just wanted him to go away.   Go back to Judah and live a normal life there.  

Prophesy there, if you must  speak God’s Words;    but not here.

How ridiculous!    How could Amos be obedient, and not do what he had been told?

How could the people have a chance of repenting, and returning to the Lord,  without hearing His Word to them? (Romans 10:14-15)

Well, Amos did not leave,  but gave out the Word of God to His people.   He stood fast in a land that was turning to idols, and forgetting everything God had taught them about His love of justice and truth.

Instead they turned to stones, and wooden stocks covered with silver and gold,  but no life.

This is what they wanted.  This is what they looked to.  

How sad, to exchange true life,  for illusion;  to exchange the love of God, for the love of things. (Isaiah 44:9-11)

Amos 8:4-7 “Hear this,  oh ye that swallow up the needy,  even to make the poor of the land to fail,

                       Saying,  when will the new moon be gone,  that we may sell corn?  And the sabbath,  that we may set forth the wheat,  making the ephah small,  and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances of deceit?

                       That we may buy the poor for silver,  and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?

                       

                       The Lord has sworn by the excellency of Jacob,  surely  I will never forget any of their works.”

The merchants were cheating the buyers.   Giving less for more; by changing the balances.   Saying they had got what they paid for,  when they did not.

It was all so that they could have more power over people,  to have greater leverage in bargaining,  because of this wealth.

The idols that they worshipped were not only images to bow down to;  but the idols of silver and gold in their hearts.

Amos preached God’s Word,  and not many listened and turned;  but he had warned them faithfully, and God was pleased with him, for his faithfulness to Him.

Amos warned them that there would be a day,  when God would stop speaking and calling them to repentance;  then would come the day:

Amos 9:1, 10  “I saw the Lord standing upon the altar:  and he said,   Smite the lintel of the door,  that the post may shake:   And cut them in the head,  all of them;  and I will slay the last of them with the sword:  he that fleeth of them shall not flee away,  and he that escapeth of them  shall not be delivered.”

Who is He talking to?

“All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,  which say,   The evil shall not overtake or prevent us.”

All those who think to get around God and His Word,  won’t.

We, too, in this Church age have been warned against turning from God to idols of our own making.

Instead of staying true to God, and His Word:

2 Timothy 4:1-2, 4 “I charge thee therefore before God,  and the Lord Jesus Christ,  who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

                                  Preach the word;  be instant in season;  out of season;  reprove, rebuke,  exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.

                          

                                   And they shall turn away their ears from the truth,  and shall be turned to fables.”

Fables might instruct,  but only God’s Word gives life—true life.   Do you want it?

Have you heard God,  or His Word to you,  lately?

Occupy Till I Come

Luke 19:12-13 “He said therefore,  A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom,  and to return.

                          And he called his ten servants,  and delivered them ten pounds,  and said unto them,   Occupy till I come.”

Of course Jesus is giving this story about His going back to heaven after being raised again;  and the ministry He gives His servants here, on earth, till He comes again.

“Occupy till I come” is a merchandise term.  It is to use what we have to get more, just as in a business.

But the thought here, is that you are gaining for Someone else.

As Christians, we are not our own.  We have been bought and redeemed with the high price of Jesus blood. (1 Peter 1:18-19)

And we are given His life and power by the Holy Spirit within.  He enables us with His grace.   This is the “pound” we are all given as His servants:  His faith and grace.

It is all done, as servants of our Lord Jesus Christ, out of love to him.

So how do we “gain” to show our love to Christ?

He has given us faith by the Holy Spirit when we were born again.  This faith shows us Christ, so that we can follow Him:

Jesus was obedient to the Father’s Will;  so we must be obedient to His Will for us.

He was kind and merciful;  so we must show that same kindness and mercy to others.

Jesus was a fighter for the Father’s Way;  not holding on to the traditions, when they conflicted with the spirit of God’s laws (example: healing the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath.  Tradition said it was “work”.   God said it was mercy. Matthew 12:10-13)

He did not turn from the Way to the cross, though it meant betrayal, shame, cruelty, and defilement under our sin.  He went and became sin for us, that we might be the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

We are to use that faith and gain with it:

(2 Peter 1:5-8)

We are to gain (in Peter it says “add to”) virtue, first.

This virtue in the Greek is, “Artea”,  or power by the Holy Spirit.  The first thing God teaches us is that we are now given power to do, say, and stand, by the Holy Spirit. (It is quite a wonderful thing to realize that God’s Spirit is helping me , now,  in this situation of my life!)

The second thing we gain is knowledge.  We can not be around Someone, and not come to know Him better.   

And as we know Jesus better,  we learn more about ourselves;  both successes and failures show us,  us.

The third thing we gain is temperance.  This is to be even-tempered.   You learn to not let things “get” to you.  To see them as the Lord sees them.

The fourth things is patience.  How much in this hurry, hurry world we need this.

Patience with others,  and with ourselves. (We do not get discouraged,  when we in patience, wait on the Lord, to work things out.)

Godliness comes next:  this is growing up into Christ, and taking on the “family of God” resemblance.

Brotherly kindness has to do with our Christian brothers and sisters. (Yes, they can be trying;  but with the Holy Spirit’s enabling,  we can be considerate to them, even if they are not to us.)

And Charity,  or love.  And this is to show the same love to others as Christ does to us.

Luke 19:15-16 “And it came to pass,  that when he was returned,  having received the kingdom,  then he commanded these servants to be called unto him,  to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.

                         Then came the first,  saying,   Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.”

This servant had yielded to the Holy Spirit and done all he could for His lovely and blessed Lord.

Luke 19:18 “And the second came,  saying,  Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.”

This servant had difficulties.  His gain had been smaller, because of doubts and cares which hindered him at the first;  but he had finally overcome by the faith given him, and he had gained five times more than he had been given!

Luke 19:20-21 “And another came, saying,  Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin; 

                           For I feared thee,  because you art an austere man:  and takest up that thou layedst not down,  and reapest that thou did not sow.”

What!!  This servant did not gain anything!   His dishonor was because he wanted to listen to the voice of the devil about God.

The devil convinced the man,  that if he did what he was told and tried to gain with the pound he had been given,  he might lose it.    He told the man he was better off just forgetting about it;     because the Lord was a very severe, and demanding God.

But this was not what the Lord had wanted.  He wanted this man to use the “pound” (which is the power of the Holy Spirit within),  and “gain” in his heart love, peace, and joy in the fellowship with Himself.    

This is gaining for the Lord;  for we are His inheritance.(Ephesians 1:18)

Luke 19:22-23 “But he saith unto him,  Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee,  thou wicked servant.    Thou knewest that I was an austere man,  taking up that I laid not down,  and reaping that I did not sow:

                           Wherefore thou gavest not my money into the bank,  that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?”

Sadly the Lord of this man judges him according to what he had wanted to believe. 

And asks him,  “If you really were afraid,  why didn’t you at least put my money in a bank where I could have received interest from it?”

What the Lord was really asking this man, was:

Why did you not show some interest in My gift of the Holy Spirit?  You “laid it up”,  or put it out of sight, as though it was a burden instead of a help.

You grieved My Holy Spirit by your hatred of my gift;

So, since you never really had it;    you will never have it.

Luke 19:24, 26 “And he said unto them that stood by,  Take from him the pound,  and give it to him that hath ten pounds.

                            For I say unto you,  that unto everyone which hath, shall be given;  and from him that hath not,  even that he hath shall be taken away from him.”

There are many who want to appear as the Lord’s servants,  which never really love Him,  or receive Him into their hearts and lives. (John 1:12)

They want to look good,  but never honor the Lord in their hearts.   They really hate the thought of doing for the Lord Jesus Christ!     

This man was one of these;  and he was seen at last for what he was.  He was not judged by anyone else, but  by the Lord according to His Word.

We are told by the Lord to use His gift of faith by the Holy Spirit and gain joy and peace in believing.

“Occupy till I come.”

We are Created in Christ Jesus

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

There are two creations:  the natural creation, and the spiritual creation.

We were created in Adam;  naturally he was the father of  all people.

We were created in Christ Jesus;  spiritually,  when we were born again.

1 Corinthians 1:30 “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,  who of God is made unto us wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and sanctification,  and  redemption:”

This shows what we have as a New Creation in Christ Jesus. 

First there is Wisdom:

       Wisdom is that sudden light from above which illuminates our lives.  

We were afraid: wisdom came, and suddenly the thing we were afraid of,  is seen against the background of God.

We were without understanding:  wisdom came, and suddenly the “muddle of our minds” disappears, and we know.

And with the knowledge, that wisdom gives power to do.

Second, there is Righteousness:  

        There is the imputed righteousness of Christ which is given to us.  But this righteousness spoken of here, is the righteous acts of obedience which we do for His sake.

When we see what He wants  us to do,  and realize that with that wisdom is power, then,  we will with Him to do those acts of obedience to please Him.

Third, there is Sanctification: 

         Sanctification is the setting yourself aside for sacred use.  To be used by God, for His glory and honor.

This sanctification is as we are in Christ Jesus:

It is by our Heavenly Father that we are sanctified.

Jude 1:  “Jude the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:”

It is by the Lord Jesus Christ that we are sanctified.

1 Corinthians 1:2 ” Unto the church of God which is at Corinth,  to them who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,  both theirs and ours:”

It is by the Holy Spirit we are sanctified.

1 Peter 1:2 “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,   through sanctification of the Spirit,   unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ :  grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”

Fourth,  there is  Redemption.

         Redemption is two-fold.  The ransom for our lives was paid in full by Jesus Christ. We are saved from the guilt of sin. 

 And by it we are given deliverance from our old life.

Or, simply put, it is the power  to be saved from our sin, and self-will.

Now all these things we have in Christ Jesus.  If we will,  we can have all in abundant measure. 

He is willing to give us just what we need.    But that is like feeding us with bread and water;  it will keep us alive, but not healthy.

But He will give abundant life:  pressed down and running over with His life in your life,  if you will to go on with Him.

John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but to steal, and to kill,  and to destroy:   I am come that they might have life,  and that they might have it more abundantly.”

It is “might have”,  for Jesus Christ bids us to will with His will for us, and receive all the glorious promises He has for us.

As we go along with the Lord in our walk,  our life in Him becomes stronger,  and more to His honor, and praise.

1 Corinthians 1:31 “That, according as it is written,  He that glorieth,  let him glory in the Lord.”

Forgiveness    

Matthew 6:11-12 “Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,”

As Christians we are in need of so much help from God.  And God is more than willing to give it.

But He has said that our sins block His blessings to us.  

Isaiah 59:2 “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God,  and your sins have hid His face from you,  that He will not hear.”

So when we ask for God to “give us”,  we should also pray “forgive us”.

We are kept day by day,  in Christ.  And we need to keep the channel of blessing open.  

“Forgive us our debts”.  God created us as responsible creatures.  Therefore, as Christians,  we are to use our faculties of mind (we are to think what God wants us to),  our heart (we are to love God above all else), and our wills (we are to will to do God’s Will).

Our sins here,  are seen as debts:  unpaid duties or failures to do God’s Will.

• Christ Jesus made full payment of our debts at Calvary: on the Cross our sins and guilt was canceled.  

But in the practical working of the Holy Spirit within us,  we can stifle the Spirit, by our sins, which we do not take to Jesus and confess.

This causes us to feel far from the Lord, for with every sin, unconfessed, a little of the light of God is overcast.

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.”

When we confess our sins, He forgives us in practical cleansing.  We do not feel them, or the darkness from them.  We feel as though light has been given to our souls.

We are cleansed.  The burden removed,  and a settled peace comes within us.

We can draw near Him again with joy and a clear conscience;  because He has forgiven us.

Hebrews 10:22 “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”

His Word to us is always:  “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me;  for I am meek and lowly in heart:  and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

If we are ever feeling burdened by coming to Christ,  sin has come between us.

Confess it,  and get the peace that He has for you.  Continual cleansing by His blood, as we walk in the light He shines for our path.

1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

Hallelujah,  what a Savior!