Verse of the Day - weekend 1/9

Through the Bible - Genesis 24-28, Matthew 9

 

Good morning,

Earlier in the week we looked at Matthew 6:24 where we were told that we can't serve two masters.  Whom we serve will most likely be reflected in what we long for.   What is our hearts desire?

This morning I was reading in Psalm 107 where 4 times in the span of it's 43 verses the  gives a cry of longing from the heart "oh that men would give thanks to the Lord" (NKJV).   We will go there for this weekend's verses. 

 

Ps 107:31 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
32 Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people,
And praise Him in the company of the elders.   NKJV

In verses 29 and 30 of the psalm, the psalmist speaks of the Lord calming the storm and bringing them to there desired haven.  It's a picture of bringing the worshipper to the sanctuary, whether physically or spiritaully.  It reflects a longing that others might experience the same feeling in their lives, in their storms.

 

You may have gone through some storms recently in your life.  Perhaps you are in the midst of one now or just coming out of one, and are longing for that safe haven, for peaceful waters.  If so, cry out to Him, look back and give thanks for His past blessings, praise Him in the sanctuary, and look forward to His future deliverance. 

 

Reading this psalm, I was reminded of an old hymn that I remember from childhood.  Read the words, sing them in your heart or out loud if you know it as preparation for worship this weekend.  May He fill your every longing in all of your life's ebb and flow.

 

There's within my heart a melody
Jesus whispers sweet and low:
Fear not, I am with thee, peace, be still,
in all of life's ebb and flow.
Refrain:
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
sweetest name I know,
fills my every longing,
keeps me singing as I go. 

Though sometimes he leads through waters deep,
trials fall across the way,
though sometimes the path seems rough and steep,
see his footprints all the way.
(Refrain) 
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
sweetest name I know,
fills my every longing,
keeps me singing as I go. 

What other verses, what other songs come to your mind?  Share them with someone this weekend.

 

Sometimes He calms the storm
And other times He calms His child

In Christ,
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV
Ps 107:23-33

 

23 Those who go down to the sea in ships,
Who do business on great waters,
24 They see the works of the Lord,
And His wonders in the deep.
25 For He commands and raises the stormy wind,
Which lifts up the waves of the sea.
26 They mount up to the heavens,
They go down again to the depths;
Their soul melts because of trouble.
27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wits' end.
28 Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He brings them out of their distresses.
29 He calms the storm,
So that its waves are still.
30 Then they are glad because they are quiet;
So He guides them to their desired haven.
31 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
32 Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people,
And praise Him in the company of the elders.   NKJV

Verse of the Day 1/8

Through the Bible - Genesis 21-23, Matthew 8

 

Good morning,

What Wilberforce showed yesterday was love for others displayed over a lifetime.  It was unrelenting, I didn't give up, it didn't come and then go in a flash.  It was like the Energizer Bunny, it kept going and going and going.  John Piper described this as follows:

" I called that kind of persistent public love coronary Christianity rather than adrenaline Christianity. Adrenaline gives you energy for a moment and then lets you down. That's the way many people engage in a cause of love and justice. But the heart keeps beating as long as you live. That's what I meant by coronary Christianity; it persists in loving and serving and doing justice year after year after year. And I asked, Who of you will be the coronary Christians in the cause of racial harmony and the sanctity of life?"

The essence of this is found in today's verse which comes from the same passage as the "keep asking, seeking, and knocking" from yesterday.
 Matt 7:12 "Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.   NLT

It's often referred to as the "golden rule'.  Through the ages gold has been considered to be the most precious of metals.  This rule, if applied, if put on will prove, will show how precious it is to love in this manner.

 Piper continues, "There will always be challenges to love people different from ourselves—whether the differences are ethnic or in some other way. If Christ is your Lord and Savior and Treasure, and if God is your Father through Christ, and if you trust him to give you only what is good, then you will be growing (and helping your children grow) in the application of the Golden Rule to ethnic differences, as well as other differences."

 

We need to know God's Word and apply it, but that doesn't mean that we have to beat people over the head with it to "win them over" to convince them logically with theology.  I head John Maxwell once say at a Promise Keepers event, "people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."  Showing that you care, treating others as you would like to be treated can open  the door to teaching God's Word. 

 

Read Ephesians 5:1-2 from The Message.  It encourages us to love "extravagantly".  All to often we find ourselves being too practical, too cautious.

Eph 5:1-2 Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.    (from THE MESSAGE)

How might you love "extravigantly"?

Matt 7:12-13  "Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God's Law and Prophets and this is what you get.   (from THE MESSAGE.)

Blessings,
Mike

mikevw@bellsouth.net
mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Matt 7:7-13

Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking
(Luke 11:9-13)

7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!  12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.   NKJV

Verse of the Day 1/7

Through the Bible - Genesis 18-20, Matthew 7

 

Good morning,

Today's New Testament reading moves into Matthew 7 which is full of full of messages for all of us.  I read the following from John Piper's sermon on verses 7-12 and thought I'd share them with you to encourage and challenge you to keep asking, seeking, and knocking because you never know what God can do through the person who continues to do so.

Piper writes, " Both William Wilberforce in Britain two hundred years ago and Martin Luther King in America fifty years ago rooted their persistent, socially transforming, public love in the Bible. I don't mean that they understood and used the Bible in the same way. Wilberforce was an evangelical, doctrinally orthodox Anglican. King did not, as far as I know, make his doctrinal views explicit as a mature preacher, but his early papers lean toward a kind of liberalism that would not be called orthodox.

But my point is that without the Bible neither man would have been who he was, and neither would have done what he did—Wilberforce being the decisive human instrument under God in defeating the African slave trade in Britain, and King being the decisive human instrument under God in replacing Jim Crow racial discrimination with laws supporting equal rights for all Americans regardless of race. Their lives and their work and their achievement are inexplicable without their dependence on the Bible. Virtually every time King opened his mouth you could hear Bible. And Wilberforce built his whole personal and public life as a Member of Parliament on what he called the "peculiar doctrines" of the Bible. The Bible has a way of exerting its power in very different hands." 

 

Matt 7:7 "Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.   NLT

What was Wilburforce's secret?  Really, it was no secret, it was perseverence in faith and trust in God.  He knew what it was like to have his sins forgiven, to be released from the slavery of sin and have the freedom of Christ made available to him.  His battle in parliament was to this freedom, freedom in the world that they may be able to experience, live life freely and share freedom in Christ.

 

Is their a passion for a cause in your heart?  For our youth, for life, for orphans, for bringing water and food to those who struggle daily to find it?

May you, may we all have the perseverence of Wilburforce and Martin Luther King Jr. to keep asking, to keep seeking and to keep knocking for what God has laid upon our hearts for His glory. You may not know the plans He has for you, but He does.

 

Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.   NKJV

Wilburforce and King learned to depend upon His Word.  Read the short passage below, may His Word encourage, challenge, and inspire you today, to persevere in it day by day for the cause of Christ.

For John Piper's complete sermon in written or audio form you can go to: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByScripture/14/1946_The_Spring_of_Persistent_Public_Love/

Blessings,
Mike

mikevw@bellsouth.net
mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Matt 7:7-13

Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking
(Luke 11:9-13)

7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!  12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. NKJV

Verse of the Day 1/6

Through the Bible - Genesis 15-17, Matthew 6

 

Good morning,

If you've been following along in the read through the Bible plan above, you are now reading Matthew's account of the Sermon on the Mount, the greatest sermon ever told.

In preparation for today's verse I read a sermon from John Piper on Matt. 6:24-34.  The sermon was from September 1984 and Piper obviously could not have known about the situation of our country today, but I was sobered by the introduction to the sermon.

 "There are some kings who find it very effective to keep their subjects in constant anxiety. If the people are anxious about their life, and worry about where their next meal is coming from, then perhaps they will be more willing to do the king's bidding in order to get the food they need from the king's storehouse. Anxiety keeps them in their place. Fear makes the monarchy firm. "

 

For today's verse we'll go to verse 24 which starts the passage.

Matt 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. NLT

Notice the first two words, "no one".  Through the ages people, including religious leaders (see Luke 16:13-14 where is says that the pharisees were lovers of money), have thought that they could have it all and juggle both.  When we try to do so we'll find that at some point we will drop the ball.  When the ball is dropped, where do most people turn for help in today's society?

 

You can look back over the past couple of years to see how this has played out, where they have turned.  The Bernie Madoff scheme, the stock market crash and the following bail outs show that people have depended on the government to "fix" the problem.

 

How do we not get caught up in this and avoid the anxiety?

 

Piper continues, "But one of the greatest things about Jesus is that he does not want his people to be anxious. The main point of today's text is that God does not secure his kingship by cultivating anxiety. On the contrary, the aim of God's kingship is to free us from anxiety. God doesn't need to keep us anxious in order to establish his power and superiority. Instead he exalts his power and superiority by working to take away our anxiety. "

 

If we are filled with anxiety over finances, here are a few verses that should encourage us and challenge us.

Isa 26:3 You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You. NKJV
Read the rest of the passage below.  May it encourage you to trust, to serve, to follow Jesus, trust and trust in God for His provision, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

What other verses come to mind that can reinforce these thoughts?

May His perfect love cast out fear in your life.

Blessings,
Mike

mikevw@bellsouth.net
mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Matt 6:24-7:1

You Cannot Serve God and Riches
24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
Do Not Worry(Luke 12:22-31)
25 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
28 "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;  29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.   NKJV

Verse of the Day 1/5

 Through the Bible - Genesis 12-14, Matthew 5

 

Good morning,

If you have started the year off following a read through the Bible plan you've read Genesis 1:1 which is key to understanding and accepting the rest of the Bible, it starts with God, the Christian worldview is that everything begins and ends with God.

 

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  NKJV

God created the world, the universe ex nihilo, that is, without pre-existing material.

 

When we go to the New Testament, the book of John starts off pretty much the same way.  God is uncreated.  He has always existed and revealed some key aspects of His being here in the opening verses of John where we'll go for today's verses.

 

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.   NKJV

Carl Sagan is famous for saying that "the cosmos is all that there ever was, is and will be".  God, through John has something quite different to say.  God is over all of the cosmos.  He created it all.

 

I heard a song that brings both of these passages together along with the human element, the ramifications of what worldview we choose to have.

It was an act of God
(by the group Accapella)

This old world was not an accident
It came to be by the touch of His hand
Through His love He formed creation
Then reached out and breathed His life into man
Yes for all of us
He is calling us with His blessings to show
The best part of it is the heart of it
It's the good news we know

Every time the sun shows His face
Every time I've needed His grace
Every little bird in the air
Never will escape from His care
He arose again He defeated sin
And He shed His blood for me
It was an act of God

Now we hear some strange philosophies
From those who teach - we expect them to know
But they push God out of the picture
When His presence is quite obvious
Only fools deny Him so

And in all of us there's a call in us
For the truth to be shown
Yes the heart of it - every part of it
Is from God's highest throne

Was it an act of God - causing you to turn Him away?
Is it an act of God - that you're refusing to pray?
It was an act of God - opening the blind eyes to see
It is an act of God - what He is doing for me

I know
He arose again He defeated sin
And he's coming back for me
It is an act of God
It is an act of God

 

The song reminds us that this same God that created the whole "cosmos", is not a God who created and then just sat back to observe.  He is a personal God, who knows,  is concerned with, and  loves you and me.  Let that thought shape your world view today.

 

For centuries people have predicted and tried to do away with, to extinguish the Word of God.  But as John 1:5 states (below) it's light, it's power will never be extinguished.

Blessings,
Mike

.mikevw@bellsouth.net
mikesvotd.blogspot.com

John 1:1-6

1 1 In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.
3 God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.  NLT

 

Verse of the Day 1/4

Through the Bible - Genesis 9-11, Matthew 4

 

Good morning,

In the coming year my goal in these devotionals is to choose verses from throughout the Bible give us a clearer picture of Jesus Christ.  Many through the years have attempted to learn more about the "historic Jesus" through extra biblical materials while others, even within "Christian" circles, have limited their search to selected portions of scripture, picking and choosing what they would believe.

 

Sometimes it gets to the point where, as theologian Luke Timothy Johnson states, that "Jesus has become (to them) a faculty lounge lizard".  Think about that, they've made Jesus the type of "person" that they like to hang around with, have theological and philosophical discussions with, but with Jesus having no authority, no true, lasting impact on their lives.  They can have a theological discussion then go on living their lives as they see fit.

Jesus did get involved in some debates but also challenged religious authorities, calling them out as with "you brood of vipers" or challenging the rich young ruler to sell all that he had in order to enter the kingdom.

 

For today's verse we'll go to Luke chapter 24 where the risen Jesus talks to a couple of dejected followers that had seen him suffer and die leaving them uncertain about who Jesus really was.

Luke 24:25 Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.   NKJV

Jesus showed them that He was the key to unlocking the Old Testament, that He was the predicted Messiah, He holds the keys to life.

 

I would encourage you to read through the Bible this year, at least the New Testament, in order to gain a better understanding of Jesus Christ.

Dr. Iaian Campbell writes, "we are not simply New Testament believers, we are whole Bible believers.  We read, preach and meditate on the whole of the inspired Word, because in every part of it our access to the eternal, incarnate, and glorified Word.  We come to the scriptures in every part, as the Greeks came to the feast in John 12, saying "we wish to see Jesus" (v.21).  And bathed in the finished work of Jesus Christ, the Old Testament shows us things about Jesus that we might otherwise have missed, as the Psalms (for example in Psalm 22) tell us what Jesus was thinking on the cross."

He continues, "nothing can dispel gloom or lift us out of despair quite like having the story of the Bible unfolded." 

 

Have you experienced this in your life?  I have, and it causes me to want to dig deeper, to learn more year by year, of this Jesus Christ, who is my Saviour. 

May we not be simply New Testament believers, or look to Jesus as a theological "lounge lizard", but may we grow in the grace and knowledge of Him in the coming year, come to know Him in more of His fullness. 

In Christ,

Mike

 

Blessings,
Mike

mikevw@bellsouth.net
mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Luke 24:13-28

The Road to Emmaus
(Mark 16:12,13)

13 Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.

17 And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?" 

18 Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?"

19 And He said to them, "What things?"

So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. 21 But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. 22 Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. 23 When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. 24 And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."

25 Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.    NKJV

Verse of the Day - weekend 1/2

Through the Bible - Genesis 4-8, Matthew 2-3

 

Good morning,

Yesterday I read a couple of things that mentioned "entering the gates".  The first was a statement from Charles Spurgeon looking towards the future and entering the "pearly gates".

 

"In our Christian pilgrimage it is well, for the most part, to be looking forward. Forward lies the crown—and onward is the goal. Whether it is for hope, for joy, for consolation, or for the inspiring of our love—the future must, after all, be the grand object of the eye of faith.

Looking into the future, the Christian sees sin cast out, the body of sin and death destroyed, the soul made perfect, and fit to be a partaker of eternal glory. Looking further yet, the believer's enlightened eye can see death's river passed. He sees himself enter within the pearly gates, hailed as more than conqueror, crowned by the hand of Christ, embraced in the arms of Jesus, glorified with Him, and made to sit together with Him on His throne." - Charles Spurgeon - from "They Eye of Faith"
The second one was from Psalm 100 which is for here and now, to enter into the gates of His sanctuary with thanksgiving and praise.

 

 Ps 100:4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.   NKJV

As you enter into the sanctuary of your church this weekend, look to the future, see sin cast out, sin and death destroyed, and your soul made perfect.  Set your eyes, your worldview on Jesus the author and finisher/perfecter of your faith.

 

Heb 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,   NKJV

 

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

 

John 10:10   I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.   NKJV

Blessings,
Mike

mikevw@bellsouth.net
mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Ps 100:1-101:1

100 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
3 Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.   NKJV