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Matthew 7:24-25

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.”

Personal Challenge

So, given the current situation that we are in across our country with two political candidates who are both obviously antithetical to what Christianity tells us to look for in a leader, what are we to do as we exercise our right, privilege, and responsibility to vote. First of all, none of the candidates (all four of them) are the Rock that we are to build our house on. Only Jesus can fill that role. Second, none of the candidates (all four of them) are perfect candidates, for they, just like all of the rest of us, are humans and therefore have sin in their lives. So, what are we to do? The first thing is to do our research to understand who of the four candidates will best represent us in the role of president. This research must go past the mainstream media for they have their own agenda. Secondly, we should spend time assessing our own hearts and seek to understand where we are in our relationship with our Lord as we move into the next step. At this point we can and must spend time in prayer, seeking our Father’s guidance on who He would have us cast our vote for. Who has demonstrated integrity and can be measured by the fruit of their labors throughout their lives? If the preponderance of the fruit looks rotten, smells rotten, and feels rotten, then it is rotten. This is not an easy election season, but we have never been told that living a Christian life is going to be easy. We must remember though that casting a vote is more than doing it to prevent someone else from getting into office we should cast a vote for the person that God has shown us to be the best candidate. Exercising this responsibility in a thoughtful, prayerful, and godly way is part of hearing the words of Christ, doing them, and building our house on the Rock.

Oh, and by the way…if you do not profess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and strive to live your life for Him, then you can forget this whole line of thinking…it doesn’t apply to you. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have merey! Lord, have Mercy!

Psalms 16:7-9 (15:7-9 LXX)

I will bless the Lord who caused me to understand;
Moreover, until night my reins also instructed me.
I saw the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.
Therefore my heart was glad,
And my tongue rejoiced exceedingly;
My flesh also shall dwell in hope.

Encouraging Words

There is a very interesting phrase is this text “until night my reins also instructed me.” Any form of training or instruction comes in the form of having the student constrained by reins so that the teacher can direct them to that place where the teaching can have its full effect. What a powerful image of seeing how God uses everything in our lives, both good and bad, both praise and correction, to guide us through our lives as a horseman would guide his steed by pulling on the reins. God does this in a gentle and loving way if we listen to Him. If we resist, then He must pull all that much harder to get us where He wants us to go. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have Mercy on me, the sinner!

Exodus 36:3-5

They received from Moses all the offerings the children of Israel brought for all the works for making the holy place, and they continued bringing him freewill offerings every morning. Then all the wise men who were doing all the work of the holy place came, each according to the work he was doing, and they spoke to Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the work the Lord commanded us to do.”

Personal Challenge

It amazes me how much can be accomplished in this world when God’s people act in alignment with His will. In the day of Moses, he was asked to build a tabernacle for God so that God could dwell amongst His people. Moses put the call out for the materials needed to the people of God and set aside the craftsmen to do the construction. In short time the craftsmen had to ask Moses to tell the people to stop because they had much more than the could ever use. Today’s modern church has yielded so much to letting the governments of this world take care of those in need that we no longer understand the principles of God about giving to Him so that His work can be completed. Missionaries go unfunded or have to operate on shoestring budgets. Churches must go into major debt to build their facilities. People impacted by major disasters go untaken care of while we, the members of the body of Christ see to our own wants. Lord, have Mercy! Lord, have Mercy! Lord, have Mercy!

Matthew 7:21

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”

Personal Challenge

Once again, Jesus reminds us that Christianity is not a “name it and claim it” religion or philosophy. I am not necessarily a true follower of Christ just because I know the right vocabulary and proclaim that I am a Christian. Is there true evidence in my life, what is often called fruit, that shows that I am doing the will of God. Am I showing love to my neighbor as well as my enemy? Am I actively reaching out to the hungry, the poor, the widow, and the orphan and giving of myself and of my possessions so that they can be lifted up. God does not want all of us to be martyrs and go to our physical death, but He does want us to be willing to do that for Him and for those whom He has lovingly created in His image. This becomes so much more than just calling out “Lord, Lord?” and expecting God to grant us everything that we want in this life and the life to come. God Wants me to be an active participate and distributor of His love for mankind. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have Mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 16:3 (15:3 LXX)

To the saints on His earth,
In them He magnified all His will.
Encouraging Words

It is so powerful knowing that the God of all creation has chosen to manifest His will to His saints here on earth. My daily readings recently have been taking me through the writings of Justin Martyr. He is one of our early church fathers that lived in the 2nd century. He was one of our original apologists (defends the faith) and many of his writings were arguments about the fallacy of the teachings and myths of the Greeks. The Greeks, like many other people groups throughout history, put their hope in gods that were very fickle and more like humans than gods. One common thread in all of these types of religions is that the gods never trust mankind. There is no way that they would magnify their wills into the lives of their subjects. This is because they are not truly gods and just myths. Our God, the creator of all, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, chooses to magnify His will in the lives of His saints. This means that He allows his will to be exercised by His saints here on earth so that He can be magnified. He knows that His saints will use His work in their lives do His work and not to overthrow Him or cause Him injury as so many of the mythical gods had done to them in their legends. Glory be to God!

Exodus 34:14

(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord God, a jealous name, is a jealous God),

Encouraging Words

Is it a bad thing that our God is a jealous God? Using today’s language to define what jealous is would make it a bad thing because we look at jealousy as a bad thing. But let’s look at one of the definitions according to Websters. “Vigilant in guarding a possession.” I love my wife! She is very precious to me and I would give my life up for her if the need arose. Out of that deep love for her, I will be vigilant in guarding and protecting her. You mess with her and you will answer to me! In this context, I am a jealous husband. This is how God is towards us as His children. He has given, continues to give, and always will give, all of Himself and His resources to His children. You mess with His beloved, His children, you mess with Him. And as part of that relationship that He has with us, He asks that we love Him and put Him first in our lives. He asks that we not put any substitutes in the form of idols between us and Hin. He knows that when we do that in our lines that we are setting ourselves up to be injured and hurt by those false gods and that breaks His heart. That is a jealousy born in love. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Matthew 7:15-16

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?”

Personal Challenge

We usually read this verse and apply it to those who would come into our churches teaching heresies and trying to break up the unity of the body of Christ. Granted, this does happen and if the members of the church are not well-grounded in the truths of God, they will be easily lead astray. However, there is another wolf in sheep’s clothing that can gain a foothold in our churches. It is those who do a good job as coming across as virtuous or religious and yet have not been willing to adopt and adhere to the teachings of the church that they are in. This outward display of virtue and religiosity can very easily entrap those who are new or young in the church and lead them astray. It is just as important to watch for these people and to counter their attempts to lead others, especially the new believers, astray, If we know the fruit that our Lord is expecting from all of us (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) then we will be able to identify these wolves and counter their work. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.

Psalm 15 (14 LXX)

O Lord, who shall dwell in Your tabernacle?
Who shall live in Your holy mountain?
He who walks blamelessly, and works righteousness,
And speaks truth in his heart,
Who does not deceive with his tongue,
Neither does evil to his neighbor;
And does not find fault with those nearest him.
He disdains those who do evil in his presence,
But he holds in honor those who fear the Lord;
He swears an oath to his neighbor and does not set it aside.
He does not lend his money at interest,
And he does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be shaken.

Personal Challenge

Who will ever be able to dwell in the presence of our Lord? Based on this Psalm, I know that I would never be able to, for I have never been able to do all of these things. But, by the grace of my Lord, through His mercy, and the work of His Son, Jesus Christ, the doors to this glorious, heavenly tabernacle have been opened to even sinners such as I. And through the work of the Holy Spirit within me, I can strive to live my life this way. Thank You, Jesus!