Jesus Is Truth: 10/1/08

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Blessings, inhisgloriousnameministries.blogspot.com

Christ Is God’s Word Of ‘Peace.’

Christ is God’s Word of ‘peace’ (Ephesians 2:13-14). Christ is for ‘the Jews’. Christ is for ‘the Gentiles’. There is one way of salvation. Jesus Christ is our Saviour. We must put our ‘faith’ in Him. Through Him, we have ‘peace with God’ (Romans 3:29-30; 5:1). God’s Word invites us to ‘call upon the Name of the Lord and be saved’ (Isaiah 58:9; Acts 2:21). In Christ, there is true ‘joy’ - ‘I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation...’ (Isaiah 58:14; 61:10). We rejoice in Jesus Christ. He is ‘the High and Exalted One’. He has come from His ‘high and holy place’. He has become ‘Emmanuel’, ‘God with us’. He is our peace and joy, our Saviour and our God’ (Isaiah 57:15; Matthew 1:21, 23; John 20:28).
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This is the twenty-sixth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

Gathered Together From Every Nation

‘My House will be called a House of prayer for all nations’ (Isaiah 56:7). God is gathering His people together ‘from every tribe and language and people and nation’ (Revelation 5:9). ‘Salvation comes from the Jews’, but it doesn’t end there - ‘The Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile (the rest of the world)’ (John 4:22; Romans 1:16). We were ‘foreigners’. Now, we are ‘no longer foreigners...’ (Isaiah 56:6; Ephesians 2:19). Christ has ‘broken down the dividing wall of hostility’. ‘We are no longer Jews or Gentiles’. ‘We are one in Christ Jesus’. Christ has ‘made the two one’. We ‘have been brought near through the blood of Christ’. We are ‘one body’ - Jews and Gentiles brought together ‘through the Cross’ of Christ (Ephesians 2:13-16; Galatians 3:28).
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This is the twenty-fifth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

Jesus Is Our Saviour. Jesus Is Our Lord.

Jesus is our Saviour - ‘Lord, You establish peace for us’; ‘We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’. We cannot save ourselves. We can only look away from ourselves to Jesus - and be saved by Him: ‘all that we have accomplished You have done for us’; ‘By grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God’ (Isaiah 26:12; Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:8). Jesus is our Lord - ‘Lord, our God... You alone are our Lord’. How are we to live once we have received salvation through faith in Jesus Christ? - ‘Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him’. We are not to ‘keep on sinning so that God can keep on showing us more and more kindness and forgiveness’. We are to live a life of ‘good works’ (Isaiah 26:13; Colossians 2:6; Romans 6:1; Ephesians 2:10).
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This is the twenty-fourth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

We Are Brought ‘Near’ To One Another Through ‘The Blood Of Christ.’

We are brought ‘near’ to one another through ‘the blood of Christ’. We must come to ‘the Cross’ of Christ. There, at ‘the Cross’, we will find each other. We will discover what it means to be ‘one body’ in Christ (Ephesians 2:13-16). When Satan comes, creating misunderstanding, filling our minds with suspicion and undermining our hopes of peace, let’s remind him of God’s Word, ‘You are all one in Christ Jesus’.
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This is the twenty-third post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

A Book Of Sayings

Order it online or at your favorite bookstore. Sayings From The Teton Mountains. A fun collection of great sayings.

ISBN 9781603831109

When God Looks On Us, He Does Not See Our Sin. He Sees Our Saviour.

When God looks on us, He does not see our sin. He sees our Saviour, His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He looks at us, and this is what He sees: ‘The blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin’ (1 John 1:7). Through faith in Christ, we are sinners, saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8). This is the beauty the Lord sees in us: ‘There is, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1). This is not our beauty. It’s His beauty!

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This is the twenty-second post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

God Has ‘Called Us Out Of Darkness Into His Marvellous Light.’

What a wonderful thing God has done for us in Christ. He has ‘called us out of darkness into His marvellous light’. Let us ‘declare His praises’, rejoicing in His great love, His rich mercy and His saving grace (1 Peter 2:9; Ephesians 2:4-5). Keep on rejoicing! There is light at the end of the tunnel - even when you have ‘to suffer grief in all kinds of trials’. Don`t lose sight of ‘the goal of your faith’ - ‘the salvation of your souls’ (1 Peter 1:6-9).

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This is the twenty-first post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

The Promise Of Grace And The Call To Faith

In Scripture, we have both the promise of grace and the call to faith: ‘By grace you have been saved’ (Ephesians 2:5), ‘Your faith has saved you’ (Luke 7:50), ‘Keep yourselves in the love of God’, ‘To Him who is able to keep you from falling’ (Jude 21, 24).
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This is the twentieth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

God ‘Blesses’ Us Through ‘His Word’. He ‘Blesses’ Us In ‘The Spirit.’

In Christ, we are ‘being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit’ (Ephesians 2:22). The Lord draws us to Himself. He brings us into fellowship with His people. He calls us to worship Him: ‘Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving’. He ‘blesses’ us through ‘His Word’. He ‘blesses’ us in ‘the Spirit’: ‘He sends His Word... and the waters flow’ (Psalm 147:7, 12-13, 18; John 7:37-39).

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This is the nineteenth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

Salvation Cannot Be Earned. It Can Only Be Received As A Gift.

Ask the question concerning salvation - ‘What must I do to be saved?’. God will give you His answer - ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved’ (2 Timothy 3:15; Psalm 119:18; Acts 16:31). Salvation cannot be earned. It can only be received as a gift. It is ‘the gift of God’ (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8).
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This is the eighteenth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

‘A Dwelling Place Of God In The Spirit’

‘You are God’s temple… God’s Spirit lives in you… God’s temple is holy… you are that temple… your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you… We are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will live among them…’(1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16). ‘A dwelling place of God in the Spirit’ - That’s what you are (Ephesians 2:22)!

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This is the seventeenth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

How Can We Be Changed?

In ourselves, we are not ‘mighty men’ (2 Samuel 23:8-9). How can we be changed? - ‘The Lord wrought a great victory’ (2 Samuel 23:10, 12). Which of us can be described as ‘a valiant man… a doer of great deeds’ (2 Samuel 23:20) - apart from the grace of God? ‘By grace you have been saved…’ (Ephesians 2:8-10).

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This is the sixteenth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

The Greatest Love Of All

In ourselves, we are ‘lost’. In Christ, we are ‘found’. In ourselves, we are ‘dead’. In Christ, we are ‘made alive’ (Luke 15:21,24; Ephesians 2:1,5). In Christ, we see God’s love. Through Christ, we receive God’s forgiveness. Christ does not leave us ‘out on a limb’. He is preparing a place for us - in His Father’s House (John 14:1-3). This is love - without limits!

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This is the fifteenth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

Building on Jesus Christ

Learning from ‘the apostles and prophets’, we build on God’s Foundation, ‘Jesus Christ’ (Ephesians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 3:11).

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This is the fourteenth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

Saved By Grace Through Faith For Good Works

We are not saved by grace apart from faith. We are ‘saved by grace through faith’. We are not saved by faith without grace. We are ‘saved by grace through faith’. Saved by the Lord, let us press on to a life of ‘good works’ (Ephesians 2:8-10).

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This is the thirteenth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

Maintain Your High Calling.

Maintain your high calling - Don’t get dragged down to the level of those who ‘will not come up’ to where God wants them to be - and remember: ‘By grace... not your own doing... the gift of God’ (Ephesians 2:8).

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This is the twelfth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

The Pathway To Holiness

'The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly... in Christ Jesus' (1 Timothy 1:14). This is the pathway to holiness: 'By grace you have been saved through faith... for good works' (Ephesians 2:8-10).

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This is the eleventh post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

Made Alive in Christ

‘Dead in trespasses and sins’, we have been ‘made alive’ in Christ (Ephesians 2:1). We dare not look back (Luke 17:32; Genesis 19:26; Luke 9:62; 2 Peter 2:20-22). We have been purified ‘from dead works to serve the living God’ (Hebrews 9:14). Christ ‘saves to the uttermost’. How dare we ‘shrink back’ from Him? ‘Have faith. Be saved’ (Hebrews 7:25; 10:39).

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This is the tenth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

May God Help Us To Lead People To Christ.

A ‘Moabitess’, Ruth was brought into the house of Israel (Ruth 4:10-11). In Christ, Jew and Gentile become one (Ephesians 2:11-18). Ruth played her part in leading us to Christ (Ruth 4:13-17; Matthew 1:1,5-6). May God help us to lead people to Christ.

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This is the ninth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

Salvation Is God's Gift.

Consider your own weakness. Rejoice in God’s power. Never say, ‘My own hand delivered me’. Our testimony must always be this: ‘...God has given...’ (Judges 7:2, 14). ‘It is the gift of God...lest any man should boast’ (Ephesians 2:8-9).

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This is the eighth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

Christ Changes Everything.

We look at ourselves, and we say, ‘We perish, we are lost, we are dead’ (Numbers 17:12). We look to Christ, and everything changes (John 3:16; Luke 19:10; Ephesians 2:1).
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This is the seventh post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

‘We Have Peace With God Through Our Lord Jesus Christ.’

‘We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Romans 5:1). We look to Christ, and we say, ‘He is our peace’ (Ephesians 2:14). Christ is ‘our sin offering’ - ‘offered... to bear the sins of many (Leviticus 4:3; Hebrews 9:28). The ‘blood’ has been shed - We have been ‘washed... in the blood of the Lamb’ (Leviticus 4:5-7; Revelation 7:14).
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This is the sixth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

‘Brought Near In The Blood Of Christ’

Our sin had separated us from God, hiding His face from us (Isaiah 59:2). When Christ died, ‘the curtain of the temple was torn in two...’ (Mark 15:37-38). He has changed everything (Hebrews 9:7-8,11-12). Once, we were ‘separated... alienated... strangers... far off’. Now, we are ‘in Christ Jesus’ - ‘brought near in the blood of Christ’ (Ephesians 2:12-13; Hebrews 10:19-22).

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This is the fifth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

We Come To The Father Through Christ And In The Spirit.

We come to the Father through Christ and in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:18). We come on the basis of Christ’s blood shed for us (Hebrews 10:19-22). We come as those to whom the Spirit has been given (John 1:33; 3:34). With ‘the Spirit of God’ living in us and helping us as we pray, let us feast on Christ, the Truth, the living Word, to whom the written and spoken words point us (Romans 8:9,26; John 14:6; 1:1,14; 17:17).

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This is the fourth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

Saved By Grace, Let Us Shine For Christ.

Through Christ, we have received ‘mercy’ (Ephesians 2:4-7; Titus 3:4-7). Those who have received ‘mercy’ are to shine brightly for Christ, who ‘came... to save sinners’ (1 Timothy 1:15).

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This is the third post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

Saved By Grace, We Are Saved To The Uttermost.

We are ‘saved by grace’ (Ephesians 2:8). There is one way of salvation - God’s way (John 14:6). Jesus says, ‘I died and... I am alive for evermore’ (Revelation 1:18). He says, ‘I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also’ (John 14:3). Christ saves ‘to the uttermost’ (Hebrews 7:25).

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This is the second post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

Saved By Grace

There can be no ‘salvation by works’. We are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). Our giving must always be a heartfelt expression of thanksgiving to the God of grace: ‘Loving Him who first loved me’. We are saved ‘to do good works’ (Ephesians 2:10) - not because we do good works!

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This is the first post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

Links To Some Recent Posts From My "Christ In All The Scriptures" Blog

I hope you'll find something of interest in these recent articles from my blog. The post entitled, "New Life in the Son - A Time for Salvation" is a link to a sermon I preached recently.
Every Blessing.
Charlie

Listen To What God Is Saying. Do What He Says.

God spoke (Numbers 1:1). His people obeyed (Numbers 1:54). This is the constant pattern of the life of the life of faith. We hear the Word of God. We obey the Word of God. The names of God’s people differ from place to place. The pattern of their life remains the same.

We find the same pattern in Numbers 2. God speaks (Numbers 2:1). His people obey (Numbers 2:34).

The pattern is also repeated in Numbers 3 and 4. Both of these chapters begin with God’s Word (Numbers 3:1; 4:1). They end with our obedience (Numbers 3:51; 4:49).

When we read so much that is unfamiliar to us, we must look for the Word that comes to us in our present day as a Word from the Lord, who is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Hear and obey. Listen to what God is saying. Do what He has said.

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This post is taken from my notes on Numbers.

Links to Some More Messages From God's Word

Let Leviticus 16 Lead You To The Saviour.

God is 'holy'. We cannot 'draw near' and 'come' to Him without a 'sin offering' (1-3). We cannot bring 'a sin offering' to Him. We can only bring our sin: Our righteousness is 'like filthy rags' (Isaiah 64:6). There is a 'way' for sinners to 'draw near' to God: Christ is the true and living Way (John 14:6; Hebrews 10:19-22). In verses 20-22, we have a great picture of Christ bearing the sin of the world: 'Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned He stood... Full atonement, - Yes it is! Hallelujah! What a Saviour!’(Church Hymnary, 380). Atonement has been made for us...We have been cleansed from all our sins (30): What a perfect atonement! What a perfect Saviour! - 'God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ' (Galatians 6:14).

If We Are To Find Treasure, We Must Dig Deep.

On reading the book of Leviticus, we are struck by the strangeness of it all. It all seems so different from anything we have ever known. Are we, then, to conclude that we have nothing in common with those who worshipped the God of Israel in these far-off Old Testament times? Are we to abandon the Old Testament, especially the most difficult parts, as a waste of time?

Many people have done exactly that. They hardly ever read the Bible. When they do read the Bible, they restrict themselves to a few favourite passages. The treasures of art, architecture, music and literature are not discovered by the casual observer. It is precisely the same with the treasures of God’s Word. We must not settle for the passing glance. If we are to find treasure, we must dig for it. We must dig deep.

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This post is taken from my notes on Leviticus.

Circumstances Change. God Doesn't Change!

Circumstances change. God does not change. Joseph was no longer there. God was still there. Joseph had become part of the past. God was making plans for the future. Joseph had been a highly significant man within the history of Israel. Now, the scene was set for the emergence of a new spiritual leader, a man of even greater importance within the history of God’s people. That man was Moses. It was a new situation. There was to be a new spiritual leader. Joseph’s time had ended. Moses’ time was about to begin. It was a new situation, a situation which required a new leader. The arrival of Moses was not immediate. Nevertheless, the perfect plan of God was in process. God was at work. He was preparing His people for Moses. He was preparing Moses for his God-given work of leadership.
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This post is taken from my notes on Exodus.

Questions And Answers (8)

‘Where is bread and wine?’ This is the question of the seeking heart. To those who are truly seeking, Jesus says, ‘You will find’ (Matthew 7:7). Why do we start asking the seeker’s question? His love lays hold on us. What do we find when we truly seek? His love. The love which prompted us to seek is the love which we find in Jesus Christ. Evangelism, when it is truly God-centred, will also be Christ-centred. Evangelism, which is both God-centred and Christ-centred, becomes effective through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is witness for Christ, which is grounded in walking in the Spirit. True evangelism is grounded in care and prayer. If we truly desire to see the mighty blessing of God in our day, we must care for those who are living without Christ, and we must pray for them. Caring and praying - both are vital if we are to be really used by the Lord to bring his blessing into the lives of others. Caring for those who have yet to find the Saviour, we invite them to consider the question of 1:12 - ‘Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?’ Praying for them, we pray that they will ask the seeker’s question - ‘Where is bread and wine?’ (2:12). Caring and praying, we are - by our lives and our words - to invite men and women to consider Jesus Christ and to discover for themselves what he can do in their lives. As we seek to be faithful to God in our Christian walk and witness, we will discover - despite all the difficulties facing the Christian Faith and the Christian Church - the great truth which lies at the heart of Lamentations - ‘Great is thy faithfulness.’
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This is the sixteenth post in a series on Lamentations.

Questions And Answers (7)

We proclaim the God of love, the God who sent his Son ‘to seek and to save the lost’ (Luke 19:10). God has not changed. He is still the God of love. He still calls out to the lost, ‘Where are you?’. In love, he still invites the sinner to return to him. His love is a yearning love, a passionate love, a love which says to the indifferent: ‘Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?’. His love for us is a love which draws out from our hearts a returning love - 'Loving him who first loved me.' Touched by the love of God, the modern questioner finds that the character of his questioning begins to change. The question of the unbeliever gives way to the question of the seeker: ‘Where is bread and wine?’ There is a hunger and thirst which the world cannot satisfy, a hunger and thirst which can be satisfied only by the One whose body was broken for us and whose blood was shed for us. ‘Where is bread and wine?’ It is not the ‘bread’ and ‘wine’ of this world, which satisfies the deepest need of the human heart. It is Jesus Christ ‘the bread of Life’ (John 6:48), ‘the true vine’ (John 15:1).
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This is the fifteenth post in a series on Lamentations.

Questions And Answers (6)

We must reckon with the activity of Satan when we encounter the questioning which arises from unbelief - ‘the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 4;4). How is the problem of unbelief to be overcome? Unbelief gives way to faith, only when God is at work in the human heart: ‘it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the glory of God in the face of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 4:6). The emergence of faith in the human heart is the work of ‘the Lord, who made heaven and earth’ (Psalm 121:2). If we are to combat unbelief effectively, our evangelism must be God-centred.
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This is the fourteenth post in a series on Lamentations.

Questions And Answers (5)

The Bible’s first question was asked by neither God nor man. It was asked by ‘the serpent’ - ‘that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan’ (Revelation 20:2). We do not introduce the devil here in order to provide ourselves with an excuse for our unbelief. After all, scripture tells us that ‘each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire’ (James 1:14). Rather, we speak of Satan’s question - ‘Did God say?’ in order to emphasize that many of today’s questions arise from unbelief, and not from faith seeking understanding. We speak of the Satanic origin of the Bible’s first question in order to stress that, in today’s world, we are involved in spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:12), when we seek to bring the modern questioner from one form of questioning - the questioning of unbelief - to another very different form of questioning - faith seeking understanding.
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This is the thirteenth post in a series on Lamentations.

Questions And Answers (4)

We may now focus special attention on two of the questions asked in Lamentations ‘Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?’ (1:12), and ‘Where is bread and wine?’ (2:12). We read these questions in connection with two other questions, the first two questions asked in the Bible: ‘the serpent ... said to the woman, “Did God say ... ?” ’ (Genesis 3:1), and ‘the Lord God called to the man..., “Where are you?” ‘ (Genesis 3:9). Taking these four questions together, we may find a helpful pattern for thinking about Christian witness in today’s world.
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This is the twelfth post in a series on Lamentations.

Questions And Answers (3)

As we face modern man’s questions, we must ‘be ready always to give an answer to every man who asks us to give a reason for our hope’ (1 Peter 3:15). In giving an answer, we dare not imagine that we can ever hope to give a complete answer to every question. We must always remember that ‘the secret things belong to the Lord our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us’ (Deuteronomy 29:29). The answer which we give is not our answer. It is God’s answer. Man’s question has been answered by God. He has answered it in person. The God of faithfulness - the Word made flesh (John 1:1, 14) - is God’s answer to mans question. The answer which we give must always be a Christ-centred answer.
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This is the eleventh post in a series on Lamentations.

Questions And Answers (2)

Moving into the third chapter, we find this trilogy of questions at vs. 37-39: ‘Who has commanded and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and evil come? Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?’ There are so many different questions being asked today. They are being asked by different people. They are being asked in different ways and with different expectations. What do the question of Lamentations have to say to our day, a day of many questions? They may prompt the modern questioner to think about the question he’s not asking as well as the questions he is asking - ‘Perhaps, there is a God who has his own questions to put to me.’ Lamentations asks its questions within the context of the great declaration of faith: ‘Great is thy faithfulness’ (3:23). This combination of intense questioning and confident faith might well increase the questioner’s expectation of an answer - an answer which while it may leave some questions unresolved, opens the doors to faith.
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This is the tenth post in a series on Lamentations.

Questions And Answers (1)

How are we to bring good news to a world that is living with questions, a world that shows little inclination to believe the confession of faith - ‘Thou, O Lord, doest reign for ever’ - and little interest in praying the fervent prayer - ‘Restore us to thyself, O Lord’? This is a question which calls for a practical response. It demands a response which will take into account the questions which men and women are asking in this generation. To speak of questions - some spoken in the context of prayer and faith, and others asked with little expectation of an answer - is to acknowledge that there are many different types of questions. This may be brought out clearly through a brief review of the questions asked in the Book of Lamentations. In 1:12, we have a question put to those who despise the Lord’s people, ‘Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?’ In 2:12, there is the question asked by ‘infants and babes faint(ing) in the streets of the city’. (2:11) ‘Where is bread and wine?’ In 2:13, there are questions which raise the question of the comfort and restoration of a fallen people: ‘What can I say for you, to what compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What can I liken to you that may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For vast as the sea is your ruin; who can restore you?’ The question of the cynics who ‘hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem’ is found in 2:15 - ‘Is this the city which was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?’. In 2:20, we have questions asked in the mood of prayerful moral indignation: ‘Look, O Lord, and see! With whom hast thou dealt thus? Should women eat their offspring, the children of their tender care? Should priest and prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?’
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This is the ninth post in a series on Lamentations.

'Restore Us To Thyself, O Lord.'

Surprising though it may seem, the Book of Lamentations can be of some value in the preaching of the gospel. A book bearing the unlikely title - ‘Lamentations’ - hardly creates the impression that it will be of any real use in the proclamation of ‘good news’. The desolation of God’s people in the twenty first century is so reminiscent of the desolation of which we read in Lamentations. Many watch what is going on in our generation, and they wonder, ‘Where is the Word of the Lord’ in all this? (Jeremiah 17:15) The sadness which pervades so much of Lamentations reflects the mood of many of the Lord’s people in our day - longing for better times, for the ‘days ... of old’ (5:21). Ours is an age of many questions and, so it seems, few answers. Lamentations is a book which ends with questions, ‘Why dost thou forget us for ever, why dost thou so long forsake us? ... Or hast thou utterly rejected us? Art thou exceedingly angry with us?’ (5:20, 22). So often, modern man expects no answer to his questions. In Lamentations, these questions are set in the context of believing affirmation - ‘But thou, O Lord, dost reign for ever; thy throne endures to all generations’ (5:19) - and earnest prayer - ‘Restore us to thyself, O Lord, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old!’ (5:21).
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This is the eighth post in a series on Lamentations.

With God's Help

We all have those mountains in life that when faced with can make life seem very trying. Finances, family situations, health issues, sin, temptations, and the lists goes on and on.

It doesn't matter how small or how big the mountains are. It doesn't matter how smooth or how rugged the path is. Prayer helps us to overcome the mountains of life. Prayer invites God into our situations.

Therefore, when faced with the mountains of life, pray. Ask God for guidance and to empower you to overcome.

You may visit our other sites and blogs at:
inhisgloriousnameministriesonline.blogspot.com

The Lord Is My Portion.

Through the faithful love of God, we are given a testimony: ‘The Lord is my portion’. With this testimony, we face the future with the courage of faith: ‘I will hope in him’ (3:24). In our walk with God, this testimony - ‘The Lord is my portion’ - is an expression of the joyful faith which finds its true satisfaction in the Lord. We speak of ‘a good portion’ and ‘a satisfying meal’. Those who have found that ‘none but Christ can satisfy’ have this testimony: ‘The Lord is my portion’. Assured of God’s faithful love - a love which is completely trustworthy, utterly reliable and entirely dependable, we confidently affirm, ‘The Lord is my portion’. This faith is no secondhand faith. It may be a faith which reflects on the Lord’s dealing with the whole body of his people but it is, nevertheless, a personal faith - ‘The Lord is my portion’. In Christ, we have received the full portion of God’s blessing. As ‘his sons (and daughters) through Jesus Christ’, we have received ‘every spiritual blessing’ (Ephesians 1:4-5). For once, the ‘child’s portion’ is the ‘full portion!’ Knowing Christ as ‘the bread of life’ (John 6:35) and ‘the living water’ (John 4:10, 13-14 and John 7:37-38), we gladly say ‘The Lord is my portion’. Those who have begun to walk with God are also to witness for him. Those who have the personal testimony ‘The Lord is my portion’ - are to say to others, ‘O taste and see that the Lord is good’ (Psalm 34:8). We have found Christ. We are to share him with others. We have come to know Christ. We are to make him known.
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This is the seventh post in a series on Lamentations.

"Renew Our Days As Of Old!"

Strengthened in faith, we pray, ‘Renew our days as of old!’ The restoration and renewal for which we must pray is the restoration of our walk with God - 'He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake’ (Psalm 23:3) - and the renewal of our witness for God - ‘Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee?’ (Psalm 85:6). Walking with God and witnessing for God, we are sustained by the joy of the Lord. In this Book with such an unpromising name - ‘Lamentations’ - the joy of the Lord comes shining through. Looking beyond our circumstances to the Lord, we are able, with joy, to affirm our faith: ‘The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end’ (3:22). The steadfast love of the Lord may also be described as his faithful love. His love is love, unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable. Rejoicing in such love, we praise God’s faithfulness: ‘Great is thy faithfulness’ (3:23).
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This is the sixth post in a series on Lamentations.

God's Throne Endures To All Generations.

God is still on the throne. For ever, he reigns. His throne endures to all generations. This is the faith which inspired Israel in their captivity. This is the faith which inspires us in the twenty-first century. It is the faith which transforms our feelings. By faith, we bring our feelings to God. Like Israel, we may feel forgotten and forsaken (5:20). In God’s presence, we exchange our feelings - forgotten and forsaken - for his blessings - restoration and renewal: ‘Restore us to thyself, O Lord ... Renew our days as of old!’ (5:21) In the Lord’s presence, we become convinced of God’s faithfulness. He has not forgotten us, and he will not forget us. He has not forsaken us, and he will not forsake us. In our prayer for restoration and renewal, we bring our circumstances and feelings to God, refusing to be overwhelmed by them. We pray with urgency, conscious of our great need of restoration and renewal. Prisoners of circumstances and feelings, we pray - with faith - that the chains will start falling and the changes will start happening. In prayer, we look back - with thanksgiving - to past blessings, and we look forward - in hope - to future blessing. We remember what God has done in ‘days ... of old’, and our faith grows - God reigns for ever and his throne endures to all generations.

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This is the fifth post in a series on Lamentations.

God Is Still On The Throne.

Israel’s difficulty in singing the Lord’s song is emphasized by the sad fact that ‘Mount Zion ... lies desolate’ (5:8). This is the situation, which is described in Psalm 137:1 - ‘By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion’. In this situation, the ‘tormentors’ of God’s people mockingly say, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ (Psalm 137:3). When we are faced with similar circumstances, we are forced to ask, ‘How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?’ How are we to do this? Are we to hide our heads in the sand, run away from our difficult circumstances and escape into pious emotion? This is what we must not do. We must face our circumstances honestly. This is realism. We dare not ignore the reality of our situation. There is, however, another reality of which we must take account - the reality of God, the God concerning whom we say, with faith, ‘Great is thy faithfulness’. By faith, we look beyond our circumstances to our God: ‘But thou, O Lord, dost reign for ever; thy throne endures to all generations’ (5:19). To believe in God’s faithfulness is to believe that his ‘throne endures to all generations.’ God is still on the throne.
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This is the fourth post in a series on Lamentations.

New Life In The Son - A Time For Salvation (Ecclesiastes 3:1-14)

Here's a link to a sermon I preached recently.

I hope that God will bless you through the preaching of His Word.

How Shall We Sing The Lord’s Song In A Foreign Land?

How are we to live for Christ in the twenty-first century? We must live with realism, and we must live by faith. We need realism if we are to look honestly at our present circumstances. Looking beyond those circumstances calls for faith - faith in the God of great faithfulness. The Church’s present situation is aptly yet sadly described in the words - ‘How the gold has grown dim’ (4:1). We can come to God only in confession of sin ― ‘O Lord ... see our disgrace’ (5:1). We look at our secularized society, and we acknowledge that ‘our inheritance has been turned over to strangers’ (5:2). We look at the secularization of the Church, and we acknowledge that ‘our homes (have been turned over) to aliens’ (5:2). We look into our own hearts and lives, and we acknowledge that ‘the joy of our hearts has ceased; (and) our dancing has been turned to mourning’ (5:15). In the world of today and the Church of today, it is not easy to rejoice in our hearts. It is even more difficult to be joyful in testifying for the Lord. We must seek a positive answer to the question, ‘How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?’ (Psalm 137:4).
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This is the third post in a series on Lamentations.

Some new posts at my “Christ in all the Scriptures” blog

God Is Faithful. He Will Revive His Work.

We could easily miss the five chapters of Lamentations. Hidden away between the fifty two chapters of Jeremiah and the forty eight chapters of Ezekiel, they hardly catch the eye. The title - Lamentations - hardly grabs our attention. It would be a great pity - for us - if we overlooked this testimony to God’s faithfulness. Here, we have a message of great contemporary relevance. Lamentations was written at a time, strikingly similar to our own day. God’s people had been taken captive. They lived in an alien environment. This is the story of our own nation in the first decade of the twentieth-first century. We live in a secularized society, a society in which there is little sense of God’s presence. Our society is a materialistic society, a society which has made money its ‘god’. The people of God are a people under pressure. We are tempted to become prisoners of our circumstances, prisoners of our feelings. We look at our circumstances, and we feel ‘desolate’ (1:4) and ‘despised’ (1:11). In our discouragement, we cry to God: ‘O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!’ (1:9). What did God say to Israel in their time of distress? He spoke to them of his great faithfulness, his readiness to revive his work. This is the message which we must hear in our day. It is a message which will draw out from our hearts that great confession of faith - ‘Great is thy faithfulness’.
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This is the second post in a series on Lamentations.

Human Sadness And Divine Faithfulness

The title - Lamentations - suggests human sadness. There is, however, something else here - divine faithfulness. At the heart of this short book, we find this great declaration - ‘Great is thy faithfulness’ (3:23). Knowing God as the God of great faithfulness involves looking beyond our circumstances and our feelings. Israel’s circumstances were depressing. Jerusalem had fallen. The Temple had been destroyed. Depression seemed to be the mood of the moment. Humanly speaking, things did not look good. Israel had known better times. The Lord’s people had wandered from the Lord. The people of God knew little of the power of God. This was not, however, the whole story. The faithful God had not given up on his wayward people. He assured them that they would again have good reason to say - ‘Great is thy faithfulness.’
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This is the first post in a series on Lamentations.

"Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread."

Jeremiah 52:1-34
We need ‘a portion for each day... all the days of our life’(34). When we pray, ‘Give us this day our daily bread’, we must look beyond our physical need for food. We must remember our spiritual need for ‘the Bread of life’: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God’(Matthew 6:11; John 6:35; Luke 4:4). Day-by day, we should pray for spiritual feeding: ‘Break Thou the Bread of life, dear Lord to me, as Thou didst break the bread beside the sea. Beyond the sacred page I seek Thee, Lord. My spirit longs for Thee, Thou living Word! Thou art the Bread of life, O Lord, to me, Thy holy Word the truth that saveth me. Give me to eat and live with Thee above. Teach me to love Thy truth, for Thou art love’(Mission Praise, 64).
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com

God’s Word Is Not To Be Kept Within The Place Of Worship.

Jeremiah 51:34-64
‘When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud’(61). God’s Word is not to be kept within the place of worship. We are to take His Word to ‘Babylon’. We must speak His Word in the places where He is not worshipped. We are to call people to turn from their sinful ways. We are to call them to return to the Lord. This will not be an easy message to speak. Many people won’t want to hear it. We must warn people that by neglecting God’s salvation, they are placing themselves in danger of His judgment. We must speak of the Day when everyone of us must ‘answer’ to God concerning the way we have lived our lives (Hebrews 2:3; 4:13). We must call on people to ‘believe in the Lord Jesus’ and ‘be saved’(Acts 16:31).
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com

Trust and Obey. There’s No Other Way To Be Happy In Jesus.

Jeremiah 51:1-33
‘Lift up a banner in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations!’(27). God calls us to be His witnesses. If we are growing in our fellowship with the Lord, we will want others to know what they’re missing. We will want them to know how much blessing they could know - if they put their faith in Christ and began to walk with Him day-by-day. Let us give our testimony: ‘The Lord is my Banner’, ‘His banner over me is love’(Exodus 17:15; Song of Solomon 2:4). Let us make sure that our ‘trumpet’ gives out ‘a clear call’, calling people to come to Christ. We must point them to Christ, calling them to trust Him as Saviour and obey Him as Lord. We must show them the way to true happiness: ‘Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey’(Mission Praise, 760).
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com