Monthly Archives: September 2017

Glory To God In The Highest??? Bible Ballistics: BBs #391

06 Wednesday Sep 2017

Posted by in Abundant Life In Jesus, Confidence, Jesus Is The Only Way!, Praise God Today!, Salvation, The Only Way, The Word, TODAY, Walking With Jesus

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Bible Ballistics: BBs  #391   Glory To God In The Highest???

 

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:14

I know it’s just September, but any time is the time to praise God for the gift of HIS Son Jesus, who came that we might have salvation and abundant life; but “peace on earth”? And what about “good will toward men”? What about the “glory”? We see strife, hatred and conflict on every hand, and unequalled disasters going on all about us. Where’s the “peace”? Where’s the “glory”? Where’s the “good will”?

Well, the answer is simple—it is all found IN Jesus! He is the “glory” of God; He is the “peace” of God; He is the “good will” of God toward a lost and sinful people! He is all of this and more; it is why Jesus came, to purchase eternal life for man at Calvary, to offer the ‘new birth’ to all who will believe! Let’s peruse just a few of the scriptures that remind us of HIS glory, grace and love toward us, so you can rejoice with me today!!!

“God, who at sundry times

and in divers manners

spake in time past

unto the fathers

by the prophets,

2 Hath in these last days

spoken unto us

by his Son,

whom he hath appointed heir

of all things,

by whom also he made the worlds;

3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things

by the word of his power,

when he had by himself purged our sins,

sat down

on the right hand

of the Majesty on high;”    Hebrews 1:1-3

This very Son of God, came and took on flesh to pay the penalty for sin, for all who will come to Him in repentance and faith—trusting to His finished work on the cross to not only pay our ‘sin debt’, but also to impart to us the new birth, new life IN Him! Jesus came that we might “….have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (See John 10:10) This one, who IS God, came to die for you and me. Even the prophet Daniel foretold of His position and glory, this ‘Son of Man’ and ‘Son of God’ who was promised by God The Father.

“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”   Daniel 7:13-14

He has the glory, and He shares His ‘glory’, His ‘peace’ and His ‘good will’ as ‘God with us’—with all who will believe and receive Him and His sacrificial, atoning death for sin.

“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you

through the knowledge of God,

and of Jesus our Lord,

3 According as his divine power hath given

unto us

all things

that pertain unto life

and godliness,

through the knowledge of him

that hath called us to glory

and virtue:

4 Whereby are given

unto us

exceeding great

and precious promises:

that by these

ye might be partakers

of the divine nature,

having escaped the corruption

that is in the world

through lust.”     2 Peter 1:2-4

Amen and Amen! What glorious gifts of grace and love The Father has bestowed upon us through The Son. But there’s even more—He gives us peace. Not only the peace ‘of’ God, but peace ‘with’ God, the restoration of relationship and fellowship of fallen mankind with The Holy God Almighty of the universe!

“Therefore being justified by faith,

we have peace with God

through our Lord Jesus Christ:

2 By whom also we have access

by faith

into this grace

wherein we stand,

and rejoice in hope

of the glory of God…

…5 And hope maketh not ashamed;

because the love of God

is shed abroad

in our hearts

by the Holy Ghost

which is given unto us.

6 For when we were yet without strength,

in due time

Christ died

for the ungodly.

7 For scarcely for a righteous man

will one die:

yet peradventure for a good man

some would even dare to die.

8 But God

commendeth his love

toward us,

in that,

while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us.”    Romans 5:1-2, 5-8

Oh what a glory! Oh what joy we ought to have in our hearts and on our faces—Jesus has given us new life, the ‘hope of glory’, He has given us ‘peace with God’ and He has given us the ‘good will’ of God Almighty in His love:

“toward us,

in that,

while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us.”

So friends, I rejoice again today and will repeat it endlessly, regardless of the season!!!

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace,

good will toward men.”

Amen and Amen. Won’t you rejoice with me today?

Unexpected Interruptions??? Bible Ballistics: BBs #390

01 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by in Confidence, Faithful is He that has Promised!, I Will Never Leave You, Praise God Today!, The Word, TODAY, Today and Forever, Trials, Troubles, Unexpected Interruptions, Walking With Jesus

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Bible Ballistics: BBs  #390   Unexpected Interruptions???

 

We all have “un”expected interruptions, as an old Yiddish proverb says “Man plans, God laughs!” and that’s a pretty accurate observation. We are so busy making “plans” that we often forget to ‘live’ our lives, particularly to ‘live’ them for God, seeking His will and desire for our every step.

The prophet Jeremiah called his people to repent and turn to God for some 40 years, with very little response. He called them to return to their God and avoid God’s judgment of the coming Babylonian captivity, but to no avail—they just kept right on doing their own thing; making their own ‘plans’ with no regard for the God they claimed as their own! As I’m often wont to say, “Saying so, doesn’t make it so!” We must examine our plans, and seek to pursue the ways, plans and will of God—for He knows what lies ahead. As another prophet penned (Daniel after the fall of Jerusalem, in Babylonian captivity, as a servant of Nebuchadnezzar the king) in Daniel 2:20-22:

“Daniel answered and said,

Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever:

for wisdom and might are his:

21 And he changeth the times

and the seasons:

he removeth kings,

and setteth up kings:

he giveth wisdom

unto the wise,

and knowledge

to them that know understanding:

22 He revealeth

the deep and secret things:

he knoweth what is in the darkness,

and the light dwelleth with him.”

Daniel was praising God for answered prayer, and in his praise he rehearses the character of God for us. Jeremiah warned the people of the coming judgment, but also the mercy that God wanted to bestow upon them. Yet even in His judgment of sin and the discipline of His own people, God’s desire is for our good and His glory. Exactly what Jeremiah reminded the people of as He preached of the perfect goodness of God to all who would come to HIM!

“For I know the thoughts

that I think toward you,

saith the LORD,

thoughts of peace,

and not of evil,

to give you an expected end.

12 Then shall ye call upon me,

and ye shall go

and pray unto me,

and I will hearken

unto you.

13 And ye shall seek me,

and find me,

when ye shall search

for me

with all your heart.”    Jeremiah 29:11-13

So often this passage is taken out of context, and while God does have good things for us, it’s not always what we would pick! God is interested in our ‘holiness’ not our ‘happiness’: happiness is always connected to circumstances, holiness is spiritual in nature and reveals the desire of God to mature us, and bring us into an intimate relationship with Him. And when we learn to recognize the hand of God in all things, we will gain a confidence and maturity that can sustain us through any trial or detour! God calls us to “seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart”, but we are often too distracted with our own plans to “seek” Him! But following God’s way is always the best and always the most rewarding, although it will almost always be the way of the ‘greatest’ resistance—the world won’t like the one who faithfully stands with and for God!

“Let the wicked forsake his way,

and the unrighteous man his thoughts:

and let him return unto the LORD,

and he will have mercy upon him;

and to our God,

for he will abundantly pardon.

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,

saith the LORD.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways,

and my thoughts than your thoughts.”    Isaiah 59:7-9

Oh to understand the things that God wants to teach us! Oh to learn to follow Him expecting the unexpected; to go where He leads regardless of the interruption; to declare with the Psalmist that our steps are ‘ordered’ by The Lord—expected or not!

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.” Psalm 37:23-24

“And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.”   Isaiah 30:21

Wherever you are walking today, remember that if things turn around, seek God and look for His Hand, He is at work for our good and His glory!!! Things aren’t always what you think they are. God is working that which will produce “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”!

“For all things are for your sakes,

that the abundant grace

might through the thanksgiving

of many

redound to the glory of God.

16 For which cause we faint not;

but though our outward man perish,

yet the inward man

is renewed day by day.

17 For our light affliction,

which is but for a moment,

worketh for us

a far more exceeding

and eternal

weight of glory;

18 While we look not

at the things which are seen,

but at the things which are not seen:

for the things which are seen

are temporal;

but the things which are not seen

are eternal.”   2 Corinthians 4:15-18

So remember today, what you see isn’t really what you get—God’s glory is so real and we must keep “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith”; (See Hebrews 12:2), knowing that God is working ‘all things’ for our good, that we might “be conformed to the image of his Son”!!! Amen and Amen! (See Romans 8:28-29) Just keep following Jesus—through the expected and the “un”expected!!! Whatever is going on, it hasn’t caught God by surprise!!!