Bible Ballistics: What Joyfulness??    Vol. 5 #03

We talk a lot about Christians having “JOY” and I’d like us to examine our perspective of real “JOY”. Is there a difference between happiness and ‘joy’, and if there is what is the difference?

Happy: feeling or showing contentment or pleasure….to be satisfied with someone or something…..fortunate and convenient.

Happiness: the state of being happy.

Happiness by definition relates to our circumstances and conditions, and/or those around us. If we have good things going on in our lives and around us, we then can be happy about those things: if not, our happiness can be short-circuited, to say the least.

Joy: a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. With its root in Latin and old French meaning ‘rejoice’.

In their basic definitions these two words are similar, but happiness is clearly tied to circumstances and “joy” can be brought about from something other than our outward circumstances. Scripture is replete with examples of the joy of God’s own people, and what kind of joy they can have continually.

Nehemiah 8:10 says, “Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Nehemiah and Ezra had helped the returning children of Israel to rebuild the city and the temple, and they called the people to hear the ‘Word of the Lord’, portions of the Law of God. When the people heard the Word, they wept because of their own failures, but Nehemiah called them to celebrate God—to remember that God’s ‘JOY’ was their strength!!! Not their circumstances, the difficulty of their plight, the hard task that they had been working to accomplish, but their God’s joy was to be their strength. Their joy in who He was and what HE had done was doing and would do!!! We can go back and see what Jeremiah had to say before they were taken to Babylon.

Jeremiah 15:15-19, “O Lord, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke. 16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. 17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation. 18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail? 19 Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.”

Jeremiah was amidst people who hated him and hated the message that God had given him. The message he preached for some 40 years had very little positive response, yet he knew his “JOY” was in God and not his circumstances. He had joy, not because of his abundance or lack thereof, but because of whom he belonged to—he belonged to the Lord God!!! He was mocked, alone, pained because of his circumstances but he had the “JOY” of the Lord. Because of his difficulties God gave him instruction in verse 19 that is very special to me:

“19 Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.”

God assured Jeremiah that even though he stood alone—he stood with a majority, GOD!!! That if he, and we as well, kept the precious from the vile, God would continue to speak through him. God told him that he didn’t have to appease those who wanted their ‘ears tickled’, but if he stood firm, those who desired truth would come to him. He wasn’t to chase after the ‘mockers’!!! Those who were really seeking truth would know his message, and seek him out. We live in a day of people with itching ears:

2 Timothy 4:3, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;”

And Habakkuk 3:18 says,

“Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”

 

It’s our personal relationship with God that makes the difference!!! Our joy goes beyond circumstance due to our confidence in the God that we serve—

His sovereign control,

His goodness and

His love for us.

 

We don’t have to fear circumstances, because we never face them alone, as Hebrews 13:5-6 says,

 

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”

 

God is our confidence and “JOY”. But joy is sometimes hard to practice, for it isn’t always easy in condition, circumstance or demands on our lives. Let’s look at part of Paul’s prayer for the Colossians:

 

Colossians 1:10-13, “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; 12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:”

“unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness” OUCH!! Patience and longsuffering?? Yes—and I can be thankful in and for all things. (As we see in Ephesians 5:20 and 1 Thessalonians 5:18.) Even as Paul and Silas were able to sing praises to God from a jail cell.

 

Acts 16:25, “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.”

 

How? Because the ‘JOY of the Lord’ was their strength‘. They had a calling and a mission and they were confident in the God they served. They weren’t in jail by coincidence!!

How about you? What distracts you from the ‘joy of the Lord’? May we be able to live Nehemiah’s call and know that, “the joy of the Lord is your strength”!!! Remember– the source of our confidence isn’t in our circumstances—good or bad, it’s in the sufficiency of our God. He is our joy, no matter the circumstances!!! And we can have that joy when called on to exercise our “patience and longsuffering with joyfulness”. HIS JOY!!!

 

Bible Ballistics: BBs #113 And Elijah Prayed!!!

1 Kings 18:42-45, “So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, 43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. 44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not. 45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.”

A somewhat lengthy passage for today but I felt the import of it’s message and wanted to remind us of a few things about prayer.

These verses are right after Elijah’s encounter with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. God of course showed Himself faithful, but there are a few things we often miss about this story. One is that Elijah did all that He did at the Lord’s bidding. He was not presumptuous, willful for vengeful—He simply obeyed his God in prophesying the coming drought, and at God’s bidding he went to tell Ahab that God was sending rain. We see Elijah praying for the rain, but if God had said the rain was coming why was Elijah praying for rain? Because he was in tune with His God and prayed earnestly for God’s power to be displayed as God had told him to proclaim. How do I know this? Well, I’ll answer that with another scripture, which also sometimes needs clarifying.

James 5:16-17, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.”

Some take this to mean that ‘Elijah’ (translated Elias here in the KJV) simply prayed and it ceased to rain, and he prayed again and it began to rain. NOT SO!!! Elijah did all that he did in obedience to God. All true prayer is Spirit led and God focused and is seen in obedience. Jesus Himself told us this in His model prayer. Remember?

“Thy kingdom come…thy will be done…on earth as it is in heaven.” (See Rev. 4-5 to see what goes on in heaven.)

Our prayers are not a way to manipulate God, but a way for us to connect with God and know Him better. To know His will and way for us personally—in accord with HIS Word—and to be available for HIS service as HE directs. Not a self-centered event but a God centered devotion! Let’s see what Elijah prayed on Mt. Carmel?

1 Kings 18:36-37, “And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. 37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.”

So??? Here’s our shot for today. What is the focus of your prayers?

Are you set on accomplishing your own will

and calling on God to validate it?

Or are you calling on God to know Him

and His will for you?

Are you ready to follow

as HE leads

and go where HE directs

as you seek HIS face

and HIS heart?

Only you have the answers—but God is there ready and waiting to hear your voice in prayer, and have your ear as He speaks His answers and His word to your heart.

Bible Ballistics: BBs #112 For Such a Time As This!!!

Esther 4:14, “For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

This verse resounded in my heart and mind this morning as I heard it on the radio. What “time” is before you right now? What crises at work, that may demand that you take a stand for God and for right? What personal crises may be looming on your horizon that calls for you to step up and trust God before others that you love? What issues are you wrestling with that God wants to take and use to help others in the same boat? I don’t know the answers to those questions for you, but I know that our God has total sovereign control in all things and HE has placed you and me where we are “for such a time as this”!!!

We must be willing to stand in the gap, to stand out for God, to be bold in our courage to speak for righteousness. For as the Psalmist reminds us:

Psalm 1:1-6, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

Such a short Psalm, but one that so clearly reminds us that being “God’s” child carries some great responsibilities with it, yet even greater rewards. Are we available for God’s service and work at “such a time as this”? A time when it’s not popular or “politically correct” to side with God and His Word? The choice is mine! The choice is yours!

So??? Here’s our shot for today.

Will we be the “blessed” man/woman who walks with God?

Will we avoid the people, places and things that corrupt men’s hearts and minds?

Or will we choose to side with the ‘ungodly’?

It’s a choice that Esther had to make—she made the right choice. Will YOU?

 

Bible Ballistics: The ‘Blessings of God’ or the ‘God of the Blessings’? Vol. 5 #02

I am teaching a Precept Bible Study class on 1 Samuel, and it has been refreshing and challenging. As I was preparing part of my lessons today, I just felt led to share part of it with you in today’s Bible Ballistics, for we so often seem to confuse the blessings ‘of’ God with the God ‘of’ the blessings.

1 Samuel 4 and 7 give an awesome contrast in this regard and I’d like to share a few thoughts with you today along that line. In chapter 4 we find Israel in a battle with the Philistines (you know, Goliath’s people). They don’t seem to have consulted God, or the priest/judge Eli in this encounter. Nor are we told that they sought Samuel’s counsel, although he was already recognized in Israel as a man, young man though he was, of God (see 4:1). When they are engaged in this battle, they are smitten before the enemy, but rather than seeking the counsel of God, what do they do?

1 Samuel 4:3-5, “And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies. 4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5 And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.”

The people and their leaders decided that they needed something extra. Notice here: NO prayer, NO counsel from Eli, and NO counsel from Samuel. They just presumed that if they brought ‘God’s Ark of the Covenant’ into their midst, notice, ‘IT’ would deliver them. Not God would deliver them, but the object that God had given them. The ‘blessing’ of God had become their confidence, rather than the God who had given them the blessing.

The people called by God’s name had abandoned their confidence in the God “from whom all blessings flow” to the ‘blessing’ itself. What happened? The same thing that happens to us all when our eyes become distracted by the gifts rather than focused on the giver—they failed.

Jeremiah 2:13, “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” Left God’s way for their own devices.

Romans 1:23,25, “And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things…….Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.” Trusting in the creation rather than the Creator.

So what are we to do? Seek God the giver and not just His gifts. Yes, I love the blessings of God, but when I put the blessings before the love of the God who gives them, I am in sin. As James reminds us:

“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 16 Do not err, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

Every truly good thing in life comes from God—‘every good gift and every perfect gift’ is from God. But we are to rejoice in the Lord, the ‘giver,’ and thank Him, not get so caught up in the ‘gifts’ that we forget the giver.

We see a different story of Israel in chapter 7 of 1^st Samuel. Samuel has called the people to repent and turn to God (read all of chapter 7 for a great word of encouragement). As they were worshipping God, the Philistines come against them again, but this time we see a different response on the part of the people. Let’s see the difference that an attitude adjustment can make—a major Godly attitude adjustment.

1 Samuel 7:5-13, “And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the Lord. 6 And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh. 7 And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines. 9 And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the Lord: and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel; and the Lord heard him. 10 And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Bethcar. 12 Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. 13 So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel: and the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.”

What a difference an attitude makes!!! Do you have an Ebenezer stone? A place where God delivered you? Don’t forget to ‘remember’ what HE has done for YOU!!! Check that attitude.

Ecclesiastes 12:1a, “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth…..”

Hebrews 10:35-37, “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. 36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. 37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.”

I hope this short lesson from 1 Samuel will encourage your heart as it did mine. May we remember that

God is sufficient to any need that we have,

if we will but seek HIM,

repent of our sin,

call on HIM

and trust HIM for our deliverance.

Not relying on our own devices or even the perceived elements of the blessings of God, but truly, totally and completely devote ourselves to stay focused on and dependent on our God ‘of the blessings’. Him “from whom all blessings flow”. So, what is your answer today? Are you worshipping the ‘blessings of God’? Or are you worshipping the ‘God of the blessings’? It’s your call.

 

Bible Ballistics: BBs #111 Rejoice In The Lord!!!

Just a short word this morning to remind us that God is our hope!!! No matter the difficulty or crisis that you may be in, God is in control. And if you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then God is not only in control but He is on your side! As Romans 8:31 says,

“What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” Who? No one or no thing of more significance than GOD!!!

You have all the power in the world to overcome in our Lord Jesus Christ. He who gives us life gives us hope and assurance.

John 10:28-30, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and my Father are one.”

We are in the hands of Jesus, the hands of God the Father, and the continual care and direction of the Holy Spirit.

So??? Here’s our shot for today. God’s got it!!!

Habakkuk 3:17-19a, “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: 18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 19 The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places……”

Look Up dear one!! Look UP!!!