Posts Tagged ‘God Confident’

7
Dec

Bible Devotions From Isaiah 63:7-65

Posted by: admin    in Isaiah

In these three chapters, which I have directed you to read in these days, you have expressed the full scope of My intention towards My people and My dealings with them through the ages. They present the pattern, which I would have you keep in mind, so that in the midst of the many uncertainties of the circumstances through which you are now passing, you may remember what I have said, what I have determined. Consider first of all that My servant the prophet makes mention of My goodness and My loving kindnesses toward the house of Israel. But he recognizes that in spite of all My goodness that they rebelled against Me. And when I judged them, it seemed by human reckoning that I had become as an enemy to them. And you know that there are in these days, and there have been in preceding days, those who declare that I am their enemy. These are they who rather than considering My judgment a correction, well deserved, consider it unjust punishment. And they declare that if I indeed exist I am not worthy to be worshipped and obeyed. But the prophet, as representative of those who submitted to My judgment, remembers My faithfulness of old and he believes, as do all they who reflect on My goodness. And this leads the heart of the truly repentant back to Me so that they declare “You Oh Lord are our Father, our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name”. And there is among those who repent, both the desire for the manifestation of My power as in former years and the clear recognition of sin as the cause of the judgment.

And out of this repentance comes submission. For first there is the acknowledgment, “You are indeed angry, for we have indeed sinned. In these ways we have continued and we need to be saved. For You have hidden Your face from us and have consumed us because of our iniquities. But now Oh Lord, You are our Father, we are the clay and You our Potter. And all we are the work of Your hand”. And there is the recognition that the consequence of their sin has been destruction for the cities, for Jerusalem, for the temple. So then, you see that though the judgment causes some to be hardened of heart, it leads others to repentance and the cry for restoration. And to what do My righteous judgments lead? What shall be the outcome when all of the judgments are complete? My servant declares that those who are truly Mine shall be blessed and that those who are merely called by My name but are not truly Mine will suffer lack, be ashamed and wail for grief of spirit. And those who are faithful, who benefit from My judgment, shall eat and drink and rejoice, and I will give to them another name. And in the end, all that is old and cursed shall pass away and be remembered no more. And even as I declare in another portion, I will make all things new, new heavens, new earth. And everything that caused weeping and sorrow shall be done away. And even the enmities that existed in the natural realm will be done away. So that as it declares here, “the wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and in all My holy mountain there shall be no hurt or destruction”. While My prophet does not mention here the foundation that makes this possible, you will recall that previously he does mention My Servant who will come and offer Himself as a sacrifice, so that the inner transformation of the heart that makes all that I have promised possible will be secured. So that salvation is not merely the restoration of the environment and the removal of all that harms and causes sorrow, but it is indeed the transformation of the heart, so that the unclean is made clean. And when this is complete, those who remain will be only the precious seed, which is characterized by righteousness. And you see that it is as the prophet declares, that since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, or seen by the eye any other god but Me, who acts for the one who waits for Him. And those who wait are surely those whose hearts are towards Me. And they wait in hope because they believe the things that have been promised. And no apparent contradiction within the circumstances surrounding them can move their hearts away from their hope. Let this be your portion as well as you consider these words.

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1
Nov

Bible Devotions From Psalm 86

Posted by: admin    in Psalm

From this passage I want to give you strong encouragement and clear direction concerning your present situation and the steps that you are going to be led into in the days to come. You can see from the words of My servant David that in the midst of the difficulties that he faced, that he had for his comfort, his encouragement and his support both a strong grasp of who I am and also of who he was. And also adding to that encouragement and support was the remembrance of My past faithfulness and blessing. For it was in those past circumstances that I had revealed Myself and that I had manifested My faithfulness to David. And you see also in his understanding of himself, humility, teachableness and a great sense of his need of Me. He declares, “I am poor and needy. I am your servant who trusts You. Teach me Your way, unite my heart to fear Your name”. But you see from his words of recognition of Who I am and what I have done, the very foundation of his confidence. Even with his petitions, he first declares, “You are my God. You are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call upon You. There is none like You and no deeds can compare with Yours. You are great and do marvelous deeds. You alone are God.

Great is Your love towards me. You have delivered me from the grave”. In contrast to the arrogant and ruthless, he declares, “I am compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness”. And finally as he asks for a sign of My goodness so that the enemies may see it and be put to shame, he declares, “For You oh Lord have helped me and comforted me”. So you see in his words strong evidence that he knows Me and that he remembers not only Who I am, but what I have done. He doesn’t just believe about Me, as I spoke to you in the former passage that his cry was not one of mere desperation, as if I was the source of last resort to deliver him.

No, for David, for all who truly trust Me, I am the one to whom you are to turn first of all. As it was for David, so shall it be for you. There is no other source of blessing and help, as David declared, “You are great and do marvelous deeds, You alone are God!”. I had delivered him before and his expectation was that I would deliver him again. And tempted though you may be in the midst of great pressure to turn to some other source for help, I am encouraging you to have no other source of help, and to hope in no other but in Me alone. For since I am all that David knew and declared Me to be, then I am for you the same as I was for him. And by virtue of the life that you have in My Son, My revelation to you is even greater than it was to David. So then, do not forget or let your heart be moved away from what I am declaring to you here. Even as David petitioned Me to teach him My way and to unite his heart to fear My name, in order that he might walk in My truth and fear and praise Me with his whole heart and glorify My name forever, even so shall it be with you. For I am the same as I was to David, so shall I be to you. And as David, by virtue of his trust in Me, was not only kept and preserved from all troubles, but was enabled to glorify Me, both within the troubles and in the victory over them, so shall you be kept, preserved and enabled to glorify Me.

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29
Sep

Bible Devotions From Psalm 28

Posted by: admin    in Psalm

I know that at times you have felt just as David expresses himself to feel in this portion. You have regarded yourself to be in desperate circumstances, and you have cried out to Me, but it seems that I neither speak back or lift My hand to deliver you. In his desperation, David pleads for Me to hear his cry and to send help. You see from what he declares, that he is confronted with the works of the evil. He has seen through their apparent cordiality and recognizes that they plot evil and harbor malice within their hearts. But he appeals to Me that I would not permit him to suffer the same end as those who do wicked. He asks Me to judge them and to repay them for their evil deeds. Notice that these are not merely those who sin and in David’s estimate have the possibility of repenting, but he sees them as those who show that they have no regard for My works. Therefore David is confident that they will be finally and completely judged. How is it that from this point David is lifted out of his despair and desperation into a place of praise and joy? How is it that he is confident that I have heard his cry for mercy, and that his heart can trust in Me and thus that he is helped? How is it that he comes to the place of confidence, not only for what I will do for him, but for all of My people? Is there any indication here that what he hopes for and cries out for has already been accomplished? You see no indication from his words that his help came as a result of any specific occurrence that is an answer to his cry. What then is the basis for the expression of his joy and confidence after presenting such a desperate cry? What is the basis of his confidence that what I will do for him and what I will be to him, I will also do and be for all My people? Consider what he declares that I am his strength and his shield; that I am also the strength of My people and their Shepherd. How do you think that David declared this? Was it based on some specific act of deliverance that I had performed in answer to his cry?

Notice that all of his petitions are in reference to what I will do that has not yet been manifested. But notice that all of his confessions are based upon who he knows Me to be. How do you suppose he knew Me to be his strength and shield and the strength and Shepherd of My people? Was this knowledge not based on a revelation of who I am, the One in whom he had placed his trust, rather than upon specific acts that he had experienced? And yet did he not afterward truly experience those mighty acts of deliverance and salvation because he had trusted in who I had revealed Myself to be? Thus I am encouraging you not to trust Me merely because of certain anticipated actions, even though the memory of past works of mercy and deliverance are helpful in strengthening your confidence in what I will do in the future. But let your sure foundation of trust be based upon who I have revealed Myself to be, as you have received such revelation through My Spirit and through My Word. And let that confidence not only be that upon which your hope rests for yourselves, but let it also be the basis of your hope and your petition for all of my people.

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