It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. Proverbs 25:2

Archive for January, 2024

Psalms 112 Is the Roadmap to Life’s Success

God has given us the roadmap to success for now and eternity and not just for us, but for our children and our posterity in Psalms 112.

In a distorted way, to obtain success, this world is sacrificing their lives, souls and the lives and souls of their families on this perverted alter. By going after riches and fame according to a warped and fallen world system, rather than according to the promised and proven way of God. To seek God and His kingdom ways of loving one another, and forgiving others as He has forgiven us and to allow the Holy Spirit, that lives in us, to love, edify and to build up others.

Psalm 112:1-3 Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, Who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in his house,And his righteousness endures forever. NKJ

In Psalms 112 we are to praise God; that is to celebrate and give glory to God and in that we are blessed. To be bless is to be happy with abundance and with nothing lacking (not only now but for eternity). This is for the person who fears the Lord; that is to be in awe of God, with great respect for God, and to be more concerned about God’s word, as opposed to those people and things around them. 

Fear is a result of the fall of mankind’s disobedience, but God has used it as part of a safety mechanism for us, that is to warn us of danger that we should avoid. God is not narcissistic, He does not want people to quake or be in fear of Him just for the sake of His ego, but it is for their protection and wellbeing. 

Just as in nature we are given the instinct and reflex to flee when we are in fear or in danger, we are to have that same reverence for God and His word.  If we feared God more and gave greater thought and consideration to the outcome, the aftereffect or the consequences of our sinful actions, we would most likely make better choices. Sin can be pleasurable and enticing, that is how the enemy lures us into that trap, but this pleasure is very short lived and just for a while. If we feared and reverence God more, then we would flee those things that are contrary to God’s word out of reverence, admiration, worship and devotion to our God.

Hebrews 11:24-26 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.NKJ

Psalms 112 tells us that we are to delight greatly in His word and His commandment, and that one commandment is for us to love one another as He has loved us. We are to delight in God; that is to have a high degree of enjoyment and pleasure in Him, to desire and be pleased with Him and to favor God above others. It is only when we take our eyes and focus off ourselves and place it on the goodness of God that we can delight in Him. We can be delighted when we think about God’s goodness, His great compassion, forgiveness and His abundant grace, that He has bestowed and given to us. When we think on these thingswe can be extremely delighted, tremendously happy and exceedingly elated about God and all He has done and is doing in our lives and our families and this can truly bring us great joy.

John 15:11-12 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. NKJ 

In Psalms 112, the people who praise and celebrate God for His goodness and mercy and live in awe, reverence and respect for God by choosing to obey His word, they are the ones who have great delight, joy and pleasure in their love and their relationship with God. Their descendants will be mighty on earth, because these people in their generation chose to lived an upright and honest life of integrity so that they and their children will be blessed and be mighty on the earth. 

Isaiah 54:13-14 All your children shall be taught by the Lord,And great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you.

In Psalms 112 God has promised wealth and riches will be in the house of those that delight greatly in God and teach their children, their righteousness will endure forever. But, to those who hate God and refuses His provision of salvation, which is by the blood of Christ, they will receive the consequences of their own choices and actions. This is why all humanity should stand in awe, respect and in fear of God’s word, because it is a two-edge sword. On one side there are promises of wealth, riches and generational blessings and on the other side there is a promise to destroy those who hate Him and refuse His provision that was provided in Jesus Christ. God will not allow the guilty to go unpunished.

Deuteronomy 7: 9-11 “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them.

Exodus 34:6-7 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,  keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”

When God passed by Moses in the cleft of the rock, God proclaimed His Character and who He is. He is the Lord, the Lord God, the merciful God, the gracious God, Thelongsuffering God, the One who abounds and overflows in goodness and truth. God does not punish us to the extent that we deserve because of His mercy.  God is gracious in that He paid our sin debt and provided salvation through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. God is longsuffering in that He waits a long time to give every person every opportunity to receive His goodness and truth by faith in Christ. God extends His mercy to thousands by forgiving their sins, iniquities and transgression to all those who by faith receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. 

God will not allow the guilty, those who refuse His provision of salvation, to go unpunished. The propensity, exposure andweakness toward sin is passed down from one generation to the next, until someone takes a stand and makes the decision to come to God through faith in Christ. By this they can change their entire life course and trajectory for themselves and the generations that follows. God gives every person the ability to choose for themselves, their posterity, and their future generations, whether to be the receiver of life or death orblessings or curses.

Deuteronomy 11:26-28 “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse:  the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known. 

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 

In Psalms 112 God gives us a roadmap to a successful life for us and our children. It is knowing the love of the one true God and teaching our children His ways. This is so that we and our children and our posterity will be blessed and established in God’s love and righteousness in the earth.

God has told us through His word in Psalms 112 how this is to be done. We areto reverence, respect, fear and obey God’s word and when we delight and get great pleasure in knowing God’s love and showing the love of God to others, we will have great wealth.Our wealth will be more than sufficient for our necessary needs,and these riches, treasures and assets are not just of this world only, but for eternity.

Category:

Uncategorized

Tagged with:

Life Success in This World According to God’s Word

Success has been defined by the world as the attainment of wealth, position and honor; the attainment, performance or achievement of ones goals that can bring honor and respect.  In the book of Joshua, the Bible defines success as one who is intelligent, prosperous, prudent, skillful, and wise and behavesself wittingly. It also explains how to be successful, by meditating on the word of God Day and night and to not depart from doing what is right.

Joshua1:8-9 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.   Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” NKJ

We are to be a people who live by God’s word both in the day and in the night. Some people want to live with multiple personalities. One side they show to the public during the day and another they display at night when they are alone or with their groupies, fans and enthusiasts. 

The world is going after what they define as success with suchtenacity, determination and drive like never before. Thisdistorted and perverse way of thinking about success has led many people astray, they are becoming self-centered and self-indulging. We see people giving up on and leaving their families to free themselves of their responsibility only to indulge, pamper and focus on themselves alone without any other obligations or liabilities. All because they lack the true understanding of how to obtain and rightfully use success.   

It is God who created and designed mankind and He is the One who has established our purpose and defined the meaning of success for not only this life time but for all eternity. We werecreated in the image and likeness of God with the task of having rule and dominion over the things He has given us on the earth.  Our purpose is to be the glory of God by revealing, reflecting and resembling His love, splendor and praise on the earth. God did not create us to barely exist or to scarcely survive in life. He gave us dominion and authority over our lives and sphere of influence that we may show those who are lost, the love of God and how to find eternal life. 

Genesis 1:26-28 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”   So God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them.   Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”NKJ

Many people are going through life thinking there is no hope for them. They have been brainwashed by this fallen world’s teaching and line of thought that there is lack and everyone should be for themselves and to think only of themselves. Thepeople perish for lack of knowledge and understanding of God’s principles and precepts, and go after the world’s way of ideas, views and beliefs. 

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. NKJ

Many people end up forsaking the good, eternal and ultimate purpose for the lesser and fleeting, short-lived and temporary things. They will discard their families, children and the welfare of human souls, which are eternal beings, for the passing and fading wealth of this world. 

Proverbs 18:1-2 A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against all wise judgment. A fool has no delight in understanding but in expressing his own heart. NKJ

We are told to keep His commandments, to be merciful and to know and walk in His truth. The one new commandment Jesus gave us was to love others as He has loved us, and that would be unselfishly and sacrificially. God gives the command with a promise of long life, favor and high esteem in the sight of God and mankind. 

John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

Proverbs 3:1-4 My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you. Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man.  NKJ

God has told us what is required of us and what we are to do. To be just in all our affairs, that is to do the right thing. To love mercy, that is to forgive everybody everything. To walk humblybefore God, that is to live simply and unassumingly without pride and self-importance.

Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

God is a generational God. He wants to make a covenant, a contract, a promise with not just us but with our children and their children. God choose Abraham knowing he would teach his children, God’s word. That is what God is doing today, teaching and training us, through His word and Holy Spirit, that we may teach and train our children in the things of God.

Genesis 18:18-19 since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” NKJ

Isaiah 54:13-14 All your children shall be taught by the Lord,And great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you.

Success is knowing the one True and loving God so that we, our children and our posterity will be established in love and righteousness in the earth.

Category:

Uncategorized

Tagged with:

What is Your Vision? What is Your Dream? What is Your Purpose?

God has created every person with a purpose and that purpose flows from His Spirit, which gives life to all mankind. People are born with God’s Divine purpose for their lives and He has given dreams and visions as to what is their created purpose. Everyone must take time to understand their purpose so that they see the vision and dream God has placed in them. We are to obtain our vision, dreams and purpose from God and His word. 

Jeremiah 29:11-14 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. NIV

When people are without a vision or dream, though they may recognize purpose, they may not have a visualization, concept or mental image as how to accomplish their purpose. They are lost without a plan, drive or the knowhow to be able to undertake and realize their goals or vision. God has given us a template as how we are to carry out our plans. We are to write the vision, make it plain and simple to that we can read them, look at them, and run with the plan.

Habakkuk 2:2 Then the LORD answered me and said, “Write the vision And engrave it plainly on [clay] tablets So that the one who reads it will run. AMP

When we were young, many of us may have had visions and dreams for doing something great, or becoming someone important or maybe just to live a happy and fulfilled life. Young children are often asked what do you want to be when you grow up? It is in their response that we are reminded of the innocence, purity, naivety and unworldliness that all children are born with, before the cruelty, malice, meanness and brutality of the world influences them.

Though we may never fully know or fully understand God’sspecific purpose for every individual, we do know God’s call to all humanity is to turn from their rebellion and return to their God, their Father and their Creator.

The first Adam’s body was created from earth, God breathedinto him breath of life and Adam became a living-being, withthe image and the Spirit of God upon him. Mankind is a tri-part being one whose body is of the earth, who has a living soul from God and who bares the image and the Spirit of the Eternal God.

First, God gave Adam purpose, to be fruitful and increase and rule over every living thing.

Genesis 1:27-28 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Secondly, God assigned Adam work and a task to do, which was to name all the living creatures.

Genesis 2:19-20 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

Then, God gave Adam a vision and a command. God placed Adam in the beautiful garden of Eden, full of green trees, delicious fruits, plants and beautiful flowers and vines to eat and enjoy. What a marvelous sight and vision it must have been, to have been given access to all that God had created for them to have, to adore and to experience. All this came with just one command and statement of warning, do not eat of the one tree that will open your eyes to all the evilness of the worldand not just the good.

Genesis 2:15-17 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

God’s purpose for mankind has not changed. We are created to bear the image and spirit of God. We are tasked with the purpose of being His glory in the earth. We are all given a choice to accept or reject the command of the Living Eternal God our Father. We were created for such a time as this, that we are now in to influence and bear witness to the goodness and the glory of God to those who are in our sphere of influence, be it our friends, family, colleagues and even our enemies. 

This is God’s appointed time for us, as this is the time He has given us and placed us on the earth to live.  God has given us His vision for us, that we might love one another as He has loved us. His vision written in His word for us so that we can run with the vision in mind, toward the goal and the purpose of His calling, because His word will not fail. Though it may take a while, in God’s perfect timing, and in God’s divine purpose, God’s desire will be accomplished in and through us. 

John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. NIV

Habakkuk 2:3 “For the vision is yet for the appointed [future] time It hurries toward the goal [of fulfillment]; it will not fail. Even though it delays, wait [patiently] for it, Because it will certainly come; it will not delay. AMP

What is our God given dream, vision and purpose? That the world may know Him by the love we have for one another. 

Dream: May we walk humbly before God, to do the right thing, to be known for our character of integrity.

Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. NIV

Vision:  The world will know and see the love of God and that we are disciples of Jesus because of the love we have for one another.  

John13:34-35 A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” NIV

Purpose: To “be” the glory of God and to display His image on the earth, one that God can point to and say, “have you considered my servant….”

Job 1:8 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” NIV

Our vision, dream and purpose are to look like Christ. Just as we have borne the likeness of our earthly parents, handed down through their genes and chromosomes so we will alsobear the image of our Heavenly Father. Through the life-giving Holy Spirit that lives within us and is transforming us into the image of God’s Son.  


2 Corinthians3:18 But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. NAS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Category:

Uncategorized

Tagged with: