Month: November 2023

GOD’S WORD FOR NOVEMBER 30 ~ ~ Jeremiah 11:3 ~ ~ “and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant”

Continuing with the book by Dr. Michael Youssef, entitled, How to Read the Bible.

Chapter 6—David and Solomon: Foreshadowing God’s Kingdom

Sub-Section:  The Ascendance of David

During the battle with the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, King Saul saw that the battle was lost.  First, the Philistines killed three of his sons, then grievously wounded Saul himself.  When Saul’s armor bearer refused an order to kill him as an act of mercy, Saul fell on his own sword and died by suicide.

Afterward, David (who had married Saul’s daughter Michal) contended with Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth for the throne.  David prevailed and ascended to the throne of the unified kingdom of Israel and Judah.

Under David’s able leadership, the nation of Israel was saved, the people experienced peace and prosperity, and the kingdom rose to unprecedented heights of glory.  His reign fully justified the chants of praise:  “Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands”  (1Samuel 18:7) (this chant, which the people shouted  earlier,  was the spark of Saul’s hatred and jealousy for David, and the reason he was so determined to kill David before the people would make him king instead of Saul).

King David’s policies transformed Israel from a beleaguered fiefdom into a dominant military power.  As a warrior-king, David led his people from one victory to the next.  He unified the bickering tribes and conquered Jerusalem, which contained the fortress of Zion,.  He made Jerusalem the capital of the mighty Israelite empire that stretched from the Gulf of Aqaba in the south to central Syria in the north,  Kings came from all over the world, eager to make peace treaties with the mighty King David,.

In 2 Samuel 8, we see such statements are “the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute,”  the Arameans became subject to him and brought him tribute,”  and stories of silver, gold, and bronze that David plundered from “Edom and Moab, the Ammonites and the Philistines, and Amalek” and on and on.,  David clearly believed that Israel’s enemies should finance its economy, and that the Israelite people should be prosperous and lightly taxed,  In the Psalms, David wrote of his people,

“You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. (Psalms 128:2)

Though David began his reign as a warrior-king, never hesitating to fend off foreign threats so that his people might live in peace, he didn’t see war as the way to achieve national prosperity.  In Psalm 144, he revealed that he was eager to build a strong peacetime economy by faithfully obeying God:

“From the deadly sword deliver me;  rescue me from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful.  Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace.  

Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision.  Our sheep will increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields; our oxen will draw heavy loads.  There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets.  Blessed is the people of whom this is true; blessed is the people whose God is the Lord.  (Psalm 144:11-15)

Under the leadership of King David, and later his son, King Solomon, Israel achieved unrivaled heights of power and prestige,  The Bible tells us that ships brought cargoes of gold, precious stones, and construction-grade timber from Ophir, much of which was used to build the great Temple in Jerusalem.  Israel traded with merchants and Arabian kings, and King Slomon hosted a state visit from the Queen of Sheba.  The wealth of the Davidic State was unlike anything the world had ever seen (see 1 Kings 10:11-29)

The people were proud to be subjects of the kingdom. To them, the power and splendor of Israel must have seemed like the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham:  “I will make of you a great nation” (Genesis 12:2).  They probably thought they were living in the Kingdom of God.  However, though God had blessed and defended the nation, Israel was not the Biblical Kingdom of God.  It was an earthly kingdom ruled by fallible human leaders.

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Ephesians 1:6

To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Psalm 36:5

Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reaches unto the clouds.

Psalm 147:3

He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.

Matthew 6:34

Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. …

II Corinthians 1:3 &4

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort:  Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God

GOD’S WORD FOR NOVEMBER 29 ~ ~ Ezekiel 12:28 ~ ~ “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “None of My words will be postponed any more, but the word which I speak will be done,” says the Lord God.’ ”

From the book How to Read the Bible by Dr. Michael Youssef

Continuing with chapter 6 entitled, David and Soloman: Foreshadowing God’s Kingdom

The Origin of Israel’s Monarchy

The Israelite people originated as an ethnic and religious community in the Middle East during the second millennium before Christ.  Their ancestry begins with the patriarch Abraham, his son Issac, and Isaac’s son Jacob.  God gave Jacob the name “Israel” after he successfully wrestled with the angel of the Lord (see Genesis 32:28 and 35:10;  see also Hosea 12:5).  The Twelve Tribes of Israel are descended from the twelve sons of Jacob.

Jacob’s son Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt, and he later rose to become Pharaoh’s right-hand man.  At the behest of Pharaoh himself, Jacob and his family moved to Egypt to live with Joseph.  The descendants of Jacob were later enslaved in Egypt for four hundred years.  The enslavement of Jacob’s descendants, the Israelites, ended when Moses led them out of Egypt.  In the wilderness, God gave His Law to Moses.

After Moses died, his successor, Joshua, led the Israelites out of the wilderness.  They crossed the Jordan River and conquered the Promised Land – the land God had given them according to His covenant with Abraham.  At that time, Israel was not true nation.  It had no borders or central government.  Israel was a loose confederation of clans ruled by local elders.  These clans were united by their common worship of one God.

During this time, the Israelites occasionally flirted with the idea of having a king.  In the book of Judges, after Gideon led Israel to victory over the Midianites, the people said to Gideon, “Rule over us – you, your son and your grandson – because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

But Gideon refused to be the king of the Israelites.  “I will not rule over you,” he said, “nor will my son rule over you.  The Lord will rule over you.”  (See Judges 8:10-23)

Over time, the people increasingly clamored for a king.  It wasn’t enough for them to be ruled by God.  Now they definitely wanted a monarchy.  Why?  Because that’s the way pagans were ruled.  Israel’s demand for the monarchy was a flagrant rejection of Yahweh’s authority – and that is one reason why the prophets rose up and condemned the idea of monarchy for Israel.

Meanwhile, the Philistines – a fierce, well-armed people – began to menace the Israelites.  In their first few clashes, the people of Yahweh were crushed.  This emergency led the Israelites to demand the leadership of a king.

The book of 1 Samuel records that a man named Saul, a member of the tribe of Benjamin, was anointed king by the prophet Samuel.  In spite of Saul’s bold courage, he lacked the mental and emotional stability to unify and lead his people.  Although his reign would end in failure, Saul’s kingship eased Israel through the transition from a tribal society to a true nation-state.

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Helen Steiner Rice:

I have prayed on my knees in the morning, I have prayed as I walk along.  I have prayed in the silence and darkness, and I’ve prayed to the tune of a song.

I have prayed in the midst of a triumph, and I’ve prayed when I suffered defeat, I have prayed on the sands of the seashore where the waves of the ocean beat.

I have prayed in churches and chapels, cathedrals and synagogues, too.  But often I had the feeling that my prayers were not getting through….

And I realized then that  our Father is not really concerned when we pray, or impressed by our manner of worship of eloquent words that we say.

He is only concerned with our feelings, and He looks deep into our hearts and hears the cry of our souls’ deep need that no words could ever impart.

So it isn’t the prayer that’s expressive or offered in some special spot, that’s the sincere plea of a sinner, and God can tell whether or not…

We honestly seek His forgiveness and earnestly mean what we say, and then, and then only, God answers the prayers that we fervently pray.

Psalm 2:6

“Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.”

Psalm 10:16

The Lord is King forever and ever; The nations have perished out of His land.

Habakkuk 3:19

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. …

Romans 8:37

Yet, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

I John 5:14 &15

And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us:

And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.

John 14:12

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

GOD’S WORD FOR NOVEMBER 28 ~ ~ Jeremiah 30:2 ~ ~ “Thus speaks the Lord God of Israel, saying: ‘Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you.”

From the book How to Read the Bible by Dr. Michael Youssef

Chapter 6 ~ ~ David and Solomon:  Foreshadowing God’s Kingdom

John Ashcroft has served as governor of Missouri, a United States senator, and U.S. attorney general.  The morning Ashcroft was to be sworn in as senator in January 1995, he joined friends and family at a house near the capitol building for a dedication service.

One of those present was Ashcroft’s father, James Robert Ashcroft, a retired minister who was in poor health due to a heart condition.  He had confided to a friend that he was dying, but wanted to see his son sworn in.

The attendees sang a few hymns, then Ashcroft’s father said, “John, please listen carefully.  The spirit of Washington is arrogance, and the spirit of Christ is humility.  Put on the spirit of Christ.  Nothing of lasting value has ever been accomplished in arrogance.”

The attendees knelt in front of the sofa where John’s father sat.  As they placed hands on John to anoint him with oil and prayer in the way of the ancient kings of Israel when they undertook their administrative duties, the senior Ashcroft struggled to rise.

Concerned, John said, “Dad, you don’t have to stand.”   “John,” his father said, “I’m not struggling to stand.  I’m struggling to kneel.”

John never forgot those words, which were among his father’s last;  he died later that night.

Ashcroft’s father taught him that a genuine leader doesn’t struggle to stand – that’s the posture of arrogance.  A genuine leader struggles to kneel in prayer and humility.

Israel’s kings still speak to us from the pages of God’s Word.  King Saul, it may be said, was a leader who struggled to stand, a king who led in arrogance.  But King David was a leader who struggled to kneel.  The Kingdom of Israel that God established through David was a foreshadow of that future eternal Kingdom whose Ruler would inherit David’s throne, Jesus the Lord.

A Man After God’s Own Heart

Speaking through the prophet Samuel, God declared, “I have found David son of Jesse, a an after My own heart; he will do everything I want him to do”  (see Acts 13:22) and 1 Samuel 13:14). David was an imperfect man and an imperfect leader, yet God declared him to be a man after His own heart.  There are several reasons why God made this declaration.

First, David was humble.  Though he was the king, he had no exaggerated sense of his own importance.  When the prophet Nathan told him:

“The Lord declares to you that the Lord Himself will establish a house for you:  When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom.  He is the one who will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”  (2Samuel 7:11-14)”

David humbly prayed, “Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?” (verse 18).

Second, David loved God’s Word.  Every verse of Psalm 119 is a shout of praise for it.  Here is a typical passage:

“Oh, how I love your law!  I meditate on it all day long.  Your commands are always with me, and make me wiser than my enemies.  I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.  (Psalm 119:97-99)

David was a man after God’s own heart because he fed his soul on the thoughts of God.

Third, David loved and trusted God.  Because of the Psalms he composed, we have more insight into his soul than that of almost any other person in Scripture.  David was deeply aware of his own sins, and he was grateful to God for the blessings of forgiveness.   He wrote:

Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit…Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!  (Psalm 32:1,2&11)

David knew that God saw him as righteous – not because he never sinned, but because he loved God and repented from his sins.

Fourth, David demonstrated Christlike love.  His predecessor, King Saul, was an insecure, jealous, and violent man who attempted to kill David several times (see 1 Samuel 19-24).  David responded to Saul’s attempts on his life with forgiving, Christlike love.  A thousand years before Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, David lived out the Lord’s command, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”  (Matthew 5;44).

One reason we know we can trust God’s word is that it tells us the unflattering truth about its heroes.  David was one of the greatest leaders in history, yet the Bible honestly reveals his moral failure.  Can you imagine what it would be like to be David, to have not only your triumphs recorded, but also your acts of disobedience, adultery, and murder enshrined in God’s eternal Word for millions to read, generation after generation, century after century?  God’s word is trustworthy and true.  That’s why it still speaks to us today.

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Zechariah 4:6

…..Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

Proverbs 3:26

For the LORD will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught.

Psalm 31:7

I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy,

For You have considered my trouble;

You have known my soul in adversities,

Psalm 121:1&2

I will raise my eyes to the mountains;  From where will my help come?

My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.

I Peter 5:7

Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you.

GOD’S WORD FOR NOVEMBER 27  ~ ~ Joshua 3:9 ~ ~ “So Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God.”

From the book, How to Read the Bible by Michael Youssef.

Chapter 5. Six Biblical Covenants Jesus fulfilled

4.  God’s Covenant with Moses

In Exodus 19-31, God promised never to forsake His people – and He foreshadowed the once-and-for-all sacrifice of the coming Messiah.  By that time, Abraham’s descendants had become slaves in the land of Egypt.  But God displayed His sovereign power with a series of miracles that culminated in Moses leading the people out of Egypt.

In the wilderness, God gave them the Law, the Tabernacle, and the ritual sacrifices, all of which made clear the impossibility of redemption without God.  His covenant with Moses has often been misinterpreted as a works-based righteousness.  But in reality, the rituals and sacrifices demonstrated to the people that the terrible cost of sin included death and the shedding of blood.  The blood of animals could never atone for sin once and for all.  Instead, the animal sacrifices pointed to the grace of God and the promised Savior who was to come.

5.  God’s Covenant with David

In 2 Samuel 7, God speaks through the prophet Nathan and gives King David a promise that the everlasting King, the coming Savior, will one day be born from the lineage of David.  God had established David as a king after His own heart: “The Lord has sought out a man after His own heart and appointed him rule over His people.”  (1Samuel 13;14)

Later, when David brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem, God gave him an amazing promise – He promised to establish his throne forever.  And though God would discipline David’s descendants when they strayed, His gracious love would never depart from his house.

One day, the perfect, sinless King would come, born of a virgin of the lineage of David.  He would be pierced and forsaken in our place.  The punishment we deserve would be meted out upon Hiim.

6.  the New Covenant.

The New Covenant is God’s promise to redeem forever all who call upon the name of Jesus for salvation.  Under the New Covenant, it is not just the people of Israel who are chosen by God.  Instead, all who believe are now God’s chosen people.  The New Testament book of Hebrews quotes from the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, in Hebrews 8:8-12:

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

The New Covenant is not an idea that was invented in New Testament times.  It was part of God’s plan from the very beginning.  God announced it through the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah.  It was always His plan to send His Son, Jesus the Savior, to become the perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin.

Jesus fulfilled each covenant.  He humbled Himself to be born a man, according to God’s promise to Adam.  He came from the line of Abraham.  He fulfilled the Law of Moses, pouring out His blood as the perfect sacrifice for our sin.  He came as a King of the line of David.  He instituted the New Covenant in His blood.  On the cross, He defeated sin and death, once and for all – and He will come again to bring His people into the new Promised Land where God will dwell with them forever.

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Psalm 89:1,2,33,34

 I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known your faithfulness to all generations.  For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: your faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.  Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor allow my faithfulness to fail.  My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips

Psalms 121:3 &4 

He will not allow your foot to be moved.   He who keeps you will not slumber.   Behold, He who keeps Israel  shall neither slumber nor sleep.

I Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

II Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

II Timothy 2:13, & 19

If we believe not, yet he abides faithful; he cannot deny himself.  Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal.  The Lord knows them that are his.  And, let every one that names the name of Christ depart from sin.

GOD’S WORD FOR NOVEMBER 26 ~ ~ Proverbs 30:5 ~ ~ “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.”

From the book How to Read the Bible by Dr. Michael Youssef

Chapter 5, The Six Biblical Covenants Jesus Fulfilled

Throughout the Old Testament,  God made a series of covenants.  Each covenant revealed more details of God’s perfect plan to establish His eternal Kingdom and redeem His people.  Jesus the Messiah, whom the prophet Isaiah called Immanuel  — which means “God with us”–  (Isaiah 7:14), has fulfilled all of God’s covenants with the human race.  Let’s explore one in turn.

1.God’s Covenant with Adam:

In Genesis 3:15, after Adam sinned and fell from a state of obedient innocence to a state of sinful depravity, God promised that a Son of Adam’s race would achieve victory over Satan.  In the presence of Adam and Eve, He told the serpent – who was Satan – “I  will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel.”

In the Garden of Eden, God provided Adam and Eve with a beautiful garden, satisfying work, delicious food, and companionship with each other – and companionship with Himself.  Adam and Eve yielded to temptation, rejected God’s plan for their lives, and fell under the curse of sin and death.  Despite their unfaithfulness, God promised them the ultimate victory through the coming Savior – a covenant that Jesus fulfilled on the cross.

2.  God’s Covenant with Noah:

To fulfill His promise to Adam, God had to sustain and protect mankind from moral corruption and extinction.  When wickedness and violence became rampant in the human race, God decided to use a flood to cleanse the earth of human evil.   He also chose Noah to be a new Adam on this new earth – a man who, along with his family, would preserve the human race from extinction.  After the flood, God blessed Noah and his sons, saying “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.” (Genesis 9:1).

In this way, God made sure that the offspring of Eve – Jesus the Messiah – would one day be born to fulfill the covenant He had made with Adam.

3.  God’s Covenant with Abraham

In Genesis 12:1-3, God called Abraham (who was then known as Abram) out of the city of Ur in the land of the Chaldeans and promised to make him the father of a great nation.  “I will make your name great,” God said, “and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.,”

Later, in Genesis 15, when Abraham was old and his wife was childless, God reconfirmed His promise, saying, “Look up at the sky and count the stars – if indeed you can count them.  So shall your offspring be,” and the Scriptures tell us that Abraham believed God and that God accounted his faith as righteousness.

In Genesis 17, when Abraham was ninety-nine years old, God appeared to him and reaffirmed His covenant, saying in Genesis 17:4-8:

“You will be the father of many nations,  No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.  I will make you very fruitful;  I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.  I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.  The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give you as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

Over and over again, God demonstrated that His covenant would not fail, even when Abraham was nearing a century in age.  Why?  Because it wasn’t up to Abraham to keep the covenant.  It was up to God, who promised in sacrificial blood – blood that pointed to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus – that He would keep His promise.

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Psalm 119:65

You have dealt well with Your servant, O Lord, according to Your word.

I Thessalonians 5:24

Faithful is he that calls you, who also will do it.

Isaiah 54:9 &10

 For this is as the waters of Noah to me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with you nor rebuke you.

 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that has mercy on you.

Genesis 9:16

And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

Genesis 28:15

 And, behold, I am with you,  and will keep you in all places whither you go, and will bring you again into this land; for I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken to you of.

GOD’S WORD FOR NOVEMBER 25~ ~ Psalm 119:77 ~ ~ “Let Your tender mercies come to me, that I may live; For Your law  (Your word)  is my delight.”

From the book How to Read the Bible by Dr. Michael Youssef.

The Letter and Spirit of the Law

We cannot earn our way into heaven by good works.  We must accept the free gift of salvation by grace through faith.  Does this mean that, once we are saved by grace, we can break the commandments without worry or guilt?  Absolutely not!  Anyone who believes that way and lives that way is certainly not saved by grace.  We have been saved so that Jesus Christ might live His life through us.  If Christ lives in us, we will not be habitual lawbreakers.  As Apostle John wrote in 1 John 2:3-6:

“We know that we have come to know Him (Jesus) if we keep his commands.  Whoever says, ‘I know Him’ but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.  But if anyone obeys His word, love for God is truly made complete in them.  This is how we know we are in Him:  Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”

If we truly belong to Christ, we want to obey God.  Grace gives us the desire and the power to obey God.  Yes, we will fail and we will sin – but we will know in our consciences that we are wrong.  We will repent and confess our sins and receive His forgiveness.

Once we have experienced the grace of God, we will want to obey Him.  We may not always keep the letter of the Law, but we will always want to keep the spirit of the Law.  Not only will we refuse to commit adultery, but we will feel convicted if we even look at someone with lustful thoughts.  We will not merely reject revenge – we will actively forgive those who have hurt us.  We will love our enemies because love is the spirit of the law.

Jesus did not abolish the Law of God.  He fulfilled it so that our righteousness could be greater than the righteousness of the Pharisees.  Our righteousness is the righteousness of Jesus Himself.

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Helen Steiner Rice:

After the clouds, the sunshine,

After the winter, the spring.

After the shower, the rainbow –

For life is a changeable thing.

After the night, the morning,

Bidding all darkness cease,

After life’s cares and sorrows,

The comfort and sweetness of peace.

Isaiah 54:10

For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.

I Peter 5:7

Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you.

Isaiah 61:3                                                                                               

 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.

GOD’S WORD FOR NOVEMBER 24 ~ ~ Psalm 94:12 ~ ~ “Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord …”

From the book, How to Read the Bible by Dr. Michael Youssef.   Chapter entitled The Law of the Old Covenant

Society today has lost sight of the solemnity of covenants and keeping vows.  Our culture treats morality and truth as matters to be legislated or voted on.  Nine black-robed justices can declare the abortion of an unborn baby to be legally, morally acceptable.  Legislators can pass a law or a majority of voters can pass a proposition – and same-sex marriage can be declared legal and oral.  What’s more, anyone who dares to oppose abortion or same-sex marriage is accused of “hate.”

But the universe is not interested in human opinions of what is “moral” according to a majority vote.  God has established moral standards that are immutable and immovable.  His standards are not subject to an opinion pole or a judicial ruling.  When it comes to God’s moral law, only one opinion matters: God’s.

The law of God is contained in what the Bible calls the “Law of Moses,”  which consists of the teachings of the first five books of the Bible – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

Judaism calls these five books the Torah – meaning “law” – in English, we call them the Pentateuch – meaning  simply “five books” in Latinized Greek  the law was revealed to Moses by God.  We see sit called the “Law of Moses” for the first time in the book of Joshua 8:30-32:

“Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the Lord, the God of  Israel, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites.  He built it according to what is written in the book of the Law of Moses – an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been used.  On it they offered to the Lord burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings,.  There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the Law of Moses.”

After Moses led Israel out of Egypt, God gave His Law to Moses – a law that included moral instruction plus the specific rituals, requirements and restrictions of the Israelite religion.  Most of these instructions are found in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.  The priestly class, the Levites, were established as the keepers and interpreters of God’s Law.

When God established His laws and commandments, He required perfect obedience.  Does this seem like an unreasonable standard?  No, it is not unreasonable – but it is unattainable.  We can’t hope to come close to God’s standard of moral perfection.

That’s why legalism – the attempt to save ourselves through the perfect observance of God’s Law – is doomed to failure.

Fortunately for you and me, our God is not a legalistic God.  He is a God of mercy and grace.  That is why God sent His Son to die for our sins.  Jesus came to meet all the requirements of God’s Law.  As Jesus Himself said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets;  I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them”  (Matthew 5:17).  Jesus is the only human being who kept all of God’s commandments all the time.  He came to show that the Law points to Him.

If Jesus came to fulfill the Law, why do we still need it?  Shouldn’t we ignore the Law of God and focus instead on the love of God?  No.  We still need God’s Law because it is a mirror to see ourselves in.  It shows us how far we are from God’s perfect moral standard.  It reveals our desperate need of a Savior.  It shows us why Jesus had t die a lonely, agonizing, shameful death –  the death of a criminal on the cross.

Jesus said, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven”  (Matthew 5:20).  At first glance, this is a terrifying statement because the Pharisees were meticulous about keeping the Law.  The Pharisees even tithed from their spice racks, as Jesus said:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!!!  You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cumin.  But you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness.  You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.  (Matthew 23:23)

What did Jesus mean when He said that our righteousness must EXCEED that of the Pharisees or we cannot enter the Kingdom of heaven?   He wasn’t advocating legalism.  He was talking about the righteousness that flows from the grace of God as a FREE GIFT.  The righteousness that is greater than that of the Pharisees is the perfect righteousness of Jesus that we receive when we commit our lives to Him.

Ephesians 2:8-9 ~ ~ “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

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Helen Steiner Rice:

Each day at dawning I lift my heart high

And raise up my eyes to the infinite sky.

I watch the night vanish as a new day is born,

And I hear the birds sing on the wings of the morn.

I see the dew glisten in crystal-like splendor

While God, with a touch that is gentle and tender,

Wraps up the night and softly tucks it away

And hangs out the sun to herald a new day.

And so I give thanks and my heart kneels to pray,

“God, keep me and guide me and go with me today,”

*GOD KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT YOU NEED,

WHO YOU NEED,

HOW MUCH YOU NEED

WHEN YOU NEED IT

TRUST HIM!!!

Philippians 4:19

But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Acts 17:28

for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

GOD’S WORD FOR NOVEMBER 23 ~ ~ Psalm 119:165 ~ ~ “Great peace have they which love thy law (Word) : and nothing shall offend them”

From the book, How to Read the Bible by Dr. Michael Youssef.  Chapter, One King, One Kingdom, section: Abraham and the Covenant of Blood

Our God is a covenant-making God.  He made a series of covenants with the human race in both the Old and New Testaments.  The covenants between God and human beings, however, are not like the agreements that you and I make with other human beings.  A covenant between God and humanity is, by definition, a covenant between two UNEQUAL parties.

God made a covenant with Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15.  Immediately after the temptation and fall of Adam, God promised that Jesus the Messiah would come and crush the head of the serpent, the devil.

In Genesis 9:13-15, God made a covenant with Abraham.  He called Abraham – or Abram, as he was then known –  to leave Ur of the Chaldeans and move to Canaan  There, God promised, He would make a great nation of Abraham.

Then, in Genesis 15, God made another covenant with Abraham.  Abraham had fallen into a spiritual depression and had begun to doubt God’s promise.  He wondered if God was going to keep the covenants He had made.  God reassured him and said, “Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your very great reward.” (Genesis 15:1).  God wanted  Abraham to know that, regardless of any circumstances, He would keep His word.

When Abraham needed further reassurance, God showed him the countless stars shining in the night sky and said, “So shall your offspring be.”  Abraham didn’t understand the full meaning of God’s words.  The Lord was speaking not only of Abraham’s physical descendants, but of his spiritual descendants as well.

God credited Abraham’s faith to him as righteousness.  Over the centuries to come, God would also credit the faith of countless Old Testament and New Testament believers as righteousness.  You and I as believers are the spiritual offspring of Abraham.

Next, God confirmed His identity to Abraham, saying, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”  Abraham loved God and honored God, but he still struggled with doubt.  “Sovereign Lord,” he said, “How can I know that I will gain possession of it?”  Genesis 15:7-8)

God knew that Abraham was weak in faith, just as you and I are weak in faith.  In His mercy and kindness, God gave Abraham a visible sign of His covenant.

In the Middle Eastern culture of Abraham, a covenant was sealed with a ceremony of sacrifice.  People would kill an animal and cut it in half, then place the halves across from each other.  The two parties of the covenant would walk on the bloody ground between the two halves of the animal.  The symbolic point of this ritual was to say, “If I fail to keep this covenant, may what has been done to this animal be done to me.  May I be cut in half.”

In Genesis 15, God made a covenant with Abraham in precisely those Middle Eastern terms.  It was a unilateral covenant in which God took all the conditions on Himself and there were no conditions placed on Abraham.

As God instructed, Abraham arranged the halves of the slain animals.  He drove away the birds of prey that tried to feed on the carcasses.  Then, the Scriptures tell us, Abraham “fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.”  Then God told Abraham that his descendants would be enslaved in a foreign land for four hundred years – but after that, they would “come out with great possessions.”  Abraham himself would be “buried at a good old age.”

Then God entered the space between the animal halves alone, taking the visible form of a smoking firepot with a blazing torch.  God made His covenant to Abraham through visible symbols, vowing to give his descendants a great land – far greater than modern Israel today, extending all the way to the Euphrates River in modern-day Syria and Iraq (see Genesis 15:9-20)

When God passed through the midst of the animals that were cut in half, He passed through the shed blood that soaked the ground – a foreshadowing of the blood of Jesus, which would one day be shed upon the cross.  The blood of Jesus, which soaked the ground of Calvary, was the fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham, saving us from sin and judgment.

The ceremony of the slain and divided animals was God’s visible assurance to Abraham that He was not only a covenant-making God, but a covenant-keeping, God.  As the New Testament tells us:

“When God made His promise to Abraham, since there was no greater for Him to swear by, he swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”  (Hebrews 6:13-15)  And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

We can trust the covenants and promises of God.  When He writes our names in His Book of Life when we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior by His grace alone without works,  He doesn’t write with a pencil and erase our name when we sin.  He writes our names in the precious and indelible blood of Jesus.

God often makes His promises visible to us in a memorable way.  When He covenanted with Noah after the flood, He gave the sign of the rainbow.  When Gideon asked God for a promise of victory over the Midianites, God gave him the sign of a fleece spread out on the floor.  And when Jesus revealed the New Covenant that God was making, He gave His disciples the visible, tangible elements of Holy Communion, the bread – symbolizing His body –  and the cup of wine – symbolizing His blood.

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Helen Steiner Rice:

The farmer plows through the fields of green,

And the blade of the plow is sharp and keen,

But the seed must be sown to bring forth grain,

For nothing is born without suffering and pain.

And God never plows in the soul of a man

Without intention and purpose and plan…

So whenever you feel the plow’s sharp blade

Let not your heart be sorely afraid,

For like the farmer, God chooses a field

From which He expects an excellent yield….

So rejoice though your heart be broken in two –

God seeks to bring forth a rich harvest in you.

Psalm 68:19

Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.

Psalm 73:28

But it is good for me to draw near to God:  I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all your  works.

Psalm 86:5

For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive,
And abundant in mercy to all who call upon You.

GOD’S WORD FOR NOVEMBER 22 ~ ~ Psalm 119:18 ~ ~ “Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law. (Your Word)”

From the book, How to Read the Bible by Dr. Michael Youssef.  Chapter entitled One King One Kingdom.  Section:  A Peculiar People:

There were many tribes and nations on earth when God established the nation of Israel, but its people were like no other people in the world.  Israel’s distinguishing feature was its unique religion, completely unlike the religions of all the surrounding Canaanite tribes.  It was unique in two important ways:

FIRST:   Jewish faith was “monotheistic.”   The people of Israel served one God, and He had commanded them, “You shall have no other gods before me.”  (Exodus 20:3).

SECOND:  the Jewish faith was “aniconic,” meaning the people were forbidden to make icons – representations of God in any human or animal form.  Statues, carved images, and pictures were banned because God had commanded, “you shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.”  (Exodus 20:4)

These two aspects of the Jewish faith contrasted sharply with the pagan religion of the surrounding Canaanite tribes.  These ancient religions were “polytheistic,” meaning the people worshiped many gods, and “iconic,” because they used statues and images – icons – to represent them.

The pagan gods usually represented forces of nature (wind, water, fertility) or objects in the sky (the sun, the moon, the stars).  The pagan gods were part of the natural order and did not demonstrate any moral character.  They were not holy, all knowing, or unchanging, like the God of the Jewish religion.  In fact, many of the pagan gods were as unreliable and malicious as human beings.  The pagans believed they could manipulate their gods into bestowing favors by means of rituals, chants, and sacrifices – including human sacrifices.

(this is why God forbids His people – Christian or Jews – from dealing with the occult, because these gods were demons, who the pagans worshiped as gods.  Today many are worshiping demons without knowing it)

The God of Israel was completely unlike the pagan gods.  The people of Israel knew Him as the One who created and controlled the sun, moon and stars.  The Jewish people also believed that God controlled human history, was righteous in His judgment, mighty in his saving power, and merciful in His fatherly love.  There was no god in the pagan pantheon who was as powerful, good, and loving as the God of Israel.

God’s name was written as four characters in the Hebrew language (known as the Tetragrammaton) which equate to YHWH in the English alphabet.  Bible translators have transcribed YHWH as “Yahweh” or “Jehovah.”  In the Hebrew Bible, God has many other names as well, such as:

“El Shaddai” —  Lord God Almighty;

“Adonai” – Lord;

“El” – God;

“El Elyon” – God Most High;

“El Olam” – Everlasting God;

“Jehovah Nissi” – Lord, My Banner;

“Jehovah Rapha – God Who Heals;

“Jehovah Jireh” – God Will Provide;

“Tzevaot or Sabaoth” – Lord of Hosts

These are just a few of many names that depict His wonderful attributes and characteristics.

The people of Israel not only believed that God existed, but were convinced that He had entered history.  They believed the Creator of the cosmos had spoken to Abraham and made a covenant with him:  a promise to make a great nation, a chosen people of Abraham’s descendants.  As you read through the Old Testament, it becomes clear that Israel was not chosen because of the people’s intrinsic merit and sterling character:  rather, the Exodus narrative is brutally honest in depicting a people who are ungrateful, unfaithful, and unworthy of God’s grace.

 God sovereignly and graciously chose a people for Himself so that they might choose Him.

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1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

Luke 12:32

Do not be afraid, little flock, because your Father has chosen to give you the kingdom.

2 Thessalonians 2:13

But we should always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

John 14:27

Peace I leave you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, nor fearful.

John 16:27

 For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I come out from God.

Romans 5:8

But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

GOD’S WORD FOR NOVEMBER 21 ~ ~ John 6:51 ~ ~ “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

From the book, “How to Read the Bible” by Dr. Michael Youssef. Chapter entitled, One King, One Kingdom. Subsection: What is the Kingdom of God?

Let’s see what the Bible teaches about the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is nothing less than the central theme of the Bible, the message that you and I are to proclaim to the world. The story of the Kingdom of God begins with Abraham. Hebrews tells us, “By faith Abraham……was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11:8 and 10; See also Genesis 12). And the New Testament closes with the fulfillment of Abraham’s hope in John’s vision of “the Holy City of new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.” (Revelation 21:2)

We cannot fully grasp the gospel of salvation without understanding the Kingdom of God. In our study of individual books of the Bible, it’s easy to miss the central theme that is woven throughout every book, from Genesis to Revelation. That central theme is the Kingdom of God.

Mark’s gospel opens with the beginning of Jesus’s ministry. There we find these significant words:

Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:14-15)

The good news that Jesus preached was that the Kingdom of God had come. Wherever He preached, the Kingdom was on His lips. It was central to His teaching.

Many of the parables of Jesus were focused on the kingdom of God. What is the Kingdom like? It is like a sower, Jesus said, who goes forth to sow seed. It is like a pearl of great price. It is like a mustard seed. How do you enter the Kingdom? You sell all that you have and give to the poor. You become like a little child.

Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God again and again, yet He never paused to define it. Nor did any of His listeners interrupt Him to ask, “Master, what do You mean by the ‘Kingdom of God’? Would You please define what this term means?” No, Jesus never defined this term. He assumed that all of His hearers knew what He meant – because they did. The Kingdom of God was a major part of the Jewish vocabulary. It was something they longed for deeply, even though their conception of the Kingdom was different from the Kingdom that Jesus proclaimed.

Today, many – if not most – Christians would be unable to define what the Kingdom of God is. They have heard the term before, but they would be hard-pressed to explain what it means.

The term, “Kingdom of God” refers to God’s rule over His people, and especially the fulfillment of His rule over all things at the conclusion of history. It will mean the end of all wars, all oppression, all enslavement, all racism, all crime, all sorrows, all tears. This is the Kingdom of God the Jews eagerly awaited.

The Jewish people were especially looking for a redeemer called Messiah (“anointed one”) who would establish the Kingdom of God in victory. When the new Testament declares that Jesus is the Messiah who has come to establish His Kingdom, we must look to the Old Testament in order to understand the messianic hope of Israel.

Let’s trace the story of the Kingdom of God back to its origins in the Old Testament and the nation of Israel.

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Psalm 94:18-19 When I said, My foot slips; thy mercy, O Lord held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me Your comforts delight my soul.

Psalm 46:4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

Psalm 48:14 For this God is our God for ever and ever. He will be our guide even unto death.

Psalm 37:18 The Lord knows the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.

Psalm 37:29 The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein for ever.