Silencing the Critics by Doing Good...

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—--1 Peter 2:15


To My Beloved Daughters in Him:


THIS. IS. A VERY INSTRUCTIVE VERSE.  This one has kept me from sin and wrong speaking more times than I can count.  Girls, our single greatest evangelistic tool is how we live our lives.  So often people will speak ignorantly and foolishly...they will judge wrongly.  A foolish man in the bible is one who is disobedient to the word of God...He is a non believer. He is willfully ignorant of God's truth, but attacks it anyway.  We are to silence them not by what we say  but by doing what is good and what is right.  We are to do as it says in verse 12 of this same chapter...We are to have our conduct honorable among the Gentiles so that when they speak against us as evil doers, they may, by our good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.


Wow...crush the critics not by words but by doing right. Give your enemies no foothold...walk blamelessly before your God in uprightness of heart. It secures you in His will and stops the mouths of the lying and the foolish.  Don't fret..it only gives them power and causes you harm.  Keep your upright course.  Let your light so shine before men that they will see your good works and glorify for your Father in Heaven.  


Here is something you probably already know...this is not easy.  It is not easy to have your good called evil...to have your words twisted and your deeds maligned.  No one likes to be hated without a cause but therein is the encouragement.  Our Jesus was despised and rejected...His words were twisted and His deeds maligned.  Look to Jesus then for your example.  See how he reacted...

For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:

“Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;

who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Christ suffered that we might live.  Shine your light so others might live.  There are no true offenses against you...they are against God.  Your life is not about you..it is about glorifying Him in and through it all so that you can lead others to Christ.  The key verse for me from this section of 1 Peter 2 especially when going through this kind of trial is this one:


 "but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously" 


I am never to look to and desire the praises of men...I am to desire the praises of my God.  I am not to get entangled in foolish disputes in an attempt to clear my name. They take the focus off of God and place it on me...so instead of seeing Christ in me others just see me.  They keep the focus on earthly things rather than heavenly things and distract from the task at hand.  I am to commit myself then...all of me...to Him.  I am to surrender to what He has for me.  It is not my job to worry about my critics. It is His.  My job is to do good and keep my conduct honorable.  

These verses above from 1 Peter 2 and the ones below from Psalm 37 are gold to be treasured and obeyed.  As you follow your Lord's example, He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noon day and you will delight yourself in an abundance of peace.  

Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.

For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the Lord,
They shall inherit the earth.
For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;
Indeed, you will look carefully for his place,
But it shall be no more.
But the meek shall inherit the earth,

And shall delight themselves in abundance of peace                                         

THEREFORE...

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, --Ephesians 4:1


In Ephesians Chapters 1-3 the Apostle Paul speaks of the incredible blessings and privileges we have as children of God...as believers.  This is our "high" position in Christ.  As is Paul's custom he switches gears with a "therefore".  He is finished discussing doctrine and is now going on to duty.  Doctrine is the basis for duty...it is the why of our doing. Therefore...or because we have been given such great and precious privileges we are to desire out of love and affection for our God to walk just as He walked. 


I have not only been created by God but I have been bought with the price of the precious blood of His Son.  I am now a slave not to sin which leads to death and eternal separation from my God but to righteousness which leads to life and an eternity with my Father in Heaven.  Paul beseeches (begs) his brethren here to walk worthy of the calling with which they have been called.  John MacArthur says that we have a high calling that demands a low walk. I. LOVE. THAT.  Jesus was humble, meek, lowly, gentle, patient, forgiving and kind and He Himself is our peace.  In Him we are united in one body with others of like and precious faith.   Our lives should reflect the life and character of our Father!  No longer do we live for the praises of men but the praises of God!  Beloved, our salvation should look like something!  Because of all the kindness we have received in Christ Jesus we are to conform to our God's standards...we are to become like Him.  We are to walk worthy!


For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—1 Peter 2:15


Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel,--Philippians 1:27


Before we get into the qualities that Paul says characterize the worthy walk, let's remind ourselves of all we have been given in Christ. (All that comes before Paul's therefore)  In listing them I am going to be using the first person...as you read substitute yourself in the "I" position.  


Ephesians 1:4 I have been chosen in Him before the foundation of the world.
Ephesians 1:5  I have been predestined in love and adopted as His beloved daughter.
Ephesians 1:6  I am made to the praise of His glory and am accepted in my beloved Jesus! 
Ephesians 1:7  I have been provided with redemption and forgiveness.
Ephesians 1:8  I have been given the wisdom of my God!
Ephesians 1:9  He has made known to me, the mystery of His will.
Ephesians 1:10-11  I have an inheritance that He planned for me from before the foundation of the world. 
Ephesians 1:13  I have been given His Holy Spirit who dwells in me!  I have been sealed with His Spirit who is the guarantee of my inheritance.


and that was just chapter 1 and that list is not exhaustive...on to chapter 2...


Ephesians 2:1 I have been made alive...me who was spiritually dead, a child of wrath headed for hell...He has made alive
Ephesians 2:6  I have not only been made alive, but I have been raised up together with jesus and now sit with Him at the right hand of the throne of my God.
Ephesians 2:8-10  I am His workmanship...and my salvation is His free gift...nothing but belief and acceptance required.  I have been brought near by the precious blood of His Son. 
Ephesians 2:13-15  I have been made into one new man with Christ.


On to Chapter 3:


Ephesians 3:3-6  I have been united with both Jew and Gentile by the gosepl in the church.
Ephesians 3:17-18  He strengthens me with His Spirit so Christ's love can root and ground in my heart and i can be filled with His unfathomable love!
Ephesians 3:19:  I (ME!!) can be filled with the fullness of God!!! 
Ephesians 3:20:  I LOVE THIS LAST ONE a lot...I can know His power in my life!  


I, therefore, urge you, my daughters, in full agreement with Paul, to walk worthy of the calling with which you have been called!

An Exhortation to the Word...

Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.--Psalm 119:11


To My Beloved Daughters in Him:


The word of God is important.  In fact, Psalm 138 tells us that our God has magnified His Word ABOVE his name.  Wow!  It is that important.  Paul tells us in Romans 10 that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God and says this in the same chapter:


How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?... For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!


The word is necessary for salvation but it is also necessary for continued sanctification....Peter tells us that the word is how we grow. Crave it...desire it as a newborn babe desires milk because it is necessary for life.  Cling to the word like that...depend on the word as a newborn depends on the milk it gets from its mother.  Make it your life source...because it is your life source.  Jesus is the Word.


James tells us to receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save our souls.  He also reminds us that a quick look is not what is in order...we are to gaze deeply into the mirror of His word. We are to look long and hard and allow it to transform us as we surrender to what the Spirit of God shows us.


But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.--2nd Corinthians 3:18 


The writer of Hebrews says this about God's word:


For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  


Paul speaks of it this way in Romans, Chapter 15:

For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.



But here in Psalm 119 David gets very practical...why is the word of God important...so that I might not sin against you.  The word protects us from sin.  If we do not know the Word of God, we can't protect ourselves from sin.  Knowledge of the word is our prevention and protection against sin.   Where there is ignorance, there is sin.  Where there is not introspection and self awareness...gazing into the word and allowing it to reveal to you the thoughts and intentions of your heart...there is continued and ongoing sin.  Without the word of God, we are defenseless.  We cannot walk worthy of Him who died for us and now lives to make intercession for us.  Knowing the word is what enables us to say no to sin and yes to righteousness.  And..this is very important....Once we know what it says, we are then to become doers of what we know.  


Immerse yourselves in the word, girls.  Let it be always in your thoughts.  Make it such a part of your life and your daily walk that you would not go anywhere without it or not go an hour without thinking on it.  Let the word be the abundance of your heart.  Speak of it to your children...see the application for it everywhere.  Use it in your life and in your children's as Timothy exhorts...


All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,  that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.


To know the word and do it is to stay in the will of your God.  When you were   small, I likened the Word of God and His will to an umbrella.  If you went outside of His will you got wet, but if you stayed under that umbrella you were under His protection and care and blessings would abound.  Very simple, I know...but I liked it because the simplicity of it spoke to my heart as well.  


Here is my final exhortation:


Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.  And whatever you do in word or deed, doall in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.--Colossians 3:16-17


Okay one more...Isaiah 8


To the law and to the testimony!

ALWAYS BEFORE HIM....

I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.  Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices.  My flesh also will rest in hope.--Psalm16:8-9

To My Beautiful Daughters in Him,

These two verses are so beautiful and instructive.  My God tells me in Psalm 139 that He knows everything about me.  My rising up, my sitting down, my path, my words, my ways...and even my thought afar off. My God knows it all.  He created me...He hedges me behind and before and has laid His hand upon me.  I am never alone...I am always with Him.  He never leaves me nor forsakes me.  Are you getting where I am headed. I AM ALWAYS BEFORE HIM.  He has inscribed me on the palms of His hands.  My "walls" are continually before Him!

Because of this...Because of the great love He has for me...Because I am continually before Him and His thoughts toward me are precious and cannot be counted, I WANT TO SET HIM BEFORE ME ALWAYS. I want my heart and my mind so saturated with my God that my every waking moment is interpreted and referenced in His light.   Look at the reward...therefore my heart is glad, my glory rejoices and my flesh can rest in hope!  Setting Him before me will bring me great joy and peace. Why?  Because instead of seeing all that happens to me through the filter of "Jean" and how it affects "Jean" I see it through the lenses of my God.  My view is now filtered through the divine.  My heart and mind are now in the heavenlies focuses on those things that are above and eternal...the things that you know...last.  I will then react differently to each and every situation I face because I will not be looking at it in my flesh but in my spirit.  I can then handle whatever this life may throw at me because it is not about me...it is not mine to handle...it is God's.  My life is not about me...what happens to me is not about me...it is ALWAYS about Him.  I died and my life has been hidden with Christ in God.  I live for Him...I live to do His will and glorify Him.  To put it practically when someone hurts "my" feelings...it is not me they are hurting then it is Christ. My reaction will be to see it only as an opportunity to glorify my God. The me, myself and I...the trinity of stupidity...as Pastor Lloyd Pulley calls it, has been removed from the equation and oh what peace that brings.  My heart can rejoice and be glad...My God is in charge and control.  His will for me is from His heart of love.  I am His beloved...I am always before Him.  He cares for me.  Come magnify the Lord with me!  

I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.

I sought the Lord, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces were not ashamed.

Psalm 34:1-5

"Exceedingly A Bumblebee"

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,  to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.--Ephesians 3:20-21

For more Ephesians 3 studies go here

and here and here and here and here

I. Love. This. Verse.  I could meditate on in for years and not even begin to garner the depths of its import.  My husband taught it to our daughter, Rebecca, at two or three and when she got to the exceedingly abundantly part she would say "exceedingly a bumblebee...and of course, that made "me" remember it forever.  But, truly, what a comfort it is!  


In the verse prior, Paul prays that we may be filled with all the fullness of God.  We, as believers, can be filled with all of God's fullness!!! We share His life!  We are partakers of His divine nature.  What power and strength we have in these fallen bodies!  To be filled with all the fullness of anything means to be totally dominated by it.   I, for one, do not want to be totally dominated by anything but God...not by sin or self, or rage, or hatred, or bitterness.  (sin and self actually covers the gamut)  I want to be emptied of self and totally dominated and directed by God's indwelling Spirit.  I want all of Him and none of me or as John says in his gospel..."He must increase, but I must decrease."  Remember the power that lives inside you the next time you feel weak and vulnerable...the next time you are ready to give up or turn in cowardly surrender.  He who is in you is greater than He who is in the world!  

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly...forever and ever" is for me one of the greatest doxology's in Scripture.  John MacArthur writes this about it: 

"When the Holy Spirit has empowered us, Christ has indwelt us, love has mastered us, and God has filled us with His own fullness, then He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think."  

I don't know about you BUT THAT IS WHAT I WANT!!  I do not want to limit my God.  I want my God to use each and every situation in my life for my good and His glory...and I want to see it.  I want to be a part of it.  I want all I do to be in the power and the strength of my God.  In His power, there is nothing that is within His will that I cannot do.  Beloved, yield to Him...watch as He does exceedingly abundantly above all that you can ask or think according to His power that works in us.  In surrender is victory.

Daniel - Faithful to God

From and by J. MacArthur's - Strength for Today...

“So this Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius [even] in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.” - Daniel 6:28

True success is more a matter of character than of circumstances.

By anyone’s standards Daniel was a remarkably successful man. After entering Babylon as one of King Nebuchadnezzar’s young Hebrew hostages, he quickly distinguished himself as a person of unusual character, wisdom, and devotion to his God. Within a few years Nebuchadnezzar had made him ruler over the province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men. Many years later Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Belshazzar, promoted him to third ruler in his kingdom, and later King Darius made him prime minister over the entire Medo-Persian Empire.

As successful as Daniel was, being successful in the world’s eyes was never his goal. He wanted only to be faithful to God. And because he was faithful, God honored and exalted him in Babylon. But God’s plans for Daniel extended far beyond Babylon. Daniel’s presence in Babylon opened the door for the Hebrew people to return to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1-3), and it also paved the way for the Magi’s visit to Bethlehem centuries later (Matt. 2:1-12). Those wise men heard of the Jewish Messiah through Daniel’s prophecies (Daniel 9).

God used Daniel in marvelous ways, but Daniel was just one part of a much bigger picture. Similarly, God will use you and every faithful believer in marvelous ways as He continues to paint the picture of His redemptive grace. As He does, He may exalt you in ways unimaginable, or He may use you in humble ways. In either case, you are truly successful if you remain faithful to Him and use every opportunity to its fullest for His glory.

Suggestions for Prayer:
Thank the Lord for Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego and for the principles we have learned this month from their lives. Pray daily that your life, like theirs, will be characterized by godly integrity and that God will use you each day for His glory.

For Further Study:
Memorize Joshua 1:8 and 1 Corinthians 4:1-2. What key to success did God give Joshua? How does the apostle Paul describe a successful servant of Christ? Would your friends and relatives characterize you as a truly successful person?

For more of these daily devotionals go to www.gty.org

Desiring the Pure Milk of the Word

Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.--1 Peter 2:1-2


Desiring the pure milk of the word...Praying, Father, that this would be my desire. That your word would be both my love and my delight.  That I would put aside all else and long for it.  That it would be more precious to me than anything else.  Let this desire not only to delight in your word but to obey it be the dominating force in my life...let this be the expression and craving of my heart...because that is how I become more like You...that is how I grow.  I want to say with David: "I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.”  I want these verses...the verses that follow to be my prayer and the desire of my heart.


Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
    Nor stands in the path of sinners,
    Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
    And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
    Planted by the rivers of water,
    That brings forth its fruit in its season,
    Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.--Psalm 1:1-3



The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward.--Psalm 19:7-12


And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.--Romans 12:2


For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.--Romans 7:22


I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;I have treasured the words of His mouth
More than my necessary food.--Job 23:12


Your words were found, and I ate them,
And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;
For I am called by Your name,
O Lord God of hosts.--Jeremiah 15:16


From Psalm 119


I shall delight in Thy statutes, I shall not forget Thy Word. 


Thy testimonies also are my delight.


Make me walk in the path of commandments for I delight in it. 


I shall delight in Thy commandments which I love. 


I shall lift up my hands to Thy commandments which I love. 


The law of Thy mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.


If Thy law had not been my delight, then I would have perished in my affliction.


O how I love Thy law, it is my meditation all the day. Thy commandments make me wiser than my enemies for they are ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers for Thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged because I have observed Thy precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way that I may keep Thy Word. I have not turned aside from Thy ordinances for Thou Thyself has taught me how sweet are Thy words to my taste. Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth. From Thy 
precepts I get understanding.  Therefore I hate every false way.


I have inherited Thy testimonies forever for they are the joy of my heart. 


My soul keeps Thy testimonies and I love them exceedingly.




I long for Thy salvation, O Lord, and Thy law is my delight.  

Love is Central...Love is What is Needed.

That ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.--Ephesians 3:17b-19

Many years ago my husband and I opened our house for a bible study on Friday nights.  He would teach the adults and often I would teach the little ones that came.  I do not remember much of what I taught but I remember this one lesson.  I had been reading through Galatians and had reached the fruit of the Spirit.  (Galatians 5) As I studied I realized that there really was one one fruit, love, from which all the other fruit flowed.   In fact, without love, the other fruits would not even exist. God's love shed abroad in our hearts at the moment of our salvation is what enables us to love as He loves.  Without Him...without love...we are nothing but a clanging cymbal.  He is the foundation...without Him no lasting fruit could be grown.  Here is how I demonstrated this to the kids.  I took a black marker and long rectangular blocks from the girls' block box.  On each block I wrote a fruit of the Spirit.  I included an extra block with Jesus' name .  This was the first block I put on the table.  The rest of the fruits were placed on the Jesus block....love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Each child was asked to try to remove the Jesus block without toppling the tower.  It was, of course, impossible.  They understood what that meant and so did I.


Love is central.  Love is what is needed.  Love is the only thing we owe anyone.  Love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore, love fulfills the law. When we abide in love...in Him, the fruit grows.  Where love is present, John MacArthur rightly says, sin is absent.  Biblical love is always an action word and it is always self-sacrificing.  It is the highest kind of love...the love of the will...loving others is an act of obedience...It is the greatest commandment and in one sense the only commandment.


Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” 


In order to be rooted and grounded in the love that Paul speaks to here, we first must be rooted and grounded in God.  We must be saved.  His love must be at the very core of our being. We can't comprehend His love until we know Him and we can't know Him until we immerse ourselves in His word.  At salvation His love is poured out in our hearts....that is the only way we can love rightly...by and through His love poured out in our heart.   It is His Spirit that produces this love..it is not something we can grit our teeth and do...it is a love that ALWAYS comes from Him.  It is not external or compelled legalistically...it comes from within...it comes as we desire to be controlled not by our own selfish desires but by His Spirit moment by moment. As we surrender to the Spirit of God by obedience to His word,  He produces this supernatural love in our hearts and uses it to reach those He Himself has placed in our life for that very purpose!  In this way we can love to the limit!  We can love fervently as Peter says...like a rubber band stretched to its breaking point.


If you want to know the breadth, length, depth and height of His love...If you want to know the fullness of God all you need do is ask. BE PREPARED though, because in beginning to understand the depths of his love you will also begin to know with heart knowledge the depths of His sacrifice.  You will begin to identify with Him because you will be walking a path similar to your Master's, who when He walked this earth, was despised and rejected...a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief.  Remember, however, the big picture of what His suffering and death wrought...your salvation and mine.  His darkest hour became His greatest glory. So go ahead and ask...His perfect love will cast out fear and His grace will be sufficient for your every need.  


Ask Him first and foremost to give you a love for His word and a desire to let it root deeply in your heart.


Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.--Jeremiah 15:16


Be like Job who treasured God's word more than His necessary food or like the Psalmist who meditated on them both day and night.  Pray that His testimonies would be the rejoicing of your heart. 


Next, ask Him to answer the prayer found here in Ephesians 1:17 in your own life.  Ask Him to give you the desire to have your life under the control of the Spirit of God. Tell Him that you want to love as He loves.  Spend time with your Father in Heaven.  Renew your mind with His truth.  Receive the word that He ministers to you each day with meekness (no argument) and allow it to work in your heart.  Let Him empty your heart of you and fill it with Him and His love.  Watch Him do this work daily in your life to conform you into His image.... AND as you watch,  may the beauty of the Lord our God be upon you and may HE establish the work of your hands.

Locked in by Misery but God...

And I said, “This is my anguish;
But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
I will remember the works of the Lord;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
I will also meditate on all Your work,
And talk of Your deeds.
Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary;
Who is so great a God as our God?
You are the God who does wonders;
You have declared Your strength among the peoples.
You have with Your arm redeemed Your people,
--Psalm 77:10-15a

Psalm 77 is an antidote for depression.  In verses 1-9 David  is pretty locked in by his own misery. Even when he thought about God he was bitter...but then in verse 10 his mood begins to reverse.  He purposes in his heart to meditate on God's tender mercies to him in the past.  He remembers all the things that the Lord had accomplished..all the deliverances that He effected.  He recalls the years of the right hand of His God when His strength and power encompassed him and he begins to rejoice!  Nothing in David's situation had changed except his own outlook.  Therein lies the application for us.  Sometimes to grieve is our lot...sometimes God puts us in a very tight place...our job is to wait on Him and meditate on who HE IS rather than our circumstances. God is the ruler of events and much of what He does in our lives now will not be understood this side of heaven. Change belongs to the right hand of  God who not only does all things well, but for our good and His glory.  The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him.  I am His...and He is good.  Rejoicing today in His salvation...my joy is in Him!

 Psalm 116:12-13 says this:

What shall I render to the Lord
For all His benefits toward me?
I will take up the cup of salvation,
And call upon the name of the Lord.

The Imagination of our Hearts...

"Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ; for He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory so that your faith and hope are in God."--1 Peter 1:18-21


by John MacArthur excerpted from The Wonders of Our Redemption

"What were we redeemed from? What were we redeemed with? Who were we redeemed by? And what were we redeemed for? Let's answer the first question at least, okay?

Question number one, what were we redeemed from? What's the obvious answer? From what? Sin, good. Scripture certainly supports that men are in bondage to sin, that men and women are slaves to iniquity. I don't want to belabor the point because I know you understand it but I want to be true to an explanation of the passage so let me give you some refreshing reminders of this."

John goes on here and discusses Romans 6, Galatians 3, Ephesians 1 and Hebrews 9 in explanation.  Skipping down to the Hebrews 9 explanation here..

"One other verse comes to mind, I think it's verse 15 of...yes, Hebrews 9. It says there, "And for this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant in order that since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant." And again we have the idea that we are redeemed from sin. Okay? That's the general thought. Now let's go back to our passage and let me show you some specifics. And the news is all bad, first of all, as we look at what we were redeemed from. Okay? Four elements characterize unredeemed sinners. If this is what you were redeemed from this is what you used to be characterized by, okay? So did I. Four words I want you to draw your attention to.

The first one appears in verse 14 and we reach back a little bit to pick this one up but it helps us understand the sinfulness of sin and its character. In verse 14 it says, "Do not be conformed now that you are obedient children to the former lusts." Okay. The first characteristic of sin is lust...lust. This is an element of the sinfulness of unredeemed sinners. They are basically controlled by lust. Now what is lust? Epithumia, strong desire, strong desire in the heart for what is evil...that's the basic idea. It has to do with a compelling driving passion for what is evil. And so the character of unredeemed sinners is that they are driven by strong desires.

The character of those desires is further defined in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 where it says in verse 5 that we are not to behave in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God. And again he says that this lust is a passion and it is a godless passion. So unredeemed sinners are driven by unrestrained desire for what is evil.

Now I want to dig into this a little bit because I think it's very very fascinating. Do you remember Genesis 6:5? Do you remember that verse? Genesis 6:5, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only...what?...evil continually." Now let me get that verse down for you, write it down somewhere because it really characterizes unredeemed sinners. God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and here is a definition of that wickedness. Every imagination of the thought of his heart was only evil continually. That is a graphic to the point description of the driving impulse of lust. What is it? It's every imagination of the thought of his heart.

Now let me help you see what that means, okay? The heart is the mind...the heart is the mind basically, where you think. So we understand what it means when it says the thoughts of his heart. But what does he mean "every imagination of the thoughts of the heart?" He adds another dimension here, something, somehow distinct from thought, something, if you will, that energizes thought, something that compels thought. Could it be lust? It can be. Lust is certainly associated with the imagination. Basically the same idea comes through in James 1, listen to these words. "Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own...what?...lust. Then when lust has conceived it gives birth to sin." Same idea. There's something else in you beside thought, it's lust. And it works in your imagination. I love that word, we don't use that word much. Many of the old writers in Christian literature used the word imagination, it's a tremendous word. In many of the new translations they don't use the word imagination, but they do in the King James and I think it keeps the perspective clear. Let me just give you an illustration of how it's used and I can do that by looking at nothing beyond the book of Jeremiah alone.

I was studying this and just digging into it, just listen to this, for example,Jeremiah 3:17, "At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord," and this is looking ahead to the glories of the future, "and all the nations shall be gathered unto it to the name of the Lord to Jerusalem...now listen...neither shall they walk anymore after the imagination of their evil heart." Chapter 7 down about verse 24, yes, "They hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels...follow...and in the imagination of their evil heart." Chapter 9 verse 14, talking again of disobedient people, "They have walked after the imagination of their own heart," then he brings up Balaam as well. There's another one in chapter 11 I believe, verse 8, "Yet they obeyed not nor inclined their ear, but walked everyone in the imagination of their evil heart." Over in chapter 13 and verse 10, "This evil people which refused to hear My words which walk in the imagination of their heart." Chapter 16 verse 12, "And you have done worse than your fathers for behold you walk everyone after the imagination of his evil heart." Chapter 18, I think it's the same verse 12, it says, "We will everyone do the imagination of his evil heart." And then at least one more I can give you, chapter 23 verse 17, yes, "You shall have peace, they say unto everyone that walks after the imagination of his own heart no evil shall come upon you."

In looking at the Authorized Version and going through just that one book, you can see that the concept of the imagination was very much a part of the thinking. Now let me tell you how sin works. Sin works in your imagination. And in the imagination of a person is where he or she builds the fantasies. That's where you develop the fantasies that are the impulses to behavior. For example, I am tempted let's say to do something wrong. The temptation comes to me. If I don't deal with it immediately it enters in to my thoughts. I think of it as a temptation. I think of doing it. "Oh I could do that, that might feel good." And then if I continue to think about it it goes from that thought into my...what?...my imagination. And pretty soon I am building the scenario of forbidden pleasure and I'm feeding that thought. It's now in my imagination and I have created the fantasy that...listen to me...will move my emotions which will activate my will which will create the action. That is why so many of the ancient writers said you have to control the imagination. The problem with unredeemed humanity is it can't. Sin works in the imagination. And, of course, the imagination is totally dominated by sin...totally. What else could it be dominated by?

In Luke 1:51 Mary gives that great Magnificat as she magnifies the Lord and she says of the Lord, "He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts." Sin starts out as a thought. It is fed in the imagination. And when the imagination concocts the fantasy scenario, lust is excited and it moves the emotion and emotion activates the will and conduct is a result. Listen carefully, in dealing with sin imagination becomes more fundamental in thinking in some ways. And I don't want to split hairs here but I want you to understand it. Imagination becomes more fundamental than thinking and it is what energizes the thought into fantasy that activates the emotion which moves the will. So it is in the imagination that our flesh comes to consciousness in the form of mental pictures of pleasure...mental pictures of certain experiences we believe will make us happy, or certain experiences we believe will fulfill us.

And by the way, the flesh controls the imagination in the unredeemed. And it can control yours too as a Christian. And the flesh controlled imagination produces distortions and lies about everything. Lies about oneself, lies about the world, lies about relationships, lies about God, lies about the nature of things, lies about pleasure, lies about fulfillment, lies about joy. And those lies and distortions in the flesh-controlled imagination lead directly to gross sin, depression, hardness of heart, bitterness, all kinds of sinful behavior and greater and greater misery. And the imagination is where lust conceives.

Let me give you an illustration. This is true for us as Christians so let me move into that realm for a moment. You're a Christian, right? Let's say you're a Christian young person and you're out alone with someone that you care very much about of the opposite sex, you're very attracted to that person. And you are in a situation where you are tempted. This thought will be in your mind. This sin will feel good if I do it. That's a thought, I want to do that it will feel good. If you're a Christian this thought will also be in your mind, this sin will displease God. Will you not have both thoughts? Of course you will, both thoughts. So the issue is not thoughts. Your behavior is not controlled simply in that area of thought, it is controlled in the imagination. You see, both of those are facts in your mind at that time. If I do this it will feel good. If I do this it will displease God. Both of those are thoughts so thought alone isn't going to control what you do. Something is going to energize one of those thoughts. And what we would hope is that all of a sudden the thought "this will displease God" will be energized and your imagination will begin to say "this would bring dishonor to the Lord who loved me and bought me and gave Himself for me, this would grieve the Holy Spirit, this would hinder my testimony, this would strike a fist, as it were, in the face of God, this would rebel against the one I love and who died for me and the one that I live for and love deeply," we would hope that that would be the energizing imagination. On the other hand, you might just create the fantasy of what would feel good.

So, we could, I guess, reduce it to the point where we could say when this sin will feel good if I do it, my flesh wants that thought. And the thought that says if I do it it will displease God, my spirit wants that thought. So I face the conflict. Which will control me? Which ever one does will move my emotions. Which ever one moves my emotions strongly will activate my will and determine my behavior.

You say, "Well which one will be the one?" Which ever one controls your imagination. Now you can't split it anymore than that, we're getting pretty technical right here. Whichever thought is made most instantly vivid to you will control you. Whichever thought pulls you most dramatically, what ever your imagination energizes and if you're dominated by the Spirit what's going to happen? Your imagination is going to be dominated by the Spirit too and you're going to build a case in your mind for what pleases God. And if you're functioning in the flesh your flesh is going to catapult your imagination into that thought and spin the fantasy of what feels good. You've got to take care of your imagination.

That's why we live in a dangerous world, my dear friend. You sit in front of televisions and movies and all of that kind of trash long enough and you won't even be in control of your imagination. You will have played out vividly before your very eyes so many compromising scenes that you don't even need an imagination. You feed that illicit fantasy world and you will have a problem.

I've had people actually say to me, "I have a terrible problem with immorality."

And I've said to them on a number of occasions, "Do you read pornography?"

"Well, yeah."

"What do you expect, you have stuffed your imagination with fantasies." Do you see why it's so important to do what the Bible says? You've got to protect your imagination, my friend, don't expose it to that trash. Joshua 1:8, "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth...listen to this...you shall meditate on it...what?...day and night." Psalm 19, do you know it? "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be...what?..." that's talking about your imagination, you meditate in your imagination. You feed the imagination a steady diet of sin and you're going to have a hard time controlling it. You feed the imagination a steady diet of biblical truth and it will control your behavior.

So, beloved, we were redeemed from the state of being controlled by lust and evil imagination. I mean, look at the world, is it any wonder they act the way they act? Is it any wonder? You want to know why we've got so much garbage in this nation, why we've got so much sick sin everywhere? You want to know why we've got so much debauchery in this nation? Because everybody's imagination is filled to the hilt with it. There's no way to restrain it. Every imaginable fantasy is not even a fantasy anymore, you can look at it and it's a reality...polluted minds beyond description, evil imaginations. If it was true inGenesis 6:5, it's certainly true today. From what were we redeemed? We were redeemed from an evil imagination. Isn't that a wonderful truth? And we certainly ought to protect our imagination. We certainly ought not to be in a situation where we just continue to feed it filth and then wonder why we fall all over the place trying to live the Christian life.

Listen to 1 Chronicles, I'll close with this, 1 Chronicles 29...I didn't get very far, did I? First Chronicles 29:10, "Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation," he's dedicating the temple here and his son Solomon, and David said, "Blessed be thou Lord God of Israel, our Father forever and ever," then 1 Chronicles 29:11 says, "Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine, Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all, both riches and honor come of Thee and Thou reignest over all and in Thine hand is power and might and in Thine hand it is to make great and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank Thee and praise Thy glorious name. But who am I and what is my people that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort for all things come of Thee and of Thine own have we given Thee, for we are strangers before Thee and sojourners as were all our fathers, our days on the earth are as a shadow and there is none abiding. O Lord, our God, all this store that we have prepared to build Thee a house for Thine holy name cometh of Thine hand is all Thine own."

Now listen, "I know also, my God, that Thou tryest the heart and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me in the uprightness of my heart, I have willingly offered all these things and now I have seen with joy Thy people which are present here to offer willingly unto Thee. O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and of Israel our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people and prepare their hearts unto Thee and give unto Solomon, my son, a perfect heart, to keep Thy commandments, Thy testimonies and Thy statutes and to do all these things."

You notice that little phrase in verse 18, "Keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people." David prays, "O God, keep their imagination focused on You, on Your truth, on Your greatness, on Your power, on Your glory, on Your victory, on Your majesty, on Your exalted headship, on Your sovereignty as the source of riches and honor, on Your power and might, on Your ability to make great and to give strength, praise Your glorious name." What's he saying? He's saying, "O God, may the imagination of the heart of my people be on You."

How do you do that? Feed that imagination, feed that part of you by meditating day and night on the Word of God and don't wonder why you are battling losing to sin if you expose your imagination to things sinful. It's inevitable...it's inevitable.

No enough just to have the thought because when you're tempted you're going to have as a Christian both thoughts, the good one and the bad one. But what compels you and what energizes one or the other is what's feeding your imagination. And if your imagination is filled with the fantasies of sin, it will activate lust. If it is filled with meditation on the Word of God it will activate virtue.

Beloved, when you were redeemed from lust. And that's why Paul says don't walk in it anymore, there's no need to, no need. You were taken out of that, that's his whole message in Ephesians 4, Colossians 3. You were taken out of that. Don't walk in it anymore. The key, guard your imagination. So we were redeemed from lust that conceives in the imagination. Well, we'll have to pick it up from there next time and see what else we were redeemed from. Let's bow in prayer.