THINK" SERIES: PART 8 - "WHATEVER IS JUST"

 THINK BIBLICALLY - #4

" Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things". (Philippians 4:8)

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Micah 6:8 and for good reason. The Bible says "He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?"

One of the many attributes of Yahweh - YHWH - is just. Justice is almost His middle Name. His Justice is swift against rebels and evil, just as He opened up the earth to swallow up Korah and the 250 rebels and their families who had challenged Moses' and Aaron's call as God's representatives. God's fury and judgment were swift and definitive. The earth opened up and many went down to the place of the dead, still alive.

When Ananias and Sapphira lied to Jesus' Apostles about the amount of money they sold their property for, in order to puff themselves up before the just-created Body of Christ, God did not wait to deal swiftly with their deception. There is no instance in the past, where God instituted Worship, and where mortals took it upon themselves to speak for Him that God did not punish the perps.

However, this verse from Philippians 4:8 speaks more about our human conception of how to treat others justly rather than about being a Holy, Righteous Judge like our heavenly Father.

As we think Biblically and come to the realization that we are not God Who judges righteously, we need to grasp the true meaning of the original Biblical Greek word for "whatever is just" and its definition. The word is "dikaios" and means upright, just, right before God, and more. It does NOT mean we are to contemplate the mighty, and swift justice of God as if we are His executioners. Our job is to love unconditionally, to live the Truth, and to share the good news. 

The "Think on Whatever is Just" call to Biblical Thinking is personal and internal. It is not about corporate or group identity or something we wish others should do, although that is an amazing goal. It is a call for us as the original, Holy Spirit-inspired word, indicates, to fully comprehend the righteous and upright character of the Lord, and think, live, and obey  - likewise.

Father, in the Mighty Name of Jesus, may we, who are called by Thy Name, come to fully grasp what a Holy, righteous, and just God You are. Help us to comprehend even one-tenth of Your Character so that we may live lives that are above reproach before the world and before You, in Jesus' Strong Name. Amen.

Image Credit: Free Christian Illustrations

PRAYER AS WE COMPLETE FIRST HALF OF 2021

Oh Most Holy Father of Heaven and Earth, as we come to a very quick close to the first half of 2021, we are reminded that a thousand days are like a day in Your Sight and still our days are like but a fleeting breath on this earth.

 

In the sad days, in which we live, we see many who are prospering off the conditions of this world, while the majority are left to seek and find their own comfort in things and systems which Your Word did not prescribe. To those who persevered through the storms and the lockdowns and the trauma of losing loved ones to Covid or other unnatural incidents….those who stayed close to You and grounded themselves in Truth while reaching out and loving others, and even those who are seeking Truth and discovering themselves in confusion, Lord – You are Lord of us all.

 

So today, Father, as we look back on our successes and failures of the first six months of this year, we commit our way to You.

We commit our very lives and souls into Your Care.

We pray for those who are seeking but cannot find their way. Lord send Your Holy Spirit to beckon them on to You.

We pray for those who once walked with You, yet used Christian liberty to join in the world’s corruption, stayed  there and need to find a way out before it is too late. Give them a helping Hand and a real mirror from Heaven so they can see who they have become….and turn back to You.

 

We trust You, we who are called by Your Name. We trust ONLY You and there is no other.

We trust that You would act on our behalf when the hounds of hell nip at or hells. We will keep the Faith.

We trust that our Hope is built on nothing else but Jesus’ Blood and Righteousness. We will stand on Your Word.

We trust that when dark clouds overwhelm and the fiery darts fly our way, we will remember our Helmet of Salvation.

 

Lord, may Your righteousness shine like the sun rising on early dawn.

May Your justice reign supreme like the sun on high noon, overhead.

May Your Peace rule our hearts so that no matter what the world throws at us, we remain secure in You.

May Your Son, one day, ride from the split in the Eastern Sky, as He returns to retake that which was His from the beginning.

 

Spread Your faithful love over those who know, love, obey, trust and called You Lord.

Bring Your healing balm into the hearts of those who remain upright and true to You.

Do not let the arrogant, prideful and evil ones come near Your Faithful servants.

We trust in the Lord, abide in You, delight in You, oh Lord, because You have given us the desires of our hearts – the Lord Jesus Christ and it is in His Name we pray, and praise forever and a day, amen and amen.

WORD OF LIFE, PART 16: 'HOW MUCH LONGER?"

 When things go wrong, as they most certainly do on a regular basis, we are always tempted to ask "Where is (was) God?". The unsaved ask this question all the time. When a tidal wave hits and hundreds or thousands lose their lives? "Where was God". When a massive earthquake devastates Haiti and over 100,000 poor Haitians perish in this natural disaster, some ask "Where was God?"....and so on.

Even the most godly and observant and biblically sound Christians can ask that same question. Is it the right thing to do when we question God like this? It is. Christianity is the only thinking man's Faith system. We do know He controls everything as He is sovereign and we do not. In Luke 13:3-5, we see that the Tower of Siloam had collapsed and 18 people tragically dies in this accident. This is similar to a major construction accident today, anywhere in the world, of tragic proportions. This tragedy was reported to Jesus as reported in this Gospel passage.

The response of Jesus must have stunned a lot of people. Here is the brief account and Jesus' unexpected answer: "No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam collapsed on them: Do you think that they were more sinful than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:3-5)

There is a sobering and scary message from the Keeper of the Gates of Heaven here who said twice in three verses "unless you repent, YOU TOO WILL PERISH"! The key to understanding tragedy is this - we have to be ready to leave this life at a moment's notice. We must life a repentant lifestyle, always at peace with God. We must ask God to forgive ALL our sins (and He will, if we are really seeking forgiveness). We must have the peace and knowledge of His presence in our lives, which leads to salvation and being born again.
Psalm 119:121-128
Ayin.
121   I have done justice and righteousness;  do not leave me to my oppressors.
122   Be surety for Your servant for good; do not let the arrogant oppress me.
123   My eyes fail with longing for Your salvation and for Your righteous word.
124   Deal with Your servant according to Your lovingkindness and teach me Your statutes.
125   I am Your servant; give me understanding, that I may know Your testimonies.
126   It is time for the Lord to act, for they have broken Your law.
127   Therefore I love Your commandments above gold, yes, above fine gold.
128   Therefore I esteem right all Your precepts concerning everything, I hate every false way.
Psalm 119:121 is about the believer who has followed Christ and Micah 6:8, which tells us to do justice and walk righteously before our God. This is a person who is ready to stand before God once he/she passes from this life. However, this believer also seeks natural (or earthly) justice from those who relentlessly persecute.

This is absolutely in order. To ask for angelic protection is sound as each believer does have a guardian angel. This is what the author is praying for in this portion of Psalm 119.  During the many Israeli/Arab wars of the late 1960's-early 1970's, some former Arab soldiers reported on the Trinity Broadcasting Network that they had several Israeli soldiers cornered and outnumbered about twenty to one, on the side of a mountain. There was no natural way for the Israeli soldiers to come out alive from this strategic box. EXCEPT THIS - the now Christian Arab former enemies reported that when they got closer to where they thought they would capture their Jewish enemies, they saw huge 12-20 foot tall beings dressed in white with swords drawn....causing them to turn and run in the other direction!

Watch this video clip from a message I gave where we know from Scripture that "the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and He delivers them (Psalm 34:7). God does answer our pleas for help. He is our "surety" in these times of oppression and persecution (Psalm 119:122). But the key is to stay grounded in His Holy Word and constantly stay at the Feet of the Master seeking knowledge and wisdom from Him (Verse 123).

There are times when the tribulation is drawn out. In the recent past, several western pastors and missionaries have been captured and tortured in several Middle Eastern countries and even North Korea.  These are righteous people who risked everything for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, yet their payment was prison, torture and even death. Is God dealing with them (Verse 124) in His Mercy? When you look at the bigger picture, He most certainly is! 

Is it easier for us in the comfortable west to speak like this? Yes it is, but we also have our challenges.  In the increasing number of persecuted lands – from atheist China to the major Islamic and Buddhist countries, what is being done to the people of God is obvious. In western Countries from Europe to the UK to North America, the persecution is more subtle but just as deadly to the spread of the Gospel. In order for the persecuted anywhere, to keep the fire and passion going, we do need to rely more on the Word of God and His Promises. In the Middle East and Asia, God has been showing Himself in increasingly tangible ways to encourage His people, and not just in His Word. Most Christians on the run have no copy of the Bible and no way to get one. When this is the case, cry out to Him as in Verse 125.

Revelation 6:9-10 shows what is coming down the pike with those who are killed during the Great Tribulation (after the Rapture of the Church, when those killed for converting to Christianity during the worldwide reign of anti-Christ are under the Altar of God, asking "how much longer"). Persecuted Christians from various times in the last 2000 years, from the Roman persecution have been asking the same question many ask today- "How Much Longer"?  The answer is this- when all the world has heard the Gospel. Each day is one day closer. Our responsibility is to hate, despise and stay far from every shack or mansion which contains heresy, apostasy and misdirection. Conversely, we hold on to the Truth found in ALL 66 books of Scripture and every word of every verse of every chapter on every page of the Good Book (verses 127-128). Amen. How much longer? It could be, until we first see Him Face to face! As for those in Verse 126- leave that up to The King!

PRAY FOR.....HUMILITY

He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble His way (Psalm 25:9).
If there is one thing God hates, it is pride. In fact, it was pride which led to the downfall of the once great worship leader of heaven - Lucifer, who declared himself to be greater than God. (Read here to see how vile Lucifer's pride was). The opposite of pride is humility - real humility, not the false which which causes the religious to stand in the market place like the pharisees did. They looked the part, appeared to be holy and acted like they were fasting, but their hearts were full of religious pride and sin before God.

Humility which causes God to give grace (while He resists and rebukes the proud) is not just a freedom from arrogance and pride, but a genuine, conscious and intentional attitude which regards others as worthy of your service and mine. It is the kind of meekness like Jesus, Whose meekness could never be confused with weakness. He was, after all, the Son of God. We are, after all, if we are born again, sons and daughters of God. Our meekness and submission to the Will of God (love God first and love others) is BASED on this positional truth!

To be clearer, our firm and sealed position as joint heirs with Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven is what affords us the privilege and opportunity to be like our Lord, and to be completely grateful for our salvation by walking this thing called Life out as, Micah 6:8 instructs us! God says this, which applies to our point: "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8).

In this verse, we see the following:
- God has shown us what is good (our salvation and sealing via the Holy Spirit until the Day of Redemption or when we die and go to Him).
- Because of this fact, He requires something in return of all Christians: 
  1. Be fair with everyone in our dealings and to not take advantage of ANYONE.
  2. Love people and be compassionate towards them, as God is to us.
  3. Live a Christian life of surrender to Christ daily, in true humility.

This is an equation which gives life while summing up the Christian Journey. Most believers are somewhere along the scale of humility when converted from darkness to light. However, too many in the west use our wealthy churches and its ministries - from the vast and exciting world of Christian media and to parachurch ministry - use their position in Christ to not so much enrich themselves but as to become very turf-oriented, forgetting from whence cometh their gifting. So let us resolve to pray, no matter what our status in the Journey with Jesus, for humility and surrender as we begin each day, so that we may receive guidance, direction and blessing with a humble heart and soul. Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, I thank You that You gave Your Son as a ransom for many, that sinners - vile and unworthy though we are - could and would be saved if we believe the Gospel, repented of those sins and accept the finished work on the Cross for our salvation.  Help us to be more like Him oh Lord. To be like the Humble, suffering Savior Who gave Himself and served and loved and put others before Him, knowing all along that He was God, the Ancient of Days.

Help us to understand how blessed and fortunate we are as Your children, that we don't need to call down fire and judgment and hell from heaven on bad people, even though we may feel like it, but to remember at those times that we should be grateful that our names are written in Your Book of Eternal Life! Help us to put aside ALL encumbrances which clog our communication lines with you and could cause us to stumble that we may remain humble, like Your Servant Moses, whom You called the "most humble man ever on the earth". Lord, we love, adore, worship and magnify You and Your Name above all others and that includes, most certainly, ourselves. Help us to remember WHO You are so we can remember Whose we are and our lives will reflect this gratitude and truth, in the Mighty and Strong Name of Jesus, we pray, amen and amen and amen!!!

OTHER VERSES TO MEDITATE UPON TO GROW IN HUMILITY:

Matthew 18:1-4 “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

First Peter 5:5-6 “Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.” 

THIRTY ONE DAYS OF PRAYER AND THE WORD:JANUARY 1-31, 2015 THEME: "ABIDE"

DAY FIVE:
VERSE:

Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving....
(Colossians 2:6-7)
PRAYER:
Oh Most High God and Ruler of the Universe, You are not a God Who created and left us to our own devices but "walked with Adam" daily, in the beginning, until he sinned and walked away from you. You told Abraham to "walk before" You and be blameless (Genesis 17:1) and everyone of Your faithful generals walked before, along and then behind Your leadership. Father, Your requirement is laid out for us in Micah 6:8 "....what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? 

It is our fervent wish to be resolved, as Your servant Jonathan Edwards once did, to walk with You in that way. Oh that we would have the testimony of Enoch of whom it is written twice that he walked with you and then You "raptured" him Home. All Your faithful servants of old, from the prophets to the warriors like Joshua and David to the Apostles walked the sacrificial walk with You as they would a friend.

But Lord, You oh God, You are more than a friend. You are the God of all salvation, all truth, all majesty and all power, and we worship, adore, magnify, glorify and lift up the Name above all names, we lift up the blood-stained banner of Jesus Christ as warriors of the Cross and we loudly proclaim, from the mountaintop that Jesus Christ IS LORD and there is no other. Hallelujah to the Lamb!

Lord, give us this day the power and perseverance, as adopted sons and daughters and friends of God, to walk with You - not ahead of You, not way behind You, but WITH YOU. We know, oh God, why You told us to "walk humbly WITH" You and not all the other things.  It is because we need to recognize that the humble Savior Whose meekness in tribulation was our example, has called us to His Walk, when He ministered almost 2000 years ago. It is in humility we silence our noisy pride and self-righteousness and is in surrender we become empowered and strong in You, so much so to the point that if it were possible, post-flood, we would be able to walk 300 years with you as Enoch did!

Thank You, dear Abba Father, that we even had the opportunity to RECEIVE Christ as Colossians 2:6 says, which prequalifies us to be able to even be on that path with You! This act of Salvation, through the Spirit's regeneration and not some mindless repetition of a cheap evangelist, reminds us to also "be still and KNOW that You are God" - the ultimate act of obedience through humility. 

Thank You, most Gracious Father for this teaching that our stillness is not weakness about a proactive dwelling in Your Presence knowing that You have all our situations, troubles, cares, tears and fears under control.

Thank You, most Sovereign Lord, for the gift of Faith, with which we are indwelled and constantly maturing in, so that we can recognize the Hands and Handiwork of God weaving the narrow path through which we should walk with You. I do so with abundant and joyful thanksgiving in my heart, through Jesus Christ, our soon-coming King. Amen.