VIDEO God Is Not Mocked

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. Galatians 6:7

God’s harvest principle—we reap what we sow—is illustrated more than once in Scripture. But nowhere as sadly as in the story of Judah, one of Jacob’s twelve sons who fell away from God and reaped a terrible harvest.

Judah, the fourth eldest son of Jacob, exhibited leadership qualities when he intervened in his brothers’ plans to put Joseph to death. He convinced them to spare Joseph’s life and sell him into Egypt as a slave instead. He must have been a natural leader—until he yielded to fleshly temptation and married a Canaanite woman who bore him three sons. Two of his sons were wicked and died, and Judah had sexual relations with the widow of one of the sons, thinking she was a prostitute. This story is no doubt included in the Genesis record as an illustration of the need to isolate the Hebrews in Egypt, in order to keep them from intermarrying with pagans in Canaan. (Egyptians looked down on the Hebrews and would not intermarry with them.)

Judah’s actions sent ramifications, like ripples across a pond, throughout the story of God’s chosen people. God is not mocked: What we sow, we will also reap.

Sow holiness, and reap happiness. George Swinnock

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Galatians 6:7 – In Depth – Pastor Chuck Smith – Bible Studies

A Sad Story

The thing David had done displeased the Lord.  2 Samuel 11:27

Painfully, the evil that has long been swept under the rug—sexual abuse of many women by men who had power over them—has come to light. Enduring headline after headline, my heart sank when I heard proof of abuse by two men I admired. The church has not been immune to these issues.

King David faced his own reckoning. Samuel tells us that one afternoon, David “saw a woman bathing” (2 Samuel 11:2). And David wanted her. Though Bathsheba was the wife of one his loyal soldiers (Uriah), David took her anyway. When Bathsheba told David she was pregnant, he panicked. And in a despicable act of treachery, David arranged for Joab to have Uriah die on the battlefield.

There is no hiding David’s abuse of power against Bathsheba and Uriah. Here it is in full color, Samuel ensuring we see it. We must deal with our evil.

Also, we must hear these stories because they caution us against the abuse of power in our times. This was David, “a man after [God’s] own heart” (Acts 13:22), but also a man who needed to be held accountable for his actions. May we also prayerfully hold leaders accountable for how they use or abuse power.

By God’s grace, redemption is possible. If we read further, we encounter David’s profound repentance (2 Samuel 12:13). Thankfully, hard hearts can still turn from death to life.

By:  Winn Collier

Reflect & Pray

Why is it important to prayerfully address the abuse of power in our midst and in our world? How did Jesus reveal the right way to live out true power?

God, I don’t know what to do with all the brokenness I see in my world, the brokenness in me. Will You shine Your light and heal us?

Grace in Sorrow

John 20:11-19

The famous hymn “How Firm a Foundation” describes God’s purpose for our trials: “For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless, and sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.” The pain and hardship we endure is meant not to crush us but to refine and shape us into Christ’s image. God alone knows how to replace ashes with a crown, and mourning with the oil of gladness (Isa. 61:3).

This is what Mary Magdalene discovered on the morning of the Christ’s resurrection. She went to the garden tomb, overwhelmed by sorrow and loss. The darkness of despair was swallowing her when she turned around and saw Jesus. After He spoke her name, she immediately recognized the Lord and clung to Him, fearing that even now He might be taken away from her.

But Jesus assured her that He had not yet ascended to His Father. Although there would come a day when He would physically depart from her and all His followers, in reality nothing could separate them from Him. Because He had paid the penalty of their sins with His death, His Spirit would soon indwell them. And one day Jesus would come to take them back to His Father’s house to be with Him forever (John 14:3).

We can all relate to feelings of despair. Dashed hopes—even small ones—can lead to suffering. But when expectations are high or personal loss hangs in the balance, our hope can be crushed if disaster strikes. Then it’s important to remember that when we have Christ, weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning (Ps. 30:5).

What Christ’s Death Meant to Himself

“[Christ] gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” (Titus 2:14)

If one were to ask why Jesus died, the average evangelical would usually say that He died to save us from our sins. It is true that “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3), but this is not the whole answer, by any means. Too many Christians think of the death of Christ only in terms of what it means for them—not what it meant to Him.

Our text says that He died for us and redeemed us from iniquity, not just to keep us from going to hell, but to “purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Paul says: “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living” (Romans 14:9). He wants a people who will have Him as Lord of their lives. “Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; . . . That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27).

“He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:15). “How much more shall the blood of Christ . . . purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14). Finally, the apostle Peter reminds us that the Lord Jesus Christ “bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24) “that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Romans 6:6).

We who have been saved by the redeeming death of Christ for our sins often thank Him for what He has done for us—and we should. But we also should praise Him for what He has thereby done for Himself and then seek always to live in such a way that His holy purpose is accomplished in our lives. HMM

Just Such A Short Time

And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

—Matthew 22:12-13

We have such a short time to prepare for such a long time. By that I mean we have now to prepare for then. We have an hour to prepare for eternity. To fail to prepare is an act of moral folly. For anyone to have a day given to prepare, it is an act of inexcusable folly to let anything hinder that preparation. If we find ourselves in a spiritual rut, nothing in the world should hinder us. Nothing in this world is worth it. If we believe in eternity, if we believe in God, if we believe in the eternal existence of the soul, then there is nothing important enough to cause us to commit such an act of moral folly.

Failing to get ready in time for eternity, and failing to get ready now for the great then that lies out yonder, is a trap in plain sight. There is an odd saying in the Old Testament, “Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird” (Proverbs 1:17). When the man of God wrote that, he gave the birds a little credit. It would be silly for a bird watching me set the trap to conveniently fly down and get into it. Yet there are people doing that all the time. People who have to live for eternity fall into that trap set for them in plain sight.   RRR087-088

Give me a willingness—no, a passion—to do my part in this urgent matter. Amen.

 

When I cry unto Thee, then shall mine enemies turn back

When I cry unto Thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know, for God is for me.—Psalm 56:9.

 

Soul! wouldst thou from the battle shrink,

And flee before the foe?

Dost thou beneath the burden sink,

And in the dust lie low?

Oh! waste not there vain tears and sighs:

The trumpet soundeth clear,

Overcome, and to My glory rise!

Overcome, and triumph here!

Thomas H. Gill.

 

Be not discouraged because of your souls enemies. Are ye troubled with thoughts, fears, doubts, imaginations, reasonings? Yea, do ye see, yet, much in you unsubdued to the power of life? Oh! do not fear it; do not look at it, so as to be discouraged by it; but look to Him! look up to the power which is over all their strength; wait for the descendings of the power upon you; abide in faith of the Lord’s help, and wait in patience till the Lord arise; and see if His arm do not scatter what yours could not. So, be still before Him, and, in stillness, believe in His name; yea, enter not into the hurryings of the enemy, though they fill the soul; for, there is yet somewhat to which they cannot enter, from whence patience, faith, and hope, will spring up in you, even in the midst of all they can do.

Isaac Penington.

 

Uncover Then Confess Sin

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Prov. 28:13

Here is the way of mercy for a guilty and repenting sinner. He must cease from the habit of covering sin. This is attempted by falsehood, which denies sin; by hypocrisy, which conceals it; by boasting, which justifies it; and by loud profession, which tries to make amends for it.

The sinner’s business is to confess and forsake. The two must go together. Confession must be honestly made to the Lord Himself; and it must include within itself acknowledgment of the wrong, sense of its evil, and abhorrence of it. We must not throw the fault upon others, nor blame circumstances, nor plead natural weakness. We must make a clean breast of it, and plead guilty to the indictment. There can be no mercy till this is done.

Furthermore, we must forsake the evil: having owned our fault, we must disown all present and future intent to abide in it. We cannot remain in rebellion and yet dwell with the King’s Majesty. The habit of evil must be quitted, together with all places, companions, pursuits, and books, which might lead us astray. Not for confession, nor for reformation, but in connection with them we find pardon by faith in the blood of Jesus.