VIDEO Remembering His Goodness

So [the widow] said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?” 1 Kings 17:18

Some of history’s most agonizing words are those whispered by Jesus Christ in His final minutes of life: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46) Those were the very words spoken by David when he felt God had abandoned him to his enemies (Psalm 22:1).

It is not unusual for us to express our frustration toward those to whom we are closest—those whom we expect will be there for us—when we feel they have let us down. Even if that person is God Himself. The widow for whom God miraculously provided a perpetual food supply (1 Kings 17:8-16) suddenly doubted God when her son died. She thought that the very God who had blessed her with food was now judging her sins by killing her son. How easily we forget the goodness of God when our circumstances change.

A good way to remember the goodness of the Lord is to thank Him daily, preferably at the beginning of your day, for the blessing of knowing Him—for His mercy, love, power, and more that covers the pathway of our life and the day that is just beginning.

The Lord’s goodness surrounds us at every moment. R. W. Barbour

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1 Kings 17:17-18:46 – Skip Heitzig

Words Reflect Our Heart

A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart. Luke 6:45 nlt

How do you eliminate foul language? A high school chose to institute a “no foul language” promise. The students took an oath, saying: “I do solemnly promise not to use profanities of any kind within the walls and properties of [our school].” This was a noble effort, but, according to Jesus, no external rule or pledge can ever cover the odor of foul speech.

Removing the stench of the words that come from our mouths begins with renewing our hearts. Just as people recognize the kind of tree by the fruit it bears (Luke 6:43-44), Jesus said that our speech is a convincing indicator of whether our hearts are in tune with Him and His ways or not. Fruit stands for a person’s speech, “for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (v. 45). Christ was pointing out that if we really want to change what’s coming out of our mouths, we first have to focus on changing our hearts as He helps us.

External promises are useless to curb the foul language that comes forth from an untransformed heart. We can only eliminate foul speech by first believing in Jesus (1 Corinthians 12:3) and then inviting the Holy Spirit to fill us (Ephesians 5:18). He works within us to inspire and help us to continually offer thanks to God (v. 20) and to speak encouraging and edifying words to others (4:15, 29; Colossians 4:6).

By:  Marvin Williams

Reflect & Pray

What do your words and speech say about your heart? How are you inviting the Holy Spirit to transform your speech these days?

Dear Jesus, please help me speak words that honor You and edify others.

For further study, read Words Matter: Speaking with Wisdom in an Age of Outrage.

Really Love Others

To impact others with God’s love, time and energy are required. Romans 12:9-10

Many of us make it a point to show interest when we’re with other people. We’ve learned how important it is to be cordial, make small talk, and express concern at the right moments, all of which are commendable. But take a moment to consider ways that God might want you to go further.  

Pleasantries and polite chit chat are a good way to break the ice and begin a friendship. But watch for when God might be calling you to strive for something richer. Are you available and willing to go beneath the surface? Loving others well requires sacrifice—an investment of time and heartfelt energy in those relationships. It might involve shifting the calendar to spend time with a friend who needs to talk through a problem. Or it could mean going without an unnecessary purchase in order to bless someone who is hurting financially.

There are times when the Lord wants our relationships to go deeper, even when doing so gets messy. After all, isn’t that exactly what Jesus did with us? He loved us so profoundly that He gave His very life on the cross (Romans 5:8). Let’s follow His example by giving away a little more of our own life as we commit to truly loving the people around us.

The Able One

“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” (Jude 1:24-25)

This beautiful benediction is quoted at the end of many worship times because it summarizes both the core promises and the foundational authority of “the only wise God our Saviour.”

He is able! The precision of the Holy Spirit’s inspired words is always perfect. The ability of the only wise God is not only omnipotent but omniscient as well. The Greek word dunamis signifies not only sufficient innate power to accomplish the task but also the knowledge to perform the job correctly. The leper said, “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean” (Matthew 8:2).

He is able to “keep you from falling.” Again, the word choices are absolutely wonderful. God’s ability is used to provide a place of safe custody sufficient to stop any external attack. “But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil” (2 Thessalonians 3:3). That custody protects our “faultlessness”—a condition that is without any flaw. “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (Ephesians 1:4).

Only God’s omnipotence and omniscience can produce a “new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). God “can do” nothing less. His dunamis is such that “whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9).

That is why “the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God” must be given “honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Timothy 1:17). HMM III

What Is The World Looking For?

The world today is looking for:

• Men who are not for sale;
• Men who are honest, sound from center to circumference, true to the heart’s core;
• Men with consciences as steady as the needle to the pole;
• Men who will stand for the right if the heavens totter and the earth reels;
• Men who can tell the truth and look the world right in the eye;
• Men who neither brag nor run;
• Men who neither flag nor flinch;
• Men who can have courage without shouting it;
• Men in whom the courage of everlasting life runs still, deep and strong;
• Men who will know their message and tell it;
• Men who know their place and fill it;
• Men who know their business and attend to it;
• Men who will not lie, shirk or dodge;
• Men who are not too lazy to work, nor too proud to be poor;
• Men who are willing to eat what they have earned and wear what they have paid for;
• Men who are not ashamed to say ‘No’ with emphasis and who are not ashamed to say “I can’t afford it.”

God is looking for men. He wants those who can unite together around a common faith — who can join hands in a common task — and who have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. God give us men.”

“I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it… There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.” (Ezekiel 22:30a; John 1:6)

“He whom Thou lovest is sick.”

John 11:1-19

John 11:1-3

Sickness is no stranger in the homes of the saints. However much we may be the Lord’s favourites we can claim no exemption from bodily affliction: but in our case it bears an aspect full of consolation, it is sent not as a punishment, but as a means of blessing.

John 11:4

This sickness is not unto death death will not be the ultimate end of it

John 11:4

Blessed is that illness of which this can be said: such sickness is better than health.

John 11:5, 6

His love made him slow! This seems strange. We should have hastened on to our friends chamber, but Jesus, who loved better than we do, was in no hurry. Omnipotence is the source of divine patience.

John 11:8

Very rightly they wished to keep him from danger, more rightly still he shrank not from exposing himself when duty called.

John 11:9, 10

He was safe till his hour came, and therefore worked on in defiance of Jewish malice. He had his allotted day, and he meant to work to the end of it despite all opposition.

John 11:12-15

Anything which helps our faith is a blessing for which to thank God.

John 11:16

Bravely did he say, “Since our Master will expose himself to such peril, let us go with him, if it be only to share his fate.” Better far to die with Christ than to desert him in the hour of trial.

John 11:19

These were formal visits, customary in those times, but they were of very little use to the two bereaved sisters, who above all things longed to see the Lord. Without Jesus our friends are miserable comforters. A little while ago we read of Jesus at a wedding, and in this passage we find him on the road to a funeral: he shares in all that concerns us, and most of all in our griefs. Have we a family trouble? Let us send for the Master. His presence will make all things work for good.

Saviour! I can welcome sickness

If these words be said of me:

Can rejoice midst pain and weakness,

If I am but loved by thee.

Love so precious,

Balm for every wound will be.

Though that love sends days of sadness

In a life so brief as this,

It prepares me days of gladness

And a life of perfect bliss.

Love so precious

Bids me every fear dismiss.

Astonished Reverence

Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. (Psalm 66:16)

In my own being, I could not exist very long as a Christian without the inner consciousness of the Presence and nearness of God! I can only keep right by keeping the fear of God on my soul and delighting in the fascinating rapture of worship.

I am sorry that the powerful sense of godly fear is a missing quality in churches today.

The fear of God is that “astonished reverence” of which the saintly Faber wrote. I would say that it may grade anywhere from its basic element—the terror of the guilty soul before a holy God—to the fascinated rapture of the worshiping saint.

There are few unqualified things in our lives but I believe that the reverential fear of God, mixed with love and fascination and astonishment and adoration, is the most enjoyable state and the most purifying emotion the human soul can know. A true fear of God is a beautiful thing, for it is worship, it is love, it is veneration. It is a high moral happiness because God is!