"I, the Lord, silence you,
Satan!" (Zechariah 3:2). We cannot silence Satan. The Lord can silence
Satan. This is why we must answer Satan with the Word of the Lord. Satan
has no answer to the Word of the Lord. "See, I have taken your sin away
from you, and I will dress you in fine clothing" (Zechariah 3:4). This
is God's great salvation: our sin is removed, and we are clothed in the
righteousness of Christ. Satan has no answer to this. He may try to
accuse us, but the Lord's Word will prevail over him: "For those who are
in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation" (Romans 8:1). Those who have
been forgiven by the Lord are called to "live according to His ways"
(Zechariah 3:7). We are to walk in the Spirit. He gives life to us. He
raises us up from and above the way of sin and death (Romans 8:2).
"These men are a sign of things to come" (Zechariah 3:8) - a sign that
pointed forward to Jesus, God's Servant, "the Branch" (Zechariah 3:8).
We are to point to Jesus. We are to bring something of heaven and its
glory into the lives of the people we meet. "The stone" - Look at the
stone (Zechariah 3:9). This is a call to look to Jesus, the cornerstone,
the Foundation Stone of our faith. "I will remove this land's sin in a
single day" (Zechariah 3:9). The forgiveness of our sin comes in a day.
Its effects last for a lifetime - "each of you will invite your
neighbours to sit under your vine and fig tree" (Zechariah 3:10). We are
to invite people to rest in Jesus.
Friday 24 January 2020
Are we being changed by God's love?
"I brought you out of
Egypt..." (Amos 2:10-11). God had done great things for His people.
Sadly, this is followed by "You made the Nazirites drink wine. You
commanded the prophets to stop prophesying." God has been good to us.
How are we reacting to His love? Are we being changed by His love? His
love is not only a gift to be received. It's a power to make us more
like Him.
Listen To The Voice Of The Eternal God.
“The divine revelation that the prophet Habakkuk saw” (Habakkuk 1:1) –
This is a Word from the Lord. It is given to Habakkuk. It is given to
God’s people, Israel. It is given to His Church in every nation and
every generation. God’s Word is to be received by God’s people. God’s
Word is to be passed on to God’s people. “Didn’t You exist before time
began, O Lord my God, my Holy One?” (Habakkuk 1:12). God does not speak
to us from the standpoint of a human observer. He’s more than someone
who belongs to time alone. He is the eternal God. When we listen to the
voice of God, we are listening to the voice of the One who is eternal,
the One who is calling us on to eternal life.
God knows what we're like - and He can change us!
"Jonah was very upset about this, and He became
angry" (Jonah 4:1). After the high points of prayer (Jonah 2 and
revival (Jonah 3), we come to this! This is pathetic. It's more than
being upset and angry. Jonah became suicidal (Jonah 4:8-9). Why? -
There's no good reason for him to feel like this. There are good reasons
for him to rejoice in the Lord and give thanks to the Lord. What are we
to say about this? "The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Who
can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). There's something else we must never
forget - God knows the heart, and He can change it!
Thursday 23 January 2020
The wise men and Herod
The
wise men did want to worship Jesus (Matthew 2:2). Herod said that he
wanted to worship Jesus (Matthew 2:8). What a difference there is
between saying that we want to worship Jesus and really wanting to
worship Him. This highlights the conflict between false religion and
true worship.
Jesus was also called Emmanuel.
Jesus
was also called Emmanuel (Matthew 1:23). Emmanuel means ‘God with us.’
This is the great message that comes to us from the first chapter of the
New Testament. God has not remained in heaven. He has come to earth.
Along with the Name, Emmanuel, there is the better - known Name - Jesus.
The Name of Jesus means “He saves” (Matthew 1:21,25). In the two Names -
Emmanuel and Jesus, we have the Good News of our salvation. God has
come to earth - that’s the meaning of the Name, Emmanuel. He has come to
save us - that’s the meaning of the Name, Jesus.
Beginning a New Year with God
Psalm 119:105-112
We
begin the year with the words of verse 105: ‘Your Word is a lamp to my
feet and a light to my path’. This a great text with which to begin the
year. It is a great starting-point for these studies in God’s Word. As
we journey through life with God and His Word, we discover that there is
a Word from the Lord for every part of life’s journey. There is never a
time when God has nothing to say to His people. Sometimes, He speaks to
us from places which seem rather unlikely. As we explore His Word, we
learn that He is the true and living God, ever ready to bring to us
something new, something fresh, something that will send us on our way
rejoicing, something that will strengthen our faith, something to deepen
our commitment to Christ, something to increase our love for the
Saviour. As we receive God’s Word - ‘a lamp to our feet and a light to
our path’ - we are to pray, ‘renew my life, O Lord, according to Your
Word’ (107).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Featured post
The Lord has sent His Spirit of power to live in us.
We read about Elijah in his high-points of strength - the triumph over the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:36-39) - and his low-points of ...
-
More of these Bible readings notes can be found at God's Word For Every Day . Matthew 4:12-17 Having overcome His enemy, Jesus b...
-
In true ministry, there is both the Word of God and the Spirit of God. God’s Word is spoken to us in the power of the Spirit, so that we ...
-
We already know about Judas - what He was planning to do. Of the other eleven disciples, Peter wasn't the only one who failed the Lord ...