1Timothy 1:12-17

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Are you among the saved?  

CC

Wisdom from God...

Proverbs 8:1-21

Does not wisdom cry out, and understanding lift up her voice?  She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, beside the way, where the paths meet. 

She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, at the entrance of the doors: "To you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men.  O You simple ones, understand prudence, and you fools, be of an understanding heart.  Listen, for I will speak of excellent things, and from the opening of my lips will come right things; for my mouth will speak truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips.  All the words of my mouth are with righteousness; nothing crooked or pererse is in them.

They are all plain to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge.  Receive my instructions, and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold; for wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.

"I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding, I have strength.  By me kings reign, and rulers decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, all the judges of the earth. I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice silver.  I traverse the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of justice, that I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth, that I may fill their treasuries.

Romans 12:9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

Matthew 7:7-11

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 

Seek God and live!

CC

The Lord will be your confidence

Proverbs 3:25-26

Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes; for the Lord will be your confidence.  And will keep your foot from being caught.

Is there anything in which we can put our confidence today?  Can we look to our stock market for our investment future?  Can we look to our government, dare I ask?  Can we look to the banks for our hard earned money to be secure?  Can we rely on the generation being raised up? What can we put our confidence in, who can we trust with our future? 

As I read this verse recently I was once again reminded that only the Lord is trustworthy and I can place my full confidence in Him.  Sudden terror, troubles, wickedness these may all come our way but it is in the Lord that we are steady.  The Lord never changes, He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  Do you feel yourself breathing out a sigh of relief knowing you can rest on this truth?  Is your relationship with Jesus such that He has proven this to you?  

If you aren't certain of the Lord's trustworthiness soak your brain in the word, let the scriptures wash over your mind, be brainwashed in the truth and allow the truth to wash away all the years (or even the daily arrows of death that have been implanted) of indoctrination of living in the world.  Let the word of God renew your mind.  This is the act of developing confidence in the Lord, of knowing you can (we can) (I can) put all our trust in our Father, our Jesus, our King, the lover of our souls and He will be good to us, He will take care of our needs, He will keep our foot from being caught.

Once again, David is our example of confidence and trust in the Lord.  In 1 Sam 21: 10-15 he fled for his life and went to seek refuge in Gath (Israel's enemies).  Once there he is outed as a Philistine, giant killer.  Fearing for his life he acts mad before the king who swiftly has him kicked out of his presence.  David talks about this in Psalm 56.  David attributes his deliverance to the Lord's intervention in his life. 

Ps 56:12-13 Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God: I will render praises to You, for You have delivered my soul from death.  Have You not kept my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?

Ps 52 David writes, "I will praise You forever, because You have done it; and in the presence of Your saints I will wait on Your name, for it is good.

Psalm 18 David writes, "You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your right hand has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great. You enlarged my path under me, so my feet did not slip."The Lord lives! Blessed by my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted. It is God who avenges me, and subdues the peoples under me; He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me; You have delivered me from the violent man. Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing praises to Your name."

And I love what David writes in Psalm 56, "Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise His word), in God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can man do to me? (Continue reading in v8-11)

Know Him, love Him, trust Him, obey Him!  No matter where you are, no matter whose before you, no matter what situation surrounds you the Lord is there, He is working and He is in control.  

Strong confidence,

CC

In all your ways acknowledge Him

Proverbs 1:7, 33 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. But whoever listens to me (wisdom) will dwell safely, and will be secure , without fear of evil.

Just as in Jesus' illustration of the wise man building his house on the rock and the foolish man building his house on the sand, whose house fell in the storm, we too have a choice to seek God and His wisdom in whom we will dwell safely, secure and without fear of evil.

I'm reminded of David's example in 2 Samuel 5:17-25.  The Philistines wanted David's head for taking so much from them.  He took their giant and he lived among them in peace while secretly slaughtering Philistine village's and town's.  As the Philistines "deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim" David sought the Lord for direction. The Lord told David, "Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand." So David went up and had a victory.  

Amazingly we read that the Philistines, once again, deploy themselves in the same valley in hopes of gaining a victory over Israel.  As before David seeks the Lord.  I don't know about you but I tend to look at a situation, particularly when it mirrors a previous circumstance, and do what I did last time because it worked. Not David, he didn't make assumptions or presumptions he went before his Lord for His leading.  

The Lord said, "You shall not go up: circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly.  For then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines." 

I love this example of dependence upon the Lord, the humility of submission and willingness to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge HIm.  And He shall direct your paths." Prov 3:5,6

Truly the Lord will keep us secure and without fear of evil when we seek Him and follow His leading, when we submit to His leadership and declare our inability before our capable Lord.  If you find yourself in a situation that seems oddly familiar, resist the temptation to forge ahead but seek Him.  Wait upon His guidance and wisdom and regardless if the solution is a bit unorthodox press on and keep your eyes open for the Lord says, "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great an mighty things, which you do not know." Jer 33:3

David saw and heard great and mighty things in that second battle, he heard marching in the tops of the mulberry trees then as he advanced he saw the Lord go before him and gain the victory.

In David's example lets see what the Lord desires to show us and teach us about His character so our faith will be strengthened as we learn the faithfulness of God.

Blessings,

CC

He will take...

Today my reading led me to 1 Samuel 8 and once again I am struck by the similarities of the passage to some of the events of today's presidential campaign.  

The people demanded Samuel give them a king.  The people wanted something different in their leadership, they wanted a change.  The Lord instructed Samuel to give the people what they wanted but to first "...solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them."  (8:9)

Samuel proceeds to list six times how this king will take from them.  The king will take their sons, their daughters, the best of the their fields, a tenth of their grain, their male and female servants, and their sheep.  And finally the warning ends with this truth, "And you will be his servants." (8:11-17)

Over the past few months we have seen time and time again the quality, character and potential of the man many are screaming to be our next president.  The issues he supports, the people he sympathizes with, the leadership he associates with and his track record have all been presented and proven to the people of this nation on more than one occasion.  We have been forewarned. 

This man will take our sons (the strength of our country, he will increase his government), he will take our daughters (the beauty and appeal of our freedoms), he will take our fields, grain, servants, and sheep (our wealth, free market, investments and free enterprise) and finally we will become his servants (he will take our independence).  

And yet, despite the truth spelled out and deliberately laid before the people of this great nation we continue to hear the people say, just as the Israelites said to Samuel, "No, but we will have a king over us." (8:19)

Oh this grieves my heart. No, I don't know the outcome of this election, but I hear the heart of this country as we have strayed so far from the truth of God's word.  The rejection of the people of the sovereignty of God.  Yet, God would say to us (those whose heart's long for Him and this nation to follow after Him) "...they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them."

My first inclination is overwhelming when I consider the ramifications of what this could mean for our freedoms as we know them to be.  Very few of us have lived in oppression and I know there are many areas of my freedoms I take advantage of today.  But my hope is not lost, for this is not the end of the story.  As Audio Adrenaline sings, "A Mighty Good Leader is on the way."  Just as we see God's grace in giving the Israelites a king after His heart, a good leader, we know God is not finished with this story.  Secretly Samuel was sent to the house of Jesse and anointed David, God's choice, as king over His people. So today, the Lord is working behind the scenes and although David was banished from the land for a time, much like God is being banished from our society, the King will return and His kingdom will be glorious.  

Therefore, my peace rests in the promise of the hope of Christ's return.  I thank God daily for the strong confidence we can put in His promises to us.  Promises like: He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb 13:5), if God is for us who can be against us (Rom 8:31), His thoughts towards us are of peace and not of evil to give us a future and a hope (Jer 29:11). These are all promises we know and I repeat them over and over but each time as I am reminded of these beautiful truths my faith is strengthened, because my resolve in grounded, the Lord has proven Himself faithful and true filling my heart with His peace and abolishing my fears by His strength.  The Lord, He is God and there is no other god besides our God (Ps 86:10).

No matter how this election turns it is the Lord who reigns.  Even if the man in question becomes our next president (it may be many years still before this nation is thrown into the extremes of oppression mentioned in 1 Samuel 8) this is not my home and there is no sufficient place to flee but into the strong tower of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Look up for our redemption draws near,

CC

Verse of the Day Phil 2:13-14

...for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.  Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.

And what a crooked and perverse generation we live.  Lord, have mercy on us.  By Your wisdom strengthen our hand and transform our minds to follow hard after You this day.  Lord, may our lives bring You glory and honor and praise as we live in the world but not of the world.  Thank You, Father, for the confidence we have, by the promise of Your word, You will complete the work You started in us.  In Your perfect name we pray, Amen!

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, CC

The Words of Amos

For behold, He who forms mountains, and creates the wind, who declares to man what his thought is, and makes the morning darkness, who treads the high places of the earth--the Lord God of hosts is His name. 4:13

Seek Me and live. 5:4

Seek good and not evil, that you may live; so the Lord God of hosts will be with you, as you have spoken. Hate evil, love good; establish justice in the gate. It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. 5:14-15

Isn't this the simple truth of the gospel, seek Me (the Lord) and live?  Yes, it is very simple and I thank my God for this simplicity.  When we are back-sliding to return to the ways of the Lord are so simple, He says, "Seek Me and live." And He is mighty to save.

Isn't it amazing that the Lord, mighty in all the earth, makes coming to Him so incredibly simple.  

2 Chr 16:9 says, "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him."

The Lord, He's looking...and His eyes are not looking to the form of the words on our lips, "Lord, help me get out of this mess." Yes, He hears but it is the heart behind those words that He sees and He is looking for the heart, broken, contrite and humble asking Him to save from the situation as well as the heart desiring to turn in repentance to His guidance from this day forward. Every heart that cries out in this manner the Lord hears, the Lord sees and the Lord saves--without exception!

If this is you, the Lord is looking for you. Would you turn to Him, cry out and be saved?

In Christ's love,

CC