June 13

“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations…” 2 Peter 2:9

Although it may not be always clear to us, God has ways of His own to keep and protect those who live a godly and righteous life unto Him. The evidence of scripture shows that the judgments of God are sure and appropriate for the unrighteous. Just as sure however, is the fact and ability Yahwah has to maintain and guard His own people, from the effects of His wrath. The example of Lot and the judgement of Sodom and Gomorrah occasioned this text by the apostle, and underscores the beautiful truth that there are no righteous casualties, no ‘collateral damage’ of believers, in God’s operations! The terminology ‘killed by friendly fire’ refers to the not so friendly event of a soldier being killed by gunfire from the side for which he is fighting. It highlights the reality of how as humans, we are limited in power and prone to errors. This can never happen with God! His power, knowledge and ability are unlimited and He doesn’t make mistakes! Only those whom He deems deserving of His judgment are included and no there are slip-ups with the Lord! Based on their obedience to follow His instructions, God kept Noah and his family from a global flood; Lot and those with him from the fire and brimstone which destroyed the cities about them; the Israelites in Egypt from the plagues He brought all around them on Egypt. He has demonstrated time and again that He is a righteous and just God and ‘knows’ how to protect the godly! It is true that God has also allowed the martyrdom of many righteous and godly saints, but this is always at the hand of some wicked person or another, never by His own doing. While He has the power to stop any hurt to his people or protect them from any power that may attack them, He ‘knows’ and has His ways and reasons for allowing what He does and doing things the way He does them. Our task is not to question God and try to work out His mind and wisdom, or foresee His plans, so much as to walk and live lives, which in His sight may be deemed godly and righteous. By keeping our hearts pure and our conduct holy before the Lord, we stand in the place of obedience and in the best position for deliverance. There is no safer place to be in, than being godly and in the hands of the loving Saviour, and no more terrifying condition to be in, than in sin and at variance with the Almighty and righteous Judge!

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion

Apr 15

“…walk before me, and be thou perfect.” Genesis 17:1

Some thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael, God appeared to Abraham. He was then, ninety-nine years of age. Yahwah renewed His covenant with Abraham and it is at this time that God first tells Abraham that he will father a son from Sarah, and that the child shall be the son of promise. The encouragement the Lord gives this faithful man, is to continue in his walk of uprightness and sincere faith. The concept of ‘walking before God’, means to walk in faith and dependence upon Him, in obedience to His laws and in awe and respect for His authority in our lives. The command to be ‘perfect’ is indicative of God’s desire for us to be complete and mature in His sight. The text does not imply an ‘absolute perfection’ - that belongs only to God, but a relative perfection, one which is within our grasp, through our communion with the Lord and knowledge of His Holy Word. God calls His people to a life of holiness and separation, a positive and consecrated life, which has as its goal the highest, most perfect ideals and purposes for which man can possibly live! When we choose to live on any other plane, we are living on a lower scale, and are not fulfilling the design for which we were created. Unless we strive for the perfection for which we were conceived and fashioned by God, we are selling ourselves and our Creator short of the mark. The excellence God has always had in mind for us, is not some unrealistic, unattainable, illusionary ideal. It is a tangible, sentient and joyful accomplishment, for which purpose God not only saves us, but also empowers us, that we may reach it. Perfection then, far from being too high a calling, is an actuality and a necessity of the believer’s life, and the evidence that he is walking with the Almighty!

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion

Feb 20

“…Solomon clave unto these in love” 1 Kings 11:2

Though many have emphasised the number of Solomon’s wives, as being the cause of his heart becoming less than perfect in his old age, this does not appear to be the emphasis of scripture. The stress of the text highlights the fact that the women he ‘loved’ were ‘strange’ women. In context with the listing of the various nations from which God warned Israelites regarding intermarriage, this must be taken to mean ‘foreign’ women, but more importantly, foreign women which had not become proselytes to the Hebrew faith! God does not rebuke Solomon for the many wives and concubines he loved, but for loving and cleaving to them, to the detriment and loss of his love for God! Evidence would show that this is just as possible with one wife as with many, or with one sole possession as easily as with much wealth! Should Solomon not have had as many wives? As a king, this man was indeed ‘excessive’ in many ways; with his wealth, his horses and with his wives, yet nowhere do we find God reprimanding him for any of those things. Should Solomon not have loved his wives? Clearly both loving and cleaving to one’s wife, or as in this case, wives, is not against God, but rather encouraged and even commanded by the Lord! The simple fact and truth we are presented with in these verses, is that Solomon failed when it came to the comparative love he gave his wives, as against the quality of love He had and lost for his God! He failed to ensure the conversion of his foreign wives; then tolerated his foreign wives’ idols; then facilitated their idolatry by building temples and shrines to them; and lastly ended up himself influenced by them to enter into their idolatry! This was the cause of the deterioration of his relationship with God. It was descent by degree, born from the misplaced consent of his heart. The prime reason this happened, appears to be because he loved and clave to unconverted women, more so than he loved and clave to God! Could not this have happened just as easily with loving and cleaving to just one unconverted wife, and displacing the love he had for God, if a man’s heart was so inclined? The lesson we learn from his life, in the context of these verses, is that we must be extremely careful not to yield the love and passion we owe to God, to anything or anyone else, at any time! Interestingly, this was the very righteous and godly example, Solomon had seen from his father David, a man who also had been much blessed of God, allowed a great deal of wealth, position, influence and a large family with multiple wives. David was the standard of upright and ‘perfect’ heart by whom, the Lord compared and judged Solomon’s heart! Seeking God and His will, loving and pleasing Him, must take priority, remain first, and be in importance, above all other people, pursuits or purposes in our lives! 

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion