July 26

“The heavens declare the glory of God;…” Psalms 19:1

How can man excuse himself before the Almighty God, when the very heavens which surround him wherever he is, so loudly declare the glory of the Creator God? Many may attempt to justify themselves and say they have never heard the word of God, yet the heavens themselves could be termed a message from Yahwah to mankind, telling of His love and provision for all. Man in his own wisdom has characterised God as being ‘outside’ of the reality of life, distant and a stranger to all we call tangible and ‘real’. In fact the reality and tangibility of all things around us, were made possible and provided by this very God! Again in its own wisdom, humanity has imagined all sorts of scenarios, theories and conjectures, in futile attempts to explain how all ‘this’ got here, without the Creator God. Often in such endeavours what has resulted is merely an alternate religion, disguised as science, which expects its adherent to believe stories that are besieged by impossible odds, and demanding a faith in man’s limited knowledge far greater than is required to believe in God and His infinite knowledge in the first place! The design in the heavens, the universe around us, the stars, planets, continue to provide man with information about the Great Designer! Sadly by far and large, man insists on ignoring the clarity of these messages, intent on his own explanations and ideas. No concept, however outlandish and unlikely is dismissed by these corrupt and sinful minds, just as long as it does not involve the idea of a Supreme Creator! Meanwhile hanging as a great neon sign, far above all this self-glorification and busyness of mankind, and reminding us of all of what Yahwah has done, the heavens continue to smile and loudly declare the glory of God! They perpetually tell man the story that God is real, He is the Boss and Possessor of all creation, He is the One to whom we will all one day give account, and that He is still ready for now, to give salvation to whosoever will believe in Him and accept Him! 

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July 25

 “The LORD hath made all things for himself:…” Proverbs 16:4

The scripture in our text declares the motivation for God’s creation. God has made all things to service their proper end and to suit His eternal and perfect purposes. All of creation shouts loudly the glory and majesty of God. It declares His wisdom and power. It presents for all to see His love and provision. Man has been allowed access to what God has created to use wisely and benefit from, but it doesn’t belong to man, it belongs to God. It was created for His pleasure and to fulfil His will. Man himself as God’s creation belongs to God. All of creation continues to function according to the design of the Creator, in perfect obedience and in synchrony with His will. Man, on the other hand, who is created with a free will to choose, has not ceased in his attempts to change God’s laws and aberrate God’s intended pattern and design for his life. Instead of bringing glory and honour to its Creator mankind largely disgraces God, sullies His commandments and discredits His authority! In spite of this ill-treatment of the privileges humanity has been bestowed, Yahwah in His great mercy, patience and love continues to deal with the hearts and minds of man in an effort to reach him and save him. If a human had made or invented anything which would be so contrary in functionality and rebellious in attitude, as we are towards God, he would surely destroy, discard and do away with such a thing! We should be immensely grateful that the Lord is longsuffering and not at all like us, in the way He deals with mankind. There will come a time however, when the Lord will call a halt to any and all abuse of His love and grace. He will come with vengeance and power to visit judgment on all who have insisted on being rebellious against their Creator and His purposes. Now a Saviour, He will then be a judge to the creation which has refused to fit His will and reflect His glory. Let us, as many as call on His name, make certain that at least in our lives, we align with the will of the Almighty, and pray that in so doing, we might be an apt example and influence in the lives of many others. 

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July 24

“…and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.” 1 Kings 11:6

Solomon weakened his stand for God as he aged. The verse says he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and his evil was idolatry. He had held a privileged position with God and had been blessed with great advantages by Yahwah, but unlike his father David, Solomon added to the worship of Yahwah, his allegiance and adoration of pagan idols. In this sense then, the scriptures say that he did not go ‘fully after the Lord’! Full-hearted desire and service for the Lord, is still a measure of the quality we offer the Almighty God. The mandate of scripture is that we should love the Lord with all our heart, soul and strength. If our love for Him is wholehearted, then our service to Him will reflect that same fullness. There seems to exist a trend among many Christians today, which reflects more the ways of Solomon, than the ways of his father David. I refer to the half-heartedness, partial devotion and splintered love, which so many professing believers offer to God, while at the same time holding onto a passionate, intense and consuming desire for many things of the world. This, the Bible calls enmity against God, spiritual adultery and faithlessness! We must judge and weigh out the condition of our hearts towards the Lord. Is an ardent, deep and fervent love for God held firmly in our hearts, grasped so steadfastly that it cannot be easily dislodged? Does it surpass the affection we have for anyone and everything else? Is it fully devoted to Him as our only God, or shared with things and interests we hold so dear that they have become idols in our lives? The lukewarm heart condition of the Laodecian church of Revelation, or the condition of having lost our first love as the Ephesian Church was charged, are not the state our hearts should be found in at the coming of Jesus! The summation of our lives should read more like the résumé which God gave to King David, a shining testimony of a person who while perhaps not perfect, yet followed after the Lord with all his heart! Such excellence of love and wholeheartedness is our reasonable service to God and appropriate response to His love for us!

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July 23

“…they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship;…” Galatians 2:9

God was anointing and blessing the work of Paul and Barnabas, indicating their call and ministry. Based on this perception, James, Peter and John, who were established apostles in the church, extended the ‘right hand’ of fellowship to them. This was a token that Paul and Barnabas were now accepted as God-ordained ministers and admitted into the church and the society of the saints, and given full permission and consent to carry out their work. Their labours of preaching and ministering God’s word, though not limited only to the Gentile people, emphasized reaching those who had not known the truth of the God of Israel to date. It has always been important that ministers form and maintain strong and stable relationships. God’s work thrives when there is unity and singleness of purpose among the brethren. Factions, jealousies and seeking self-recognition, can only impair and hinder the progress of preaching the gospel, reaching to new souls or establishing existing believers. There is room for diversity in the manner and specific influence of the various individuals whom God calls to be ministers. The scriptures describe under general headings the various areas of ministry to which some are called. These include: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.  In many cases, aspects of each of these areas of works overlap and form the overall individual ministry of a man who is called by God. It is a good and encouraging advantage to have a body of believers who will recognise, give place to, pray for and welcome into fellowship a man with the calling of God on his life. The Bible also adds cautions to believers such as to ‘know those who labour among’ us, indicating that we cannot be superficial about our relationship with those we trust in ministry. Clearly evaluating a man’s calling and determining the degree of his sincerity in conducting the work to which he is called, becomes the responsibility of the individual who would sit under the influence of such ministry. How wonderful it is when true, loving and one-minded fellowship exists among the saints of God and especially among those in spiritual authority! The body of Christ, the church, is meant to be a place of refuge, comfort, encouragement and fellowship. This closeness is ‘family-like’ and affords those who participate the best of what the human family is able to offer, by way of love and mutual support, in an environment which stresses and places importance on spiritual, holy and righteous living. Spiritual fellowship therefore, is more than just a ‘club’ getting together, it implies genuine and holy intimacy, belonging to a family, learning and growing in spiritual things, and working for the common purpose of bringing glory to God and seeing His kingdom furthered.  

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July 22

And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land;…” Judges 2:2

The angel of the Lord reiterates two of the covenant principles Yahwah had made with Israel. He points out that they had been disobedient and had failed in their fulfilment of them. This event took place towards the end of Joshua’s life. In spite of the great victories God had afforded the Israelites and His faithfulness in keeping the promises He had made to them, already this early in the piece there were signs and symptoms of straying from God and His ways. The first of the two covenant principles which is highlighted for us in this verse is that the people of God should not make alliance with the population of the land of Canaan. Confederacies of this nature have throughout man’s history been significant of closeness, friendship, mutual protection and sharing of the power base. They almost inevitably resulted in intermarriage and sharing of social and religious practices. While these things may appear innocent and maybe even desirable from a worldly point of view, in actual fact they represented deterioration from the purity God wanted for His people, and an offence to Yahwah and His directives. God had covenanted with His people that He would be their God, lead them and protect them. In His wisdom and foreknowledge the Lord knew that the ways of the people native to Canaan were evil and would corrupt His people if they associated with them. As a nation Israel ignored the love, concern and directions of God, and tried to make its own way, with its own leagues and under its own steam! The results were disastrous! Soon they abandoned the truth and worship of the true God and gave themselves to all the idolatry, iniquity and practices of the people of Canaan. God’s displeasure with them, merited them punishment, judgment, and enslavement by the very people they trusted in place of God. We do not always understand all that God has in mind and heart when He directs us to do His commandments or follow His directions. This is why faith in Him is so important. We have to believe that He knows more, best and further than we do ourselves. We have to trust that His ruling on a matter is higher and purer than ours and that His wisdom is greater. When we take ‘things’ into our own hands and deny Him His place in our lives, we are saying we are greater in knowledge, understanding and power than He, and set ourselves up as ‘gods’ in His place. This is highly offensive to the Lord! It is the honouring, respecting and worship of self. It is the greatest and most affronting form of idolatry that we can be guilty of! The matter comes down to a simple concept. Either Yahwah is God in our lives, and therefore should have control, authority and pre-eminence, or we are our own ‘god’ and bosses, and own ourselves. It cannot be both ways. When we take the latter stance, by our actions and belief we are saying we created ourselves and we are supreme in our own lives. This not only displaces God out of His correct place and right position as Creator and God, but also sets us up as an idol, an affront to God’s supremacy and Deity. When God told them not to make ‘friends’ with the people of the land, He was not being mean or unsociable. He wanted His people to remain pure, so they could influence others with the truth and bring them away from their idolatry and death, into the way of life. Israel was to be an example to be followed, an ambassador nation for the ways and truth of the living God! He knew the influence would otherwise flow against them and take His people out of His path, and they would lose their privilege and influence with Him. God knows how weak man is and how easily influenced he is by sin and the things of the flesh. We should today also be careful of the influence of the world. We may, like the Israelites feel potent and unaffected by the world and things of it, but the warnings in the scriptures are clear. We should not allow such influences in our lives to diminish our obedience and love for God. When we develop love, attraction and desire for the world and the things of it, we have made league with it, have become associated in practices and thinking and have adulterated our relationship with the Lord. The friendship of the world is enmity against God. That principle is as true today as it was for Israel in the days of Joshua. Let us make our stand with God, remain faithful and obedient to His way of holiness, and resistant to the desires and influences of the world around us. 

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July 21

“And hath raised us up together…” Ephesians 2:6

Our status as to our spiritual condition was officially ‘dead’! The wages of sin is death, and there is no human who is not affected by this tenebrous influence. The Bible proclaims that ‘..all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God”. This makes our human destiny a dark one indeed, were it not for the light of God’s love and grace! God has made a way to raise us from the dead! When we come to the salvation He has provided, that is, we accept the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary, and participate in His death, burial and resurrection, we pass from death to life! We are raised together with Christ! In His victory over sin and death, we find our victory also! We overcome death, sin and the world, because He overcame them. It is the only solution to the sin/death problem which plagues the human family.  This is the ‘good’ news of the gospel, that while in our natural state, we are the inheritors of death, Jesus made a way to give us life, and that more abundantly! It is strange how so few comparatively, choose to have life instead of settling for eternal death. Logic and wisdom would seem to make it a simple choice, but because it requires faith to believe that God means what He says (and for many to believe He even exists in the first place!), not so many choose life. Those who do believe and accept in faith what God has given discover the wonder and blessing of His truth! They become alive where they were spiritually dead, and awake to the reality of all that God has in store for His followers. Maybe some stumble at the simplicity of the gospel. They might feel that if God had demanded some difficult task, such as climbing a high mountain or killing a beast with their bare hands, in order to obtain salvation, it may be more credible. They miss the point that God wants to make salvation available to all, and that means all must be able to come to salvation the same way. The one thing that all humans can do, regardless of age, opportunity, ability or background, is believe! God has put in all humans ‘the measure of faith’, that is, the ability to believe. Ultimately man could not do anything of his own anyway, no matter how great the exploit, to purchase his personal salvation. Only Christ’s sinless life was an apt sacrifice for sin. Jesus gave His life freely; He did it for all humanity, and that is why faith and not our own provision, is essential! Why should we remain dead in trespasses and sins, when Jesus has made a way to resurrect us and give us life eternal? Let us allow God to work in us, and through the faith He has given us, accept the loving gift of salvation, that we may be born again, resurrected and inheritors with Christ of eternity.

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July 20

“…whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, … with the brightness of his coming:” 2 Thessalonians 2:8

This passage refers to the ‘man of sin’, ‘the wicked one’, the antichrist and all that is associated with him and his work. The end of the reign of antichrist and the destruction of his influence is prophesied here. There may be times as believers, when looking at the condition of the world around us, that we may think evil has triumphed and that perhaps the battle against evil has been lost. God through His word encourages us to lift our heads in faith towards heaven, and know with assurance that the future has been set and determined by His own hand, and that the end result is not the victory of evil, but its thorough and total destruction. Yahwah IS the winning side! All we need to do is remain faithfully on His side, and we will see the fulfilment of all that He has planned and promised. The wicked one will be slain, his influence made void and his kingdom destroyed and removed. This work, God will perform by the same power He has demonstrated in creating the universe. He spoke the worlds into existence, and it is by the same ‘spirit of His mouth’, that He is able to destroy or bring to nought. We should not think of a battle between God and the devil, as some sort of arm wrestle where the outcome is dubious or hanging on the balances of chance! The comparison would more be like God’s atomic bomb versus Satan’s bow and arrow! Yahwah will only need to speak the words of destruction and the enemy will be consumed. God’s own glory will render useless and hopeless any and all power which may be aligned against Him. This is a battle already won in eternity and simply waiting for its future fulfilment! God’s almighty power is not threatened by the workings of the wicked one, nor is it lessened because evil is allowed to rule for a while. There is purpose and reason in what God does and He is always ultimately in control of all! Like a dog on a chain, the devil is limited in the scope he is given and to how far God will allow him to go. The damage he can do is real, but again limited largely to those who allow him to rule in their lives and choose to stay close to him or support his agenda. God could have totally destroyed him before, but has in His wisdom elected to permit his influence, so we as humans can make our own choice of who we will serve. This way when we serve God, it must be by our personal choice and free will. This is the only way God really wants us to love, worship and serve Him! In the end however, there will be no more time for such choice. We will each have set our eternal destiny, and final judgment will fall both on the wicked one, and all who have followed him. Victory for those who stand on God’s side is guaranteed, the question is one for each of us to answer - where will we be standing when God comes in His brightness to judge the wicked?

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