Ps 112: A Wonderful Psalm

I was reading Ps 112 tonight and I'd like to share 3+ verses with you.

Verse 1:  Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who greatly delights in His commandments!

Verse 6:  For the righteous will never be moved;
he will be remembered forever.

Verse 7:  He is not afraid of bad news;
his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.

Verse 8a:  His heart is steady; he will not be afraid........


Wow! What wonderful words of hope! My heart leaped for joy when I read them!
I must confess when I take my eyes off God, I fall short of the high standard He requires of me and need to seek His mercy and forgiveness.  But, oh, what an amazing incentive to draw nearer to God and fear Him in a healthy and right way!
'The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.....(Prov. 8:13)
Also, 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom' (Prov. 9:10; Ps 111:10).
Also, be sure to look up Prov. 1:7; 10:27; 14:27 and 15:16 etc.)
Those words are as true today as when King Solomon wrote them nearly 3000 years ago.
Sadly, many today believe God's commandments are no longer binding on them. If the Ten Commandments were 'nailed to the Cross'* (Col 2:14) as they argue, then there is no such thing as sin since 'sin is the transgression of the Law (1 Jn 3:4). Also, if that's true, what did Paul mean when he said 'The wages of sin is death' (Rom 6:23a)?
[* The only thing that was nailed to the Cross was the IOU each person owed God for disobeying His commandments! Our past sins are forgiven when we put our faith in Jesus to save us from the penalty of disobeying His righteous commandments. The Ten Commandments were most certainly not done away, as many deceived teachers claim. They should read Matt 7:21-23 very carefully. Also 2 Peter 3:15, 16.]
'.....all Your commandments are righteousness' (Ps 119:172). All those who love and fear the Lord should read all of Psalm 119 regularly!
Paul wrote'....as by one man (speaking of Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin.....(Rom 5:12). Since the Law defines what sin is (1 Jn 3:4), I believe the Ten Commandments were made known to Adam and Eve by the Lord (Jesus), their Creator, soon after He made them. I believe Paul did too!

Back to Ps 112:7, I do not want to be afraid of bad news when I hear it. I want to be close to God and put my complete trust in Him. He is my Rock and my Place of Refuge.
I think of the words of that song, 'Jesus, Lover of My Soul' especially 'Though my world may fall, I'll never let You go.' Amen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkGurx7vA3A  (0:48)

It's only when our hand is in His will we be able to withstand whatever comes against us. It is my desire to draw ever nearer to the Lord Jesus and to be strong in Him. Let us not be confident in our own strength and abilities. Put your trust in Him and prepare now to be with Him for eternity.

My Biblical Beliefs

I am among a minority of Christians who believes much of what passes for 'Christianity' is NOT faithful to what the Bible teaches. I take heart from the fact that very often the majority are not always right.

My beliefs include:

The Ten Commandments are still binding on God's people today. (Cp. 1 Jn 3:4; Rom 6:23a; Matt 5:17-20; 7:21-23; Jn 14:15; 1 Jn 5:3 etc.)  [Check all these references carefully esp. Matt. 5]

The fourth commandment requires Christians to worship God on His day, the Sabbath, This is the 7th day every week (ie. Friday sunset until Saturday sunset) - not Sunday, the first day.  (Gen 2:2,3; Matt 5:17 etc.) When did Paul preach to gentiles as well as Jews during his post-Resurrection ministry? Acts 13:14, 27, 42, 44; 16:13; 18:4. (Answer: The weekly Sabbath!)

The seven annual Sabbaths listed in Lev 23 are still to be observed by God's people today. Paul mentioned to the mainly gentile church in Corinth that the festival of Unleavened Bread should be observed many years after the resurrection of Jesus (1 Cor 5:8). This was, and still is, a 7-day festival that immediately follows the Passover in spring each year. Christians should take the symbols of Jesus' shed flesh and blood, (a piece of unleavened bread and red wine) once a year on the anniversary of His sacrifice, according to the sacred Hebrew calendar. Truly, He is our servant King. God commanded His people, the children of Israel, to observe all His holy days 'throughout your generations' ((eg Lev. 23:14, ESV). Jesus fulfilled the need to offer up sacrifices so the main thing about the Lord's weekly and annual Sabbaths today is the time during which they should be observed.

The seven annual Sabbaths God requires* His people to assemble on to worship Him are:

1)  Day 1 of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, held in March or April (1 Cor 5:8)
2)  Day 7 of same festival  (Lev 23:5-8)
3)  The Feast of Pentecost, held in June (Lev 23:15-22; Acts 2)

'The Fall Festivals':

4)  The Feast of Trumpets, held in Sept./Oct. annually (vs, 24-25) ie Tishri 1st.
This important Feast day falls on September 21, 2017, beginning at sunset on 20th (Wednesday).

5)  The Day of Atonement, a fast day, held in Sept./Oct. (vs. 27-32; Acts 27:9**); Tishri 10th.
The Day of Atonement falls on the weekly Sabbath, September 30th 2017.

6)  The Feast of Tabernacles, first day of this 7-day festival (vs. 34-44) falls on Tishri 15th (ie October 5th, 2017) beginning the previous evening (Wednesday, 4th) at sunset and

7)  The '8th-day' (of the FoT,) ie the day after the Feast, (v. 39b); This last annual sacred festival falls on Tishri 22nd or Thursday,  Oct. 12th beginning at sunset on Wednesday 11th.

***NB: This on-going blog is 'under construction' and incomplete. 

I plan to add much more information during the coming months.***

(*God is not unreasonable!  He only requires holy day observance by those whom He has enlightened regarding His annual Sabbaths. However, it is the duty of every Christian to 'search the Scriptures daily' (Acts 17:11, KJV) and change one's beliefs until they conform to what the Scriptures teach!)

The vast majority of the approx 2 billion people worldwide who go by the name 'Christian' are not fully called by Him at this time (Jn 6:44 & v. 65). That is why they observe unbiblical days that God does not command His people to observe eg 'easter', 'Christmas', 'Lent' etc etc. Those days come from paganism and the church of Rome. What self-respecting Christian would keep a day with -mas (ie mass) in it's name? The fact this holiday is loved and kept by non-Christians should alert all  Christians that it is not of God. Indeed, He hates it as it has nothing to do with Jesus! The only reason why professing Christians observe 'Christmas' is human reason. They feel they must celebrate the day on which the Messiah was born. Since the Bible is silent regarding the exact date that Jesus was born, men figured Dec 25th would be as good a date as any. Personally, I think 25th December  is the worst possible date that could have been picked to celebrate Christ's birth as a member of Adam's race. Why? It was the date the ancient pagans throughout the Roman Empire celebrated the annual re-birth of the sun-god. [Read 'The Two Babylons' by Alexander Hislop for the full story.]
http://www.tomorrowsworld.org/magazines/2016/november-december/should-christians-keep-christmas
Unknown to almost all, Satan the devil is behind all the false religious holidays the world observes.

[** I believe the mention of the fast / Day of Atonement in Acts 27:9 is a clue from God that this holy day was still to be observed decades after the Resurrection! Of course that means it should be observed by all God's people today, along with the other six annual Sabbaths listed in Lev 23!]

There is no trinity! The Holy Spirit is not a divine being as are God the Father and Jesus, God the Son. The Spirit is God's power and the agency by which He fills the entire universe. John 1:1-3 describes the Godhead. God is a family of two Beings.  If God was a trinity, Paul would NOT have excluded (Him) from his opening greetings at the beginning of his NT letters.
For much more on this important subject, check out this article / booklet:
https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/booklets/is-god-a-trinity/is-the-holy-spirit-a-person

It should be understood that eternal life is a gift from God and no-one is born with (or is) an 'immortal soul'. The reward of the saved is life (Rom 6:23b). The opposite of life is death, the wages of sin. It will be a state of non-existence. God is not a monster who will allow the wicked to suffer forever in hellfire. He will end their existence by destroying them (Malachi 4:1).
I am most certainly not a universalist who believes that everyone will eventually be saved. How anyone can read Jesus' words in Matt 7:13 and come to that conclusion is totally deceived by the 'god of this age'. (Paul wrote in 2 Cor 4:4 that being is Satan!  Yes, Satan is a real spiritual being, not a personification of sin and evil, as at least one flawed cult insists.)

It's vitally important to understand that this is NOT God's world! He has allowed Satan to rule this planet and it's human inhabitants during this 6000 year age of man's misrule! (However, God is much greater than Satan and as such, He is in overall control of what happens here on Earth but He chooses to allow Satan to do his evil business for a reason that I will elaborate on soon!) This 'present evil age' (Gal. 1:4) will end when Jesus returns to establish His glorious Kingdom when He will rule the entire world in righteousness with His saints for a thousand years!)

I believe the Lord's Church, the body of Christ, should most certainly not be divided into hundreds, if not thousands of denominations, sects, independent groups and home fellowships that war against each other.  There should be unity and a spirit of co-operation among all God's people (1 Cor 1:13). Sadly, a growing number of denominations are compromising the clear teachings of the Bible. It must be recognised that not everyone who claims to be a Christian is one. The same is true of denominations! That's why it is so important to know what the Bible really teaches! People should be willing to 'up sticks' and leave a church that strays from the teachings of God's Word!

I believe the reward of the saved is to be born into the God family at the resurrection of the saints at Jesus' glorious Second Coming. (That's the ultimate re-birth Jesus spoke about in John 3:3!) May that wonderful event happen soon. All those who will be in the First Resurrection will be given new spirit-composed bodies and granted immortality. King Jesus will usher in a thousand years of utopian peace and happiness upon His soon return. He will rule with His saints from Jerusalem for a thousand years. The Millennium will be a time of Heaven on Earth (Acts 1:11; Rev. 20:1-6 etc.)

The following Bible study articles will shed more light on the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day.

https://www.ucg.org/what-is-the-feast-of-tabernacles

https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/bible-study-course/bible-study-course-lesson-12/the-last-great-day 

More detail will be added here as time permits.

When We Don't Understand Why

Sermon notes for message given (by me) on 21-2-16.


Title: 'When we don't understand why bad things happen to God's people'

When accidents, ill-health or other negative things happen to you, do you become obsessed with such questions as, "Why me? Why now?  Why? Why? Why?"

God is under no obligation to tell us why negative things happen to us!

That is NOT the most important question to ask, from God's perspective.

God can see 'the big picture' in everyone's life!  He can see the end from the beginning.  He is all-wise and all-knowing!

Isaiah 55:8, 9 reads "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord.  9) For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts."   

The question we should ask when something bad happens to us is, "How can I make this work out for the maximum good for myself and others?"

Our response to our pain, our hurts and our suffering  is more important than trying to understand why God has allowed it to happen to us.

If we are a child of God (ie a Christian) and walking in line with the Spirit of God , no matter what happens to us is done with God's full knowledge and permissive will.  Sometimes, God causes it to happen to us for our good.  Sometimes, the devil is responsible for our bad misfortune.  Also, remember, time and chance happen to everyone at one time or another (Eccl 9:11).

There will be accidents, misfortune, illness etc in life but it's much better to suffer as a child of God.  Those who are not Christians do not have Jesus to help them through their time of trouble and tribulation.  You will be victorious IF you fix your eyes on Jesus instead of your problem!

Lamentations 3:22, 23 reads, Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  23) They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

All God's people should start every day with prayer and time spent reading the Bible.  That way, if anything happens to you during the day, your mind and heart will be focused on God and His Word and His love and concern for you. You will not easily be discouraged and prone to bouts of self-pity. The devil will not find it easy to discourage you and you will be strong in the Lord when you most need Him.

The Word of God is like a spiritual shield that protects your mind from the fiery darts of the evil one (Eph 6:16).  It's been said discouragement is one of the devils most successful 'fiery darts' or weapons against Christians.  Stay close to God and be blessed by Him and protected from the wiles of the devil.

God has promised us He will always be with His people (Heb 13:5; Matt 28:20; Deut 4:31).

Jesus offers those who are His - help, hope and rest, if we put our trust in Him (Matt 11:28-30).

If we learn to 'trust and obey' the Lord, He will help us through our bad and good times.

God wants us to endure or 'stand firm' through whatever happens to us (Matt 10:22; 24:13).

Hebrews 10: 38 reads "But the righteous one shall live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.  39) But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved."

All this involves 'counting the cost' of becoming a disciple of Jesus (Lk 14:28 and Lk 9:62).

Consider 2 Cor 1:3,4, Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4) who comforts us in all our trouble, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

When we have suffered a painful illness or experience and, with God's help, been healed or delivered, we are in a better position to help and encourage those who face the same trial or hardship.

God is merciful to all His children (Ex 34:6; Joel 2:13; James 5:11).  Remember Job's wonderful faith and trust in God when he was going through his terrible trial (Job 13:15a), 'Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him'.

1 Peter 5:6, 7, 10 read: Humble yourselves therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. 7) Cast all your anxiety on Him who cares for you. 10) And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

A great and wonderful blessing is guaranteed to all those who trust God's promises and His Word.

So, when you experience pain or suffering or anything negative, try to put the experience to the maximum use for the good of others.  Don't waste a great opportunity to be a blessing to others.  Ask God to use you and follow the lead of the Spirit. Also, let the negative experience draw you closer to God, your loving heavenly Father. Look for the positive and avoid dwelling on the negative in every situation you find yourself.

In other words, always look on the bright side of life.  With God's help, you can!




This message was inspired by Dr Charles Stanley's 20 minute video sermon, 'When we don't understand why'.

Link:  www.intouch.org/watch/when-we-dont-understand-why