Titus 3:8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
Does it ever happen to you – that something terribly simplistic just suddenly becomes clear? I realized something about us the other day. We, humans, are such addictive creatures.
We always hear stories of addictions such as gambling, drinking, and using illegal drugs — most of which many of us have either never allowed ourselves to touch or been able to conquer at some point in our lives. But it occurred to me that these are just a few of the many things to which we can become addicted.
I mean, think about it. The more we work and the more money and material things we acquire as a result — the more we want to work in order to purchase more of those things. The more television we watch, the more we don’t want to miss that next episode. The more we win at the leisurely games we enjoy, the more we want to play and win more at those games. The more we sleep, the more we want to sleep! The more we complain, the more we want to complain! The more we eat, the more we want to eat! We have even created nightly support group meetings for our addictions, to which, if we’re not careful, we can also become addicted! And there are countless other earthly examples we can probably add! It seems that mankind is hopelessly given to the substances and circumstances around us.
So wouldn’t it be great if we could switch our focus from majoring on our daily grind to majoring on the things of the Lord? And then, I’m sure we would find that the more we pray and see God answer our prayers — the more we’ll want to pray and see those victories! The more we share our faith and see people come to know the Lord through us — the more we’ll want to share and see others come! The more we read the Word and gain wisdom for our lives and others’ lives — the more we’ll want to read the Word and gain that kind of wisdom! The more we serve God and those around us– the more we’ll want to serve them! And there are countless other heavenly examples we can probably add!
How about it? Let’s begin doing more of the things of the Lord and watch how they multiply! I have a feeling that we might experience more joy, peace, and contentment than we ever have!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]For several years now, I’ve been focusing on the Kingdom of God, a central theme of Yeshua’s preaching [Luke 4:43], and will be offering a series of devotions on this topic with particular emphasis on our present season, which I believe portends the birthing of this Kingdom. A study of the gestation process from conception to birth yields insight as a natural parallel into the historical process we’re witnessing and taking part in. This theme will be developed in the coming days.
One of the sacrifices mentioned in the Tenach (Old Testament) is mentioned as a Peace sacrifice or sometimes translated as the Thanksgiving sacrifice. It is known as the ‘shalem’ sacrifice. The root behind this word is the word ‘shalom’ whereby we get the word, peace.
From the beginning of Genesis (Genesis 4:4) to the end of the Bible (Revelation 22:3), there is a common theme — the Lamb! In Revelation 6 we read about the Lamb who sits in the midst of the throne — worshiped by all of heaven because the Lamb was worthy to take the book and open the seals therein. The most harmless of creatures — the object of sacrifice, becomes the authority of heaven. Isn’t it interesting that the focal point of heaven is a Lamb?
So often in ministry, the Lord deals with my own spirit, saying – “You need to step back and get refocused!” And we all know how hard it is at times when we get so busy with the normal every day stresses of life tugging at our limited time.
Throughout the United States today, everyone will be celebrating the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence — a document through which leaders of the colonies in the New World broke free from the King of England.
The Hebrew expression in this verse from Isaiah is rich with meaning. The root “nus” (from the expression “raise up a standard”) is related to or sounds like numerous words which mean “sign”, “miracle”, “to drive away”, “to flee”, “cause to disappear”, “a waving flag”. This abundance of meanings in Isaiah’s poetic style reveals the multiple dimensions of God’s revelation; in this case, the way he deals with evil. The assertion in this word is that the Spirit of YHVH will be powerfully activated when evil comes.
The word contrite in Hebrew is ‘dakah’ which means one that is crushed to pieces. Paul wrote of being a ‘living sacrifice’ holy and acceptable to God. Being a living sacrifice means we often can walk off the altar. To be a continual living sacrifice we need to renew our minds day to day!