Discernment

Wednesday’s Reading: Song of Songs 5 & Hebrews 5

My Lord and my God, I feel my imperfections I pray You will show me Christ’s perfections. Forgive me for allowing myself to linger over the milk of infants. You have so much to teach me about Christ but I can’t stomach it.  Mature me, disciple me, raise me, and make me the man You intend for me to be in Christ. Help me abandon the claims on me and the time You have given that are really wastes. Help me to understand Christ the great High Priest. As I dig into Your Word give me discernment. Help me know what will bless and strengthen my wife and what will not. Give me power to do what will bless and strengthen my wife while avoiding what will not. Make me a man that my wife loves to be married to.

Make me like Christ,

Amen

The Obedience of Loving Your Wife

Tuesday’s reading: Song of Solomon 4 & Hebrews 4

Decades of commitment to one person is an endangered species in our culture. The cable company gives the best deals to new customers and neglects the long standing clients. The car dealership rewards owner loyalty. And men who passionately love their wives for decade after decade are becoming harder to find. You may find a couple married for 40 plus years but chances are they are in the same house but not of the same heart. How can we stop the hemorrhaging?

• Hebrews 4:14-16, Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

You may feel like you are living with a Judas but Jesus actually lived with and was betrayed by the Judas. Jesus lived with and loved his enemy.  You may feel like you are living with a Peter. Peter loved passionately and thought slowly. He often did things and said things that were not the most helpful but came from good intentions. Where ever you find yourself on that spectrum know that Jesus has been there. Let us therefore draw near to God’s glorious throne of grace through Christ. Grace teaches us and equips us to live God’s way. So let’s not draw near to God’s terrible throne of judgment. Let’s go after grace. And when we go after grace through faith in Christ we are given mercy and grace to help us in our time of need. We are given the mercy and grace required to love our spouses.

Father, Your grace and power are beautiful beyond description and more marvelous than words. You are too wonderful for comprehension. You are unlike anything I’ve ever seen or heard. Who can grasp Your infinite wisdom? Who can fathom the depths of Your love? Sovereign God I stand in awe of You. Praise You God. Praise You Father.  In the name of Jesus Christ, through faith in all that He is for me, I come boldly to Your throne of grace.  Remove my disobedience. Remove my unbelief.  Shower me with grace and mercy in my time of need.  I need to love You. I need to love my wife. I need to love my children. I need to love my neighbor. I need to love my enemy. I rejoice in Christ because He will strengthen me and guide me into the love and obedience that please You. You have done great things. You have saved me. You are saving me. You will save me.

In Christ Alone,

Amen 

Hear, believe, & obey

Monday’s Reading: Song of Songs 3 & Hebrews 3

I love and need the repeated call in the book of Hebrews to consider Jesus. Don’t get over Him. Don’t move on to something after Jesus.  Consider Him. Set your eyes on Him. Run after Him. Think about Him. He is truly great and He has done great things. He has brought us to the Father and given us an audience with Him.

• Hebrews 3:7&8, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion”

For those who are in God’s house there is no shortage of words from God. We have been given the Bible. God has spoken in many times and in many ways. He has even spoken through His Son. We have those words. It is now our calling to listen to them, memorize them, and apply them to our daily lives. When the Spirit guides us to act on faith, if you hear His voice, do not say ‘No’. How do we intentionally go about cultivating a heart that says ‘Yes’?

• Hebrews 3:12&13, Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

As a church, family, and community we must care for each other. I know I get worried about someone not liking what I said in a sermon or how I said it long before I get worried that someone has an evil unbelieving heart.  I want to pamper and pet people while God tells me to exhort them and to exhort them every day. To exhort someone is to “to urge, advise, or caution earnestly; admonish urgently.” When is the last time you loved someone enough to exhort them? When’s the last time someone loved you enough to exhort you? As a church it must be our desire for each other that we hear, believe, and obey.

Father, may my understanding of and desires for the church match the glorious purposes of the work of Christ. I do not want to fail You or to miss out on the expansion of the kingdom of Your beloved Son. I yearn for faithfulness to Christ. I pray that I hear Your voice, believe You, and obey. Bring people who will love and exhort me. Bring people who I will love and exhort. Send me to them. Father, I look at myself and the church and I know there is so much more for us in Christ. If Christ is who He says He is, if You have spoken through Your word, then there are such great promises and blessings for and through the church. Help me help others realize all that Jesus Christ is in His Church.

For Christ and His Church,

Amen

God has spoken in many ways

Saturday’s Reading: Song of Solomon 1 & Hebrews 1

Reading chapter one of Song of Solomon gives insight into Hebrews 1:1.

• Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets

As we read through Song of Solomon you will perceive my interpretation of the book. I believe the original context was written with a husband and wife in mind. Yet, like the other books of the Old Testament we find written in Song of Solomon a foreshadowing of Christ. Does Song of Solomon have much to say about a husband and a wife? Yes. Does Song of Solomon have truth to teach us about our glorious Savior Jesus Christ? Yes. This principle is no different then the way we read the Psalms or Genesis for that matter.

• Luke 24:25-27, And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 

As we faithfully interpret the Old Testament it will teach us wonderful things about Christ and living every day for Him.  I’m not advocating the allegory of days gone by. I’m advocating a faithful approach to interpreting the bible (hermeneutic) that discerns all the things in the Scriptures concerning Christ.

Pray for Others

Friday’s Reading: Ecclesiastes 12 & Philemon

• Philemon 4-7, I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6 and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. 7 For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.

Now, pick someone in your life and pray this passage for them.

God, I thank You for David our youth minister. I know of his love and faith toward the Lord Jesus and I know of his love for all the church. I pray that as he shares his faith he would become effective. Work through him for the full knowledge of every good thing that is ours in Christ. Getting to know him and serve beside him has given me joy and comfort. I am thankful that You bring the church together in love and bring refreshing through the church. Thank you Father for what you are doing through David. Do much more for the sake of Christ.

In Jesus’ Name

Amen

The Young and the Old

Wednesday’s Reading: Ecclesiastes 10 & Titus 2

Have we created an atmosphere in our churches that makes a Titus 2 approach to discipleship next to impossible? In many churches, including the one I pastor, where will you find the older women? In their own classroom.  Where will you find the younger women? In their own classroom. What about the older men? In their own classroom. And the younger men are no different. The only time we mix is between Sunday School and Corporate Worship. Even then there is not enough time, intentionality, or opportunity to fulfill what God calls us to do as a body in Titus 2. We’ve put the slave of our desires on the horse while the prince of God’s will walks on the ground (Ecclesiastes 10:5-7). This truly is folly.

“But they’re not like me; we don’t like the same things.” One likes to push a plow, the other likes to chase a cow, but that’s no reason why that can’t be friends. It is our differences that collectively give strength and raise up faithful men and women. We’ve been given a variety of gifts for the building up of the body (1 Corinthians 12).  And it is those differences that cause division and segregation in the church. The easy solution is to remove all division. Make a church for one type of person and make another church for another type of person. Separate the young and the old, the farmer and the cowman, the rich and the poor. When did we buy into the idea that the divided are the conquerors? I always thought the divided where the ones who are easily conquered.

Father, give me a vision for what faithfulness to You looks like.  Through Jesus Christ the dividing wall has been torn down. Forgive me for trying to build it back up. Give me faith to believe we need differences. Give me humility to understand that what makes me different does not make me better. Bring the young and old together around the goodnews of Jesus Christ. Raise up older men and women who will invest in the younger men and women. Raise up younger men and women who will love and listen to the older men and women. Use us to teach each other great an awesome things about Christ. Use us to impact our families, neighborhoods, and towns with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

For HIm,

Amen

Pray for your pastor

Tuesday’s Reading: Ecclesiastes 9 & Titus 1

• Titus 1:1-3, Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior

As slaves of God, bought at an extreme price, it is now the calling on all to live for the good of others. God has given leaders in the church to equip the saints for ministry. Paul was made an apostle for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth.  No longer do we have apostles, meaning those who have seen the physical Christ. Now the church has been given elders for the sake of the faith and knowledge of God’s people. God gives these men to point the church toward everything that accords with godliness, to strengthen the hope of eternal life, and to do it all through the word that points to Christ.

Father, You do all things well.  Your work of salvation through Christ is amazing.  You provide for us and give to us.  I thank You for giving pastors to the church who stand firm on Your word. I pray for the elders of my church. I pray that will dedicate themselves to the good of others. May they see themselves as Your slaves and slaves of Christ. Give my pastor discipline to study, pray, and preach so that my faith in Christ and knowledge of Christ grow. Make everything that accords with godliness be always on his mind. Make the hope of eternal life his constant hope and message. You don’t lie. You will fulfill Your word through the preaching of Christ.  Strengthen my pastor as he preaches Christ.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen

Avoiding what is vanity

Monday’s Reading: Ecclesiastes 8 & 2nd Timothy 4

• Ecclesiastes 8:11, Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.

Wisdom is displayed as God’s people diligently seek Christ and effectively pursue His will.

• 2nd Timothy 4:2-4, be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Be ready to fulfill your calling because as the days pass the temptation will be to sleep and not pay attention to the needs of those around us.  Our desire will be to go to places and do things that find their fulfillment in us. We must fight this mentality. As we love others, love strangers, minister to prisoners, care for the mistreated, and honor marriage God’s presence will come alive to us (Hebrews 13:1-5).  Fulfill your ministry by getting involved in other people’s lives knowing that God will never leave you nor forsake you. The Lord Jesus Christ is your helper. There is no reason to fear. What can man do to you?

My King, there is so much that I can do and so much of it is vanity.  Forgive me for wasting the ministry you have given me. Forgive me for calling a wasteful thing a worthy thing.  Give me wisdom to know the difference and the strength to pursue what is right. I feel the temptation to disengage. Just give me what I want and I’ll be happy. Forgive me through the blood of Jesus Christ.  Through faith in Christ I boldly come seeking grace and mercy.  Stir me up to fulfill the ministry you have given me. Bring people who will love me enough to reprove, rebuke, and exhort me with all patience and teaching.  Let me hear You reprove, rebuke, and exhort me with all patience and teaching in Your word. I want to be useful for the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Show me how to live for Him.

In the strong name of Jesus

Amen

In Hot Pursuit

Thursday’s Reading: Ecclesiastes 4 & 1st Timothy 6

• 1st Timothy 6:11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Every person, no matter what they believe about God, is running from something an to something. Godliness is found when we run away from false doctrine and greed while pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. We as Baptists being in the vein of Protestants love the doctrine of justification by faith.  We are freely given Christ’s righteousness without deserving it or earning it.

• Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

To pursue righteousness is to pursue Christ and serve Him. Pursuing righteousness is cultivating through study, meditation, and memorization a mind that thinks deep and stirring thoughts about Christ.  The more we know of Christ the more we will know of righteousness. As our appreciation and understanding of his righteousness grows the more our appreciation and understanding of our righteousness in Him will grow.

I’ve been reading John Bunyan’s book Prayer. In it Bunyan gives reason after reason to pursue Christ. If you haven’t read it I recommend it. You can buy your own copy or borrow mine when I’m done. Click on the picture below to buy a copy.

Wisdom

Wednesday’s Reading: Ecclesiastes 3 & 1st Timothy 5

My righteous and merciful God, it is through the blood of Christ that I come boldly to You this morning seeking Your grace and mercy for my need. What I need most I often feel like I do not need it at all. I know my greatest need is to trust Christ. If I do not trust Him I cannot pray. If I do not trust Him I can accomplish nothing. If I do not trust Him I will not see eternal life with You. I need Christ but my mind is already spinning with the requirements of the day.  There is a time for everything.  There will be time for those things. Now is the time for worship and prayer.  Give me Your Holy Spirit to bring me to You in prayer. Give me Your Holy Spirit to give me knowledge of what to pray in accordance with Your will.  Give me Your Holy Spirit to keep me in prayer. Everything is Yours from the youngest orphan to the oldest widow. Help me to see Christ in it all and help me to live for Christ in it all.

Through Christ,

Amen