David's Bible Blog

Luke 9:23-24 (NKJV)

Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

What a paradoxical statement. Such a truth cannot be seen by a simple reading but only by a deeper understanding of what Jesus is saying.

If I put myself first, then the best I can have is whatever I can muster up for myself which is not a lot. After many attempts, I know by experience that my efforts don't amount to much. However if I put Jesus first then the best I can have is whatever He can provide which is anything and everything. My way leads to frustration and ultimate death. Jesus' way leads to fulfillment and the abundant life.

John 15:5 (NKJV)

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Luke 8:24-25 (NKJV)

And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!"

Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, "Where is your faith?"

And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, "Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!"

The disciples had an imperfect understanding of who Jesus was. The bible says they marveled. We should marvel too at such power but it should not surprise us that the one who spoke the worlds into existence should be able to calm the storm.

Speaking of calming the storm, Jesus can calm any storm, even the storms in our personal lives. By trusting him, we can know that our fate is in the hands of a loving and wonderful savior who has the power of creation and with whom all things are possible.

Colossians 1:16 (NKJV)

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

Luke 8:10 (NKJV)

And He said, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that 'Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.'

You've heard it many times before when a speaker wants to further explain and clarify his message, he will say: "Let me illustrate..." Jesus purpose with parables was not so. For Jesus, parables were meant to conceal the truth from the uninitiated and to reveal deeper truths to those who had believed.

Jesus said not to "cast your pearls before swine." This means that you should not give things of great value to those who are incapable of appreciating them. He is not saying do not try to reach these people with the truth. But rather, if they do not respond to the simple truth of the gospel, they will never respond to the deep truths of God.

1 Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV)

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Deuteronomy 8:16-18 (NLT)

He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’ Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.

God takes us through trials to test us and to make us trust him. It is for our own good.

Any success I have comes from God.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (NKJV)

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

To be "In your heart" means to be at the center of your innermost being. Your primary job as a parent is to impart truth to your children. Why talk small talk when you can talk about the things of God. God's truth ought to permeate every part of your life. Before you go to sleep, God's word should be your last thoughts. When you wake up, you are reminded of your Creator. Everything you touch is part of God's creation. Everything you look at should be filtered through the lens of God's truth. When people come in to your house, it ought to be self-evident whom you serve. Your primary mission as you go out into the world ought to be as a witness to God's work in your life.

Luke 6:43-45 (NKJV)

For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

I have heard my pastor say that if you want to find out what a person is made of, just jostle them up and see what spills out.

So true that is. The bible also says that there is no one good but God. So if I am to be good where will the good come from? Well it must come from God. He does that by coming to live in my heart. I pray now that when I am jostled, that Jesus will spill out.

Jeremiah 17:9 (NKJV)

"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Psalm 51:10a (NKJV)

Create in me a clean heart, O God

Deuteronomy 3:23-27 (NKJV)

“Then I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying: ‘O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand, for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do anything like Your works and Your mighty deeds? I pray, let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, those pleasant mountains, and Lebanon.’

“But the Lord was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me. So the Lord said to me: ‘Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift your eyes toward the west, the north, the south, and the east; behold it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan.

Just observing my own children and even myself at times, we get the idea that if we repent of a wrongdoing and then do the right thing, that somehow we will be able to reverse the consequences of the previous sin and everything will be as we originally wanted it to be. This passage is a striking illustration of how God is holy, just and gracious at the same time.

Moses had angered God by being disobedient and stealing a bit of God's glory during one episode with the unruly Israelites. He struck a rock to bring forth water rather than speaking to it as God had instructed. And he took a bit of credit to himself in front of the Israelites. This is not acceptable to God. Now certainly Moses was God's faithful servant and was perhaps the greatest leader of God's people. But God would not tolerate such sin and there would be consequences. Moses thought perhaps now that some time had passed that God might rethink his position on the matter. Although it might with us, the passage of time does not ameliorate sin. Oh, God had forgiven Moses of his sin and Moses would spend eternity in Heaven with God but the consequence of Moses sin would stand.

Yet, in His grace, God allowed Moses to see the Promised Land before he died.

Psalm 66:18 (NKJV)

If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.

There are an astonishing number of promises in the Bible that God will answer prayer. What a tremendous motivation that is to pray. There are also a handful of verses that indicate that there are hindrances to prayer. One of them is sin. To regard iniquity in my heart means that I know that it is there but I am not willing to repent of it. How could God possibly answer my prayer when I am in such a rebellious state?

Psalm 139:23-24 (NKJV)

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Numbers 35:25 (NKJV)

So the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he had fled, and he shall remain there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.

God instituted a strange law that the Israelites have six cities to which a person could flee to safety if he had committed an accidental murder. The kinsman of the person murdered would be the Avenger of Blood, but he could not carry out his vengeance while the person was in the City of Refuge. Only if the person left that city could the avenger take his vengeance. The strange thing is that when the high priest of that city died, the person who committed the manslaughter would be free to return to his home without consequence.

Why did God put this in the Bible? We can see elements of this in our own judicial system: protection by the courts, trials with defense and prosecuting attorneys, etc.

The Cities of Refuge have a deep theological meaning. We are all guilty of the death of Christ because of our sin. But we were born sinners and in that sense we could not avoid our guilt. But what is our refuge? Jesus is our City of Refuge and being in him, we are saved from the Avenger of Blood, the judgment of God. Jesus is the great high priest who died for us. His death represents the cancellation of sin for those who have fled to Him as their refuge.

One final thing: the six Cities of Refuge were to be conveniently located so that they would be easily accessible from anywhere in the land. So too, Jesus is easily accessible, so that anyone may come to him from anywhere at anytime.

Romans 8:1a (NKJV)

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus

Luke 4:33-35 (NKJV)

Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God!"

But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him.

I find it interesting that the demon spirits are not deceived. They know who Jesus is and they are subject to Him obeying instantly when Jesus commands them. I wish many people I know were as knowledgeable of truth and as subject to authority as the demons are.

Satan has authority over this world which he acquired when Adam gave up the authority God had originally given to him. But God still has authority over all of creation. God, being the righteous sovereign he is, allows Satan to run his course. However, God defeats Satan and defends his holy Name, not by wiping Satan out, but by being both righteous Judge and by taking upon himself the penalty of our sin. This makes it possible for both justice to be satisfied and for us (sinners declared righteous by God's own sacrifice) to live with Him in eternity.

Romans 3:23-26 (NKJV)

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Psalm 62:11-12 (NKJV)

God has spoken once, Twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God. Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy; For You render to each one according to his work.

We live in a power hungry world. God should only have to say it once, but power is from God and mercy is from God too. No need to trust in anything else; this is the only power and mercy worth having. I'm am so glad that God has chosen to use His power to exercise mercy.

We have been taught to know that salvation does not come as a reward for our works. Salvation is not earned; it is a gift we simply receive by faith. However, scripture clearly teaches that there is a reward which will be "according to our works." The reward I hope for is from the mouth of my Savior saying "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Matthew 16:27 (NKJV)

For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

Luke 2:52 (NKJV)

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

The bible says very little about Jesus' childhood except for the time when He was twelve and was discovered missing by his parents and found in the temple "about His Father's business." We don't see him again until he was thirty years old and began His public ministry which lasted three years. What went on in the meantime? The only clue we have is this verse above. Jesus was a perfect man. He was fully God and yet fully man too. He is the God-man. This verse tells us he grew mentally (wisdom), physically (stature), spiritually (favor with God), and socially (favor with men).

The bible says that He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. What a wonderful truth this is. By becoming a man, God is able to fully relate to us. More importantly, He is able to become our kinsman redeemer.

Hebrews 4:15 (NKJV)

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Proverbs 11:14 (NKJV)

Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.

Sometimes we need advice. Sometimes we get so emotionally tied up in something, we cannot make good decisions. We need to listen to others. We need to get wise counsel. That is not letting someone else make your decisions for you. It is allowing you to hear perspectives from those who are not so emotionally tied to a decision. And, the time it takes to seek a multitude of wise counselors and hear them will cause you to slow down and not make hasty and unwise decisions.

Numbers 23:19 (NKJV)

God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

When God makes a promise, you can count on it. Man can and will disappoint you but God is faithful and true. He has promised us many things in his Word: abundant life, heaven, answers to prayer, peace, rest, rich rewards, understanding and wisdom.

Isaiah 40:8 (NKJV)

The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever."

Psalm 56:3,10-11 (NKJV)

Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.

In God (I will praise His word), In the Lord (I will praise His word),

In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

You see this statement on T-shirts today, "No Fear." It's a macho thing to do. But what do they base this bravery on? Typically it is the teenager who feels he is immortal, that nothing will happen to him. Yet the fear of death grips everyone at some point, and for good reason. Death is not just annihilation, you will be somewhere for eternity. The bible talks about heaven and hell. No one talked more about hell than Jesus.

For the believer in Christ, death has no sting. The bible says that to be absent from the body (death) is to be present with the Lord. Only the Christian can say "No Fear." Truly what can man do to me?

Matthew 10:28 (NKJV)

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Numbers 20:7-12 (NKJV)

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him.

And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

So what did Moses do wrong? He smote the rock instead of speaking to it. Minor detail right? Well, God is a God of details. Just look at the intricacy of his Creation. The devil is into doing things almost the right way but changing a few of the details. That's where Moses went wrong. Furthermore Moses did not represent the grace of God. He made it appear as if God is saying "Alright already, enough complaining, here is your stinking water." That is not a very good representation of God's gift and miracle of providence is it? So God was gracious but he was angry with Moses too because Moses did not do exactly as God had said.

All this makes sense but I don't think that it is the worst of what Moses did at this point. Notice how he spoke to the people: "Must we bring water out of this rock?" What's with the we business. Is Moses going to do the miracle or is God going to do it? It is saying "Must God and I do this for you." What arrogance and pride on Moses part. But aren't you and I guilty of this anytime we don't give God the complete credit for our good works? Or worse, perhaps we think that we did something meritorious by exercising faith in Jesus Christ and were born again as a result.

Ephesians 2:8-10 (NKJV)

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Mark 16:20 (NKJV)

And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

This is the last verse of the gospel of Mark and speaks of the many miracles that the apostles performed. They were able to miraculously heal, speak other languages, raise the dead. It seems that these abilities would be useful today. But this verse explains why God allowed them to do such things. The miracles were called signs which confirmed or authenticated the word they were preaching. Where is that word today? It is in our Bible, both old and new testaments. Now that God's word is complete, it no longer needs authentication. The word itself stands as its own testimony. Of course what is the greatest miracle of all? It is the miracle of the new birth--that we can become children of God.

Hebrews 2:3-4 (NIV)

How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

Numbers 15:32-36 (NKJV)

Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. They put him under guard, because it had not been explained what should be done to him.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp." So, as the Lord commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died.

Stoning to death someone who broke the law to keep the Sabbath day holy? As I read this I felt uneasiness in my stomach about my own sin and disobedience. I thank God we are no longer under law but under grace. But still, the message comes across loud and clear. God will not tolerate willful disobedience of his word. It makes me realize the magnitude of God's holiness and the depth to which Jesus went to pay the penalty for my sins and the sins of the whole world. Lord, let me fear you, let me be wholly devoted to you and surrendered to you.

Romans 6:14 (NKJV)

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Numbers 14:20-24 (NIV)

The Lord replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times--not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.

Of the twelve spies who went to spy out the land God had promised, ten were doubtful that the Israelites could ever take it, but Joshua and Caleb were confident, only because they knew the promise and the power of their God. It is reasonable to trust in the Almighty One and He is trustworthy because of his promises.

I want to be like Caleb, with a different spirit, who follows God wholeheartedly.

Mark 14:27 (NKJV)

Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered.'

Mark 14:31 (NKJV)

But he spoke more vehemently, "If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!" And they all said likewise.

Mark 14:50 (NKJV)

Then they all forsook Him and fled.

Jesus predicted that his disciples would abandon Him when He was taken away to be crucified. Peter boasted that he would not and the others agreed. Then we see that indeed all of them left Jesus just as he had said they would.

All of them left but Jesus did not. Jesus was willing to lay down His life for them. Aren't you glad that Jesus did not shirk his commitment to the Father. He had prayed that "If it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not my will but thine be done." We are weak, but He is strong. We have such little faith but He is faithful and true.

The "cup" Jesus was anguished about was not the physical suffering, but the contemplation of being forsaken by His Father. Since He became our sin for us, the Father is of holier eyes than to look upon sin.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Psalm 51:16-17 (NKJV)

For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart--These, O God, You will not despise.

I've been reading through all the Levitical Laws detailing very specific instructions on how the Israelites were to bring their sacrificial offerings. These were peculiar and very bloody. It is not until we see Jesus on the cross that be begin to understand the incredible extent to which God went to make it possible for us to dwell with Him.

In these verses, we see what it is that God wants: a deep heartfelt brokenness over our sin and genuine repentance. He wants our devotion to Him, our surrender in obedience. He wants us to love mercy, to desire to know him and please him.

After a person comes to God through Christ, there is no longer the need for external ceremonies and rituals which act as roadmaps and disciplinarians. The sacrificial laws were an imperfect picture of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

1 Samuel 15:22 (NKJV)

So Samuel said: "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord ? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.

Hosea 6:6 (NKJV)

For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Numbers 9:13-14 (NKJV)

But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, and ceases to keep the Passover, that same person shall be cut off from among his people, because he did not bring the offering of the Lord at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin.

'And if a stranger dwells among you, and would keep the Lord 's Passover, he must do so according to the rite of the Passover and according to its ceremony; you shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger and the native of the land.' "

I am fascinated by two ideas in these obscure verses deep in the middle of all the "boring" Levitical laws that no one ever preaches on or reads. First of all, remember that the Passover is an Old Testament picture of the coming sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, notice that if someone failed to keep the Passover ordinances that he will be cut off from his people and he will have to bear his own sin. Going to the real meaning, we see that if someone were to reject Jesus and what he did for us, that he would be "cut" off from among God's people. That is to say, he would spend eternity cut off from God's presence which is hell. Moreover, he would have to bear his own sin instead of choosing to accept Jesus' offer of bearing his sin for him.

Now in the second verse, notice that even a stranger must obey the ordinance in exactly the same way as the people of God. Every one must come to God the same way, through the sacrificial blood atonement of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 22:29 (NKJV)

Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God."

Anytime you are wondering what to believe in, go to the Bible. What ever it says, believe it.

Anytime you are concerned because you can't figure out how God could have done something, be it a miracle or whatever, you are expressing doubt in His awesome power.

Once you get these two principles right, you can go as deep as you want to in any subject and you never have to fear because you can take comfort that what you don't understand. God understands and is able to do all things.

Mark 10:27 (NKJV)

But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."

Mark 11:22-24 (NKJV)

So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

Do I really believe this? Yes, I believe God can do this. But do I really believe that it will happen if I were to say to the mountain to move into the sea. No, I must admit that I don't believe that. And of course, the mountain does not move. But in this case, I doubt not because I believe God won't answer my prayer but rather because I don't believe that it is his will for this mountain to move. So what does it take to make my doubting go away? It takes supreme confidence in God's will. In other words, I really need to believe that a particular thing is what God wants to do, which is not necessarily what I want to do. So the key here is to 1) know God's will and 2) believe it and 3) pray for it.

According to Jesus, that formula will work every time. Of course, the starting point is God's will and not my own. The ending point is my getting in on God's will. If you know something to be true, you will not doubt it. Have faith in God.

Someone once said that prayer is the slender nerve that moves the muscle of God. Of course, it may be the connecting nerve but the signal that travels along that nerve needs to originate with the brain—the mind of Christ.

Note: I got confused with the leap year thing on my reading schedule. This is going back to a day I skipped. I leave the dates and order for a day or two then I will change the dates to reflect the correct reading days.

Mark 12:17 (NKJV)

And Jesus answered and said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they marveled at Him.

Have you ever known someone who always seemed to know the right things to say? No matter the situation, be it difficult or awkward or even pleasant, they seem to have an easy time with words.

Jesus was sparring with the Pharisees who were always trying to trip Him up. But they were always frustrated by his brilliant and penetrating replies.

I am praying that God will give me the mind of Christ, so that I might be able to always impart words of grace to those I speak with.

Ephesians 4:29 (NKJV)

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

Psalm 45:6-7 (NKJV)

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.

When I first started reading this psalm, I was unsure whether the king spoken of was an earthly king or not. Then I got to these verses. No doubt about it, this speaks of the Messiah King who is God and yet is anointed by God with the oil of gladness. There is only one who is both God and a man who worships God and that is Jesus Christ, God in the flesh.

Note that He loves righteousness and hates wickedness. May that be true of me.

Psalm 139:23-24 (NKJV)

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.