David's Bible Blog

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.