- araratchurch
- Apr 6, 2022
- 3 min read
“The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God….For God is with the generation of the righteous.”
Psalms 14:2, 5 NKJV
Did you know that there are wealthy philanthropists who actually seek out causes with which they agree in order to donate funds to groups and individuals? As awesome as that is, there is One Who has access to ALL things Who is looking for someone to help.
“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”
II Chronicles 16:9 NKJV
The above verse was actually one of my father’s favorite scriptures. He indeed lived his life seeking the Lord and I saw the Lord coming to his aid innumerable times. It is important to know the context of this scripture to fully grasp what is being said about the Lord.
Now, there was one king of Judah, Asa, who was basically a good king; but he had one—what proved to be—fatal flaw. You see, he always looked for help outside of the Lord. One of those times was when he sought out the Syrians to help him in a battle with Israel. The Lord was not pleased.
“And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.””
II Chronicles 16:7-9 NKJV
This correction sent to Asa through Hanani, was not heeded, and Asa died the way he lived: looking for help from other sources, rather than the Lord.
“And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians. So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign.”
II Chronicles 16:12-13 NKJV
There is something about the Lord that many people do not realize. If a person is intent on seeking help from everybody else except the Lord, the Lord will not intervene on their behalf. This is not to say that the Lord never uses other sources to help us (physicians, loan officers, attorneys, and so on). But the point is that the Lord should be sought FIRST; then—whatever follows—should be by the leading of His Spirit.
In our portion from Psalms today we see that David understood the importance of seeking after the Lord. Now, in reading about David seeking the Lord (through many scriptures in the Bible), we get a sense that he was seeking the Lord out of his love and devotion for Him. But, the result of that seeking was that God came to his help, came to his rescue, over and over again.
For everything in our lives—from big things (like difficult decisions or troubling diagnoses), all the way to things we might consider being “insignificant” to the Lord—let us make sure that we seek the Lord for our help!.
“And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.”
Psalms 9:10 NKJV
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
God looks for those who are seeking Him in order to help them.
- araratchurch
- Apr 5, 2022
- 3 min read
“The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good. There they are in great fear, For God is with the generation of the righteous.”
Psalms 14:1, 5 NKJV
Many years ago, I was sitting in my office looking across the desk at a young woman I had known all her life. She was brought up in a Christian home and recently had entered college. I didn’t know the reason she had asked for the meeting, so I sat there waiting to hear what was on her heart and mind. Now, on the one hand, I did not expect what was to come out of her mouth. But on the other hand, what she said was so tragically cliché, I wasn’t really surprised after all.
To explain, as she sat there with a rather “set” look on her face, she informed me that now—having gone to college and was interacting with “intelligent people”—she now “knew too much” to believe in God.
I said that in one way I did not expect what I heard because I knew her upbringing. Additionally, for me, denying God‘s existence would be something akin to saying my parents never existed—or better yet—that I do not exist. With that, I said that I wasn’t surprised after all because I have seen many young people go to college—or even seminary—and come out saying they no longer believe in God.
First of all, this phenomenon has a lot to do with the carnal nature of man, the desire to fit in, and the desire to live a life free of restraint. Additionally, this also says volumes about our educational system. Many teachers and professors are the product of decades of education that is hostile to God. And, how better to express your hostility to God than by ignoring Him?
There are many other “reasons” people may not believe in God. For many, they felt let down by God in some way and are now “punishing” Him by not believing in Him. But, whatever the cause, it is a fool’s errand to try to deny the existence of the Almighty God and Creator.
I like what the Apostle Paul has to say about people who do not believe in God. Additionally, he illuminates the foolishness of those who have chosen their own “god” and have become idolaters.
“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.”
Romans 1:20-25 NLT
In our portion from Psalms today we see David contemplating on the foolishness of those who go their own corrupt ways, all the while denying God‘s existence. He deftly notes—as he often does—the fact that the error of the wicked will be dramatically pointed out to them by a close encounter of the “destructive” kind, experienced by all those who continue to reject the reality of God.
God proves Himself to us every time we take a breath, with every beat of our heart, and through everything around us, from the subatomic level to the great beyond.
So, Don’t allow the error of foolish people who deny God to get you down. The day is just around the corner when this happens:
“that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Philippians 2:10-11 NLT
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
Fools may try to deny God’s existence, but He will not be ignored.
- araratchurch
- Apr 4, 2022
- 2 min read
“Consider and hear me, O Lord my God; Enlighten my eyes, Lest I sleep the sleep of death.”
Psalms 13:3 NKJV
I have been with animals and people when they died. One thing that is consistent is that at the moment of death you can immediately see the light of life gone from their eyes. It’s a stunning phenomenon to experience. It happens as quickly as flipping the switch to turn the light off. One second there’s light; the next second there is none.
I’ve also seen another phenomenon associated with the eyes, but this one is among the living. While not to the degree seen at the point of death, I have seen living people with “dead” eyes.
Sometimes the cause of these eyes with no sparkle is physical in nature; but many times I have seen these dead eyes the result of great strain, pressure, sorrow, grief, and so forth. Although the person’s heart is still beating and they are still breathing, the spark of life is receding and you can see it in their eyes.
Because of our advanced technology we can immediately see people in all kinds of stressful situations. You see when their eyes are terrified, when they are angry, when they are despairing, when they are in shock, and when they have lost all hope.
On the other hand, we can see when people are full of hope, expectation, joy, excitement, and so on, by the “sparkle” in their eyes.
Ezra, in speaking about the Lord’s mercy to His people said this:
“And now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage.”
Ezra 9:8 NKJV
Ezra praises the Lord for bringing back the light in the eyes of the people in bondage by bringing them back to their land.
In our opening portion from Psalms today we see that David is acknowledging to the Lord that he has lost the light in his eyes. He feels hopeless, helpless, and near death, and is asking the Lord to bring back reason for hope and joy (enlightening his eyes).
Let’s face it, we often lose a lot of our life in our living. In other words, the things we go through, the things we experience, our toiling and striving, can literally diminish the light of our life (the life force) to the point that it is flickering, almost extinguished. The good news is that the One Who originally gave us our life spark, can and will rekindle the flame. You don’t have to go on a moment longer with dead eyes!
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
The stress of life can take the light from your eyes, but the Lord can restore it.