- araratchurch
- May 31, 2022
- 4 min read
“O God, You have cast us off; You have broken us down; You have been displeased; Oh, restore us again! You have made the earth tremble; You have broken it; Heal its breaches, for it is shaking. You have shown Your people hard things; You have made us drink the wine of confusion.”
Psalms 60:1-3 NKJV
Have you ever known people who made a bold proclamation concerning the ineffectiveness of a particular diet, and yet you knew for a fact that they were not following the diet? Maybe we all need to take a moment and think on that…. But we know it’s the truth: people are all the time blaming “other things,” whether it be exercise equipment or diets, for being totally ineffective when the intervening variable, the thing that was really at fault, was the user of the diet or the user of the exercise equipment.
Someone once said, “no pain, no gain.” Well, it’s human nature that we want all the good from something, but we don’t want to be responsible to change anything WE are doing. Come to think about it, perhaps we’re not looking for a diet or exercise equipment, but rather, a “magic wand” we could just wave and get what we want without making any change.
Now, those of you who are familiar with modern computer technology, just put a hand in my direction while I vent. When you don’t know all the ins and outs of the pull down menus with the endless selections put before you in different computer programs (I think that word is even outdated), it can feel like the computer or the program is not working. But generally, the hard truth is that it is user error standing between you and success.
Sadly, the tendency for us to want to declare things, and even people, as being “ineffective,” rather than seeing our own failure to commit ourselves to a process, or to know what we are doing, or to make the needed changes, etc., does not stop short of our relationship with God.
Now, I’m nobody’s judge, but you know, what you know, and there have been times I have seen people accuse God over something (that was going wrong, or wasn’t the way they wanted it, or some physical illness), and I knew full well that they, themselves, were the guilty party (in terms of the results they were seeing). Again it wasn’t God‘s fault; it was user error.
We find the Lord often in His word, instructing His people in righteousness, instructing His people in how things work in a relationship with Him.
“Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah 55:7 NKJV
Time and again, the Lord offered to get His people out of trouble, while instructing them as to how they had come to be out of favor.
“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity. No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.”
Isaiah 59:1-4 NKJV
Still, many people would rather accuse God of having arms too short to reach them than to admit that their disobedience has gotten them into their current pickle.
In our portion from Psalms today we see David praying urgently to the Lord for the restoration of His favor. We see basically the same prayer in Psalms 108. Rather than make accusations about the Lord’s “inadequacies,” David speaks of the Lord‘s promises, asking Him to restore favor to His children. David knew that whatever was wrong, it wasn’t the Lord’s fault.
Now, we’ve all ended up in situation‘s, circumstances, and so on, that, deep down inside, we knew we had had a large part in bringing it to pass. We must avoid placing blame anywhere else; and especially not to indict the Lord! The good news is that even when we are in a stew of our own making, the Lord will hear and help if we approach Him with humility and repentance, asking Him to restore His favor toward us.
You may be wondering if we still have a part in receiving God’s favor, given that the perfect sacrifice, and finished work, of Jesus Christ has bought us our salvation. Here it is: salvation is a gift from God, but make no mistake, we will still reap what we sow in terms of continued disobedience to God’s word and resisting the leading of the Holy Spirit. God has given us access to His favor but continuing to walk in disobedience brings big trouble and allows the enemy to devour your stuff!
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
If the Lord’s favor “isn’t working” for you, it’s because of user error.
- araratchurch
- May 30, 2022
- 4 min read
“They wander up and down for food, And howl if they are not satisfied. But I will sing of Your power; Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; For You have been my defense And refuge in the day of my trouble.”
Psalms 59:15-16 NKJV
I’m always amazed when I hear stories of people who have closets full of clothes, shoes, accessories, and so on, many things still with the tags on them. Yet, they are always buying more and more things. I’ll digress for a moment…
I remember a time when I was a little girl that my sister and mother shared one skirt between them. I think it was a black skirt. When my sister had something she needed to do, warranting the skirt, she would wear it; when my mother needed the skirt, she would wear it. Additionally, I remember that we were happy to have one pair of shoes, and generally were able to get a new pair of shoes one time a year. You see, my parents were starting a church and we didn’t have very much money. Being a young child, I wasn’t aware of this dynamic because we were always happy.
I also remember that there was a kind butcher who worked at the local grocery store who also happened to come to our church. When he would grind ground meat for my father to buy, he would throw some “good pieces” in there so that it wasn’t so fatty. I also remember the kindness of a family who came to our church during this time who owned a little diner type of restaurant. Every once in a while—after a church service—they would have us come there and they would fill up brown paper bags with big burgers and fries and things from out of the candy display. Being a little girl who very much enjoyed her food, I thought we had gone to Heaven as we ate those greasy burgers, finishing off with bags of M&Ms. What I’m telling you here is not a sad story; what I’m telling you here is a story of Joy.
Now I know that my parents had stressors on them of which I was not aware; but our lack was never the focus. Rather, the focus was on what we did have.
I remember—after service on Sundays—sometimes my father would drive to the Miss Georgia ice cream place and get some strawberry or butter pecan ice cream. He used to laugh, saying that the only strawberries in the strawberry ice cream, were under the cellophane window on top of the half gallon. That ice cream was a big deal. We ate a lot of eggs; we ate a lot of beans; but we ate; and we were satisfied.
My mother liked to shop as much as any other person might like to shop; but she never showed dissatisfaction with what she had. Needless to say, my father was not a “things” oriented person either.
Now, let’s go back to that person I started off with who has several closets full of clothes they will never wear and never needed.
I’m not a judge of how people spend their money. If you’ve got it, it’s yours to decide how you want to spend it (of course, we will all give an account to the Lord as to whether we were good stewards of what we were given). Also, my point is not that I covet these people who never seem to have enough. Actually, as aggravating as they can be, as obnoxious as they can present themselves, I pity them. They have set their sights on what will never satisfy them.
Many years ago we used to sing a song called, “Only Jesus can Satisfy Your Soul,”and it is so very true.
In the Bible, we find many occasions where the Lord was pointing out the futility of the desires of His people; and with that, the fact that they seemed to turn to everything other than Him for their satisfaction.
“You also played the harlot with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; indeed you played the harlot with them and still were not satisfied. Moreover you multiplied your acts of harlotry as far as the land of the trader, Chaldea; and even then you were not satisfied. “How degenerate is your heart!” says the Lord God, “seeing you do all these things, the deeds of a brazen harlot.”
Ezekiel 16:28-30 NKJV
These were His own people, the Lord was referencing. And still today, even many Christians look everywhere else other than the Lord for satisfaction. The proverbial writer succinctly describes the phenomenon of endless dissatisfaction:
“Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied.”
Proverbs 27:20 NKJV
You might wonder whether I’m referencing evil people or good people with misplaced desires. Well, I don’t really make the distinction because the end of each is often the same: miserable lives, having never found satisfaction for their soul.
In our portion from Psalms today we see David referencing evil people who have endless cravings, roaming around like dogs, looking to find something else to eat, but never being satisfied. He then draws a stark distinction between those people and the direction of his longing. He had found that his soul could only be satisfied by the Shepherd of his soul. So, on this particular occasion, as in so many other cases, he turned to the Lord for his help and soul satisfaction; and, he found it.
If you are always feeling dissatisfied, you must come to terms with whether or not you’re seeking satisfaction outside of the Lord. If that is the case, please understand, you will never find true satisfaction. It’s like trying to get rid of a hole in your yard by digging it out; it only gets deeper and deeper. You see, our Father made us in such a way that we are only truly satisfied when in fellowship with Him. And—when it comes right down to it—why would you want anything more than He Who is All in All!
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
Seeking satisfaction outside of the Lord leads to endless longing.
- araratchurch
- May 30, 2022
- 3 min read
“Do you indeed speak righteousness, O gods (heavenly beings)? Do you judge fairly, O sons of men? No, in your heart you devise wrongdoing; On earth you deal out the violence of your hands. The [unyieldingly] righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance [of God]; He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. Men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely there is a God who judges on the earth.””
Psalms 58:1-2, 10-11 AMP
I was in the hospital room of a dying man. I went and sat down in a chair near the door,
as someone else was talking over the man, lying asleep. Feeling moved by the Lord, I took the anointing oil out of my purse; and reaching over toward the door, I anointed the door frame, asking the Lord to sanctify the room. Just as I touched the door, a spirit spoke clearly inside of me saying, “Who are you?” I stated my association to the dying man then took authority over the spirit, commanding it to leave. What I did not know until later, was that the dying man, when conscious earlier in the day, had talked about seeing three men in black coats who had come to the room to take him out. It made him very afraid as he was struggling not to go with them. Well this was a hospital, there were no staffers in black coats that came to get him. Obviously this was a spiritual phenomenon, a spiritual fight.
This was not the first, nor would it be the last time, this type of thing has happened to me. I have spoken on other occasions about those times. It will suffice today to say that the spirit world isn’t bothered by the fact that so many people do not believe in it. As a matter fact, they would like to keep everyone ignorant of their presence and also ignorant of the remedy to their maneuverings.
You’ve probably heard the story of Daniel. As he was captive in Babylon, he began to seek the Lord for an answer to his questions concerning the captivity and liberation of his people. Twenty-one days passed and he heard nothing. But then, he did hear from an angel and also heard why the answer took so long:
“Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.”
Daniel 10:12-13 NKJV
Spiritual warfare is real and did not end with the work of Jesus Christ. However, the work of Jesus Christ did give us authority over the works of darkness. But, you cannot/will not fight an enemy of whom you are ignorant.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.”
Ephesians 6:12 AMP
Paul and Silas encountered a young woman, with a spirit of divination, who her masters used for profit. She continually was crying out that people should listen to them. But the disciples did not want, nor need, the help of this spirit.
“And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.”
Acts 16:18-19 NKJV
It is true that people can do evil deeds all by themselves because of the fallen nature of the unredeemed soul. But, make no mistake, it doesn’t take long for spirits from the realm of darkness to enter in and “help” with the business of evil.
In our portion from Psalms today we see David referencing the reality of evil and the reality of the evil in men being helped by evil spirits. He goes on to talk about the fact that ultimately they will not win because there is a greater, a higher, power than they, and He is on our side.
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
The wicked have “help” from evil “friends” in high places; but the Most High is with us.