“The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it” (Proverbs 10:22 KJV). Is God promising to make all His children financially rich? Certainly any disciple who is enriched must account for it from our Father’s blessing. Are we to limit this promise to financial blessings only? No, for we would be preventing God from granting us spiritual blessings, which far exceed the luster of money. If Yahweh has given you the faith to claim this promise to meet a financial need in your life, then “according to your faith be it unto you” (Matthew 9:29 KJV). Be sure to claim all the promise: “and He addeth no sorrow with it” (10:22). I take that to mean it is a blessing that brings joy with it. What a blessing to receive spiritual or financial blessing with the joy of the LORD!
Author: Ken
Walking With God
Man has a history of walking with God. Adam and Eve “heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day” (Genesis 3:8 KJV). The Voice was the Pre-Incarnate Christ, the Son of God, the Eternal Logos who was made flesh, walking in the garden with our parents. God seems to enjoy walking with man, too, for Enoch “walked with God” (5:22), until he apparently walked Home, “for God took him” (5:24). Some describe the Rapture as an Enoch Walk. Noah “walked with God” (6:9) and was chosen to rescue the world from the plague of the Nephilim. Abraham walked with the LORD, whom he trusted. “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Romans 4:3 KJV). Moses walked with I AM and gave us understanding of how to live, “for the law was given by Moses” (John 1:17 KJV). The apostles walked with the Lord Jesus Christ. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1John 1:1-3 KJV). May we be counted among those who walk with God!
God Is, Therefore I Am
God is, therefore I am. “God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them” (Genesis 1:27 KJV). With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), we are now discussing sentience (consciousness) and awareness like ancient philosophers defining reality. To be clear, the creature is not greater than the Creator; otherwise, Yahweh would cease to be all powerful. In no actual universe does less power trump all power. Our adversary specializes in frightening us with power that pales alongside the omnipotence of the LORD God. Just ask Elijah after the defeat of the prophets of Baal. The Almighty does not wake up in a cold sweat frightened of any adversary. “But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him” (Luke 12:5 KJV). By the way, Yahweh wins! “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Revelation 20:10 KJV). Hallelujah!
What Is Your Greatest Satisfaction?
What is your greatest satisfaction in life? “But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 9:24 KJV). The LORD had just said that we are not to glory in our wisdom, power, or riches (9:23), because that betrays us as lovers simply of ourselves and not God. Understanding and knowing Yahweh is our highest honor. “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death” (Philippians 3:8-10 KJV). May Paul’s words ring in the understanding of our heart, especially as we face our Jōb moment of why me? It is not just a privilege to serve Him; but, just to know and understand Him is our highest honor! Thank you, LORD!
Why Study Bible Prophecy?
Why study Bible prophecy, if it causes division and breeds cults? “Then the LORD said, Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” (Genesis 18:17 NET). J. Barton Payne’s Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy asserts that 27% of Scripture — one in every four verses — is predictive prophecy. Hard to ignore. We need to pay attention when God speaks this much about the future. “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7 KJV). It is the LORD’s wish to share His plans with His friends. “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you” (John 15:15 KJV). Paul extensively shared about the nature of our Lord’s Second Coming in both of his epistles to the Thessalonians. “Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?” (2Thessalonians 2:5 KJV). Peter and Jude spoke at length about the nature of our Lord’s Second Coming. And, John shared the most significant capstone to the NT, when he recorded, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to shew unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John” (Revelation 1:1 KJV). Let us not neglect what our Lord sees as significant! Maranatha!
Not All Have Faith
“And that we may be delivered from perverse and evil people. For not all have faith” (2Thessalonians 3:2 NET). God knows not all have faith. Screenwriters need a villain to provide drama for the plot’s deliverance of its hero or heroine. God does not need to recruit sinners to provide drama for the stage of life. Already “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). But, sin is not like gravity, since not everyone has to sin. From the beginning, God has been positioning His resources and all the players in this vast drama of life for the conclusion. “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11 KJV). Let us not be like Lucifer, who allowed his self-love to overpower his love for Yahweh. Let us not even blame the Devil, our environment, or our upbringing for why-we-are-the-way-we-are. Instead, “since the day we heard it, [we] do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9-10 KJV). It may not always feel like it, but the Almighty wins the final victory!
Aging of America
The aging of America will become more predominant in our thoughts, as the birth rate of most nations shrinks — except India and the Third World. Who is looking after the world? Who’s going to take care of all the elderly? Whose idea was it to populate the earth? “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28 KJV). I still remember — almost a half century ago — the disdain of my state college professor towards that Scripture reference, when a vast auditorium went dark, and he displayed Genesis 1:28 to a large audience with sound, music, and an overwhelming pictorial montage of industrial pollution, overpopulation, urban sprawl, garbage, crime-ridden neighborhoods — the festering sores of humanity. Jesus answered the question of who would take care of everyone — God would. Humans must cooperate with God, but the buck stops at His desk to make everything work. “25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:25, 33-34 KJV). For our aging disciples, the LORD promises, “And even to your old age I am He; and even to hoar [gray] hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you” (Isaiah 46:4 KJV). Hope lives where God reigns!
In His Steps
In His Steps (1896) is a Christian novel by Charles M. Sheldon, which dealt with the age old problem of homelessness. What would Jesus do (WWJD)? The homeless, jobless printer, who died in the presence of the pulpit and congregation of the fictional First Church of Raymond (Kansas), pathetically asked the congregants, What it would be like, if everyone would live out the meaning of the pastor’s text? “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps” (1Peter 2:21 KJV). Circumstances are different from person to person and from one generation to another generation; but, what would the Holy Spirit have you to do, in your circumstances that would be consistent with the meaning of the text? Remember, we are not attempting to please anyone else’s understanding of the text, not even the homeless printer in Raymond, but God alone. “What wilt Thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6 KJV).
Fighting Exhausted
Soldiers fighting exhausted against an unrelenting enemy. What are we to do? Quit? Many of Jesus’ disciples quit following Him because He pressed upon them the strange language of eating His flesh and drinking His blood (John 6:53) in order to have eternal life. Natural language would mean cannibalism, but supernatural language would mean receiving Jesus into ourselves, where He becomes part of us. “Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?” (6:67). Peter’s reply to Jesus voices our reply as well. “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life” (6:68). In other words, How can we quit, if there is no other path to Heaven? To quit would mean to let go of eternal life. That seems to be the nature of verses like: “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13 KJV). May we continue to treat our lives as if we are living a supernatural religion — because we are — and we all shall meet one day in that happier place. “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:4 KJV). Amen and amen.
For the Love of God
Human freedom and independence are often advanced as the driving reason to motivate humans to achieve anything. For a disciple, love for God is the pinnacle reason to do everything. “And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2 NET). When given a choice between freedom and love for God, we know our preference. There is a story about two devout Moravian Christians, Johann Leonhard Dober and David Nitschmann, who chose to sell themselves into slavery to bring the Gospel to the African slaves of the islands of St. Thomas and St. Croix in the Danish West Indies (1732). As the ship departed from the docks to carry them to the West Indies, the missionaries called out to their loved ones on the docks, “May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His Suffering!” They successfully established a mission, baptized converts, and returned — Dober remaining in Europe and Nitschmann accompanied John Wesley to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (America).
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