Ending This Blog Soon

I will be ending this blog soon. I have turned my family devotional blog into a website where I will be posting daily devotions and other random things as time goes by. Head over and take a peek. leadingfamilydevotions

New Family Devotions Blog

I decided a couple of weeks ago to begin a new blog. The intention of this new blog is to help Fathers lead their families in nightly devotions. These devotions can also be used by anyone at anytime. I am trying to post a devotion everyday. These devotions are fairly simple and easy. These devotions are the actual ones we are doing at night as a family. Enjoy! I pray that they will encourage you to gather your family together every night to seek the Lord! Scott 

https://leadingfamilydevotions.wordpress.com/

Meditating On Scripture

Psalms 119:97-100 "How I love Your instruction! It is my meditation all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are always with me. I have more insight than all my teachers because Your decrees are my meditation. I understand more than the elders because I obey Your precepts."

How would you like to be wiser than those whom dislike you; to have more insight than all of those who teach you, and have a greater understanding than the elders of your church? All of this is possible if you will simply obey and meditate upon scripture all day long.

Wisdom is moral goodness in character, thought and actions. Understanding is the ability to separate and discern ideas. Insight is intelligence. So, through meditating on scripture alone, you and I can have the ability to separate and discern ideas, understand those ideas, and have those ideas become such a part of us that they change our character to the degree that we become morally good and wise.

How many other things do you meditate upon during the day? Do those things give you insight and understanding to the degree that you surpass all those around you in wisdom?

Where Do You Go For Comfort?

"This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life." Psalm 119:50

Affliction can be a thousand different things. All that Job experienced was affliction. The Israelites were afflicted for four-hundred years under the hands of the Egyptians. The book of Hebrews tells us in chapter eleven that all of the Old Testament heros were afflicted because of their faith. And Paul considered all of his trials and troubles to be "light afflictions." But during these afflictions that we are all sure to face; where are we to go for comfort?

The Bible tells us that the place where we are to go during our afflictions is to itself. We are to run to it's promises. We are run to it's truth. We are to run to it's examples. We are to run to it's Author. And we are to run to it's Beginner, it's Fulfiller, and it's Pointer; to the incarnate Word of Life, Jesus Christ!

Think for a moment where we go though for comfort. Food? Distraction? Entertainment? Exercise? The list could go on and on couldn't it? We find ourselves in affliction and we run to a million of different sources which will never give us true comfort and life.

The Psalmist says tells us that God's word is his comfort during affliction, and it should be ours as well. God's purpose for allowing each affliction is so that we will become more and more complete (James 1:2-4). And we find our comfort during this chiseling process by clinging to the "word that has given me life."

What to do When our Children Complain...Again

It is difficult being a husband and a father. I am the father of four children who are blessings from the Lord. I have two older and two younger. The younger ones are 3 and 1-1/2 years old.

One of the greatest difficulties I find is dealing with my children when they whine and complain. Sometimes I do not know what to do about it. I decided to look into the Bible to see what God thinks about complaining.

As I searched the Bible, I found out that God actually hates it when his people whine and complain. The Israelites were in the wilderness for forty years due mostly to their complaints. They were slaves in Egypt for four-hundred years prior to their forty year desert experience. The people were being provided for in every way, yet complained about almost everything. When they would complain, the Bible says that God’s anger burned within him. Have you ever felt that way? Ya, me too.

What happened in these circumstances is that Moses would intercede for the people. Moses would plead to the Lord that he would show mercy to the people; that he would not give them their deserved judgement. Moses here is a picture of Jesus Christ. He is the one who intercedes on behalf of his complaining sheep.

What does this mean for us and our complaining children. Well first, it is not wrong to have anger burn within you when your children are complaining against your authority. Ephesians 5:1 tells us that we "are to be imitators of God." This means that in every way, we are to mimic God. He is perfect and we are to strive towards that goal with the help of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. If we are putting good and righteous restraints upon our children, and not unjust and needlessly burdensome restraints, then we have every right to have anger burn within us at times. But then what? We are to look for the Person Moses pointed us to, to Jesus Christ; he is to be the mediator between my anger and my children's sin of complaining. My children deserve to be punished for their complaining. Jesus pleads with me on behalf of his shed blood for their sins. He accepts them because his death was sufficient to make atonement for their complaints. And because of this, my anger is suppose to subside. Then, I must use good and godly wisdom and discipline to correct them towards thankfulness. After all, the Israelites still needed to wait forty years to make it to the promise land.

It's hard being a dad, but not nearly as hard as being God! He is infinitely more patient and kind than me.  

Looking at Worthless Things

Psalms 119:37 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.

How many things do you look at during the day that are worthless? I'm not here even thinking about things that are sinful to look at like pornography and the like; but things that have no worth.

The writer of Psalm 119 is contrasting having life in God's ways, from looking at worthless things. So presumably looking at worthless things takes away the ability to have a life which accords to the way God intended, and looking at things of worth gives a life which does accord with the way God intended. How many of us want to live a life the way God wants us to live that same life? I do, I do! But is it as simple as changing the things that I look at? Maybe.

What are the things of worth that God intends for my eyes to be gazing upon? Well, Psalm 119 alone mentions the Hebrew word for life 15 other times. Each time the word is mentioned, it is linked with some synonym for God's Word (the Bible). Whether it is a promise from the Bible, or a precept, or a law; each time the author of Psalm 119 mentions what gives us life, it is linked to something God has said in His Word.

So, I ask the question again; how many things do you look at during the day that are worthless? I am sorry to say that I look at plenty. Mostly these days, the worthless things I look at are associated with screen time. Things that I see while I am browsing through Flipboard, Reeder, or Safari on my iPhone or iPad. They are not things that are sinful to look at, but they sure don't have much worth. They are mundane things, like the third news article of the same event, but from yet another perspective; a rumor as to what the new iPhone will look like, or Monday morning humor from Kevin DeYoung's blog. Maybe you do not have any issues of looking at these worthless things, but how about the TV, Home and Garden magazine, Readers Digest, or E! Hollywood gossip?

I am not going to keep listing the things that we look at that are worthless, you know what your eyes linger over way better than I. You know those things that occupy your mind and that they are not giving you life according to God's ways. Will you give them up? Will I give them up? What is on the line if we don't? Whatever you determine the answer to this question is, we must begin where the author of the Psalm did; by praying through Jesus that God will turn my eyes.

An Obvious Break From Blogging

It is nearly irrelevant that I would write a post on the topic of taking a break from blogging; as I know that it is blatantly obvious that I have taken a break from blogging because I am indeed not blogging. Nonetheless, I thought I would share a couple of the reasons why.

I have not only taken a break from writing blogs, but largely from reading them as well. I find that for myself, I grow more by reading books rather than blogs. Blogs are nice as they are short snippets of truth that are easy to read. But I see that they lack the depth to produce any change in my life. The blogs that do have an impact on me are written by individuals that I know are avid readers. Out of the overflow of what they are reading, they blog. This has not been the case for my blog writing. I have not written out of the overflow of my reading of books and I think it is evident in the content that I write.

Another reason I am taking a break is that I have four children and my wife to shepherd. I have been using the time I would normally blog to write devotions and things for my family instead of the world of bloggers. I think this is a better use of my time, and I think it honors God more.

I am not deleting my blog, but rather I will post from time to time on various topics as The Lord provides opportunities.

In Christ,

Scott

Growth In Spiritual Mindedness

“Growth in spiritual mindedness is difficult, but the difficulty often arises from the fact that we want to keep in our lives things that are inconsistent with spirituality. In other words, the difficulty is in ourselves and not in spirituality. We do not wish to put aside every hinderance (Hebrews 12:1).” John Owen

Experience Quenches Doubt

In John Chapter 9 there is a man that has been blind since birth. Jesus heals him and the Pharisees do not believe that Jesus did this. Furthermore, it was the Sabbath.

The Pharisees bring this man before a council to question him. The healed blind man says in verse 25, “Whether he is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know; that though I was blind, now I see.”

This man answered doubt with his experience and it was powerful. It should be the same for us. When Satan tempts us to doubt God, we are to answer back with a recollection of what God has done for us in the past; particularly our salvation. Jesus used the Word to quench the flame of Satan, and this blind man used his experience. Both responses to Satan’s doubts are appropriate for us to use.

The Word Of God (1)

THE WORD OF GOD

There are several different meanings in the Bible of the phrase The Word of God.

• THE WORD OF GOD AS A PERSON
• THE WORD OF GOD AS SPEECH

THE WORD OF GOD AS A PERSON

Revelation 19:13 says “He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.” John 1:1 says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Verse 14 says “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

We mostly think of The Word of God, as talking about the words in the Bible. Yet Jesus Christ is so associated with teaching and displaying the character and instruction of God, that he is referred to as The Word of God. Knowing this can help us to remember that the words of the Bible come from a Person. They are not abstract words that are disconnected from the person who speaks those same words. Jesus Christ is the glory of all of the Words of God! The Word of God is Personal.

Jesus the Word of God says in Matthew 11:28-29 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

We must remember that we are learners of the Word of God in so far as we are servants under Jesus’ Lordship first. For we must take his yoke upon ourselves first before we learn from Him.

Conference Message

We just finished a Bible Conference at our Church. It was called "We Would See Jesus." The conference used 7 different speakers to cover three offices of Christ; Prophet, Priest, and King. My message was the last and here is a link to it.

Happy Easter!
Scott

The Shame Over Stumbling On A Rock

Steadfastness in obedience to God's commands takes away shame. Psalm 119:5-6 says "Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commands."


A problem comes very soon to us as we seek to rid ourselves of shame; we are unable to be steadfast in our obedience to the Bible. I believe that David was the one who wrote Psalm 119, and even he cried out, "Oh that my ways may be steadfast." I for one know that I am less steadfast as King David. Since this is the case, is there any hope for people like me?


I am like the Israel of old. I pursue a righteousness, an obedience that takes away shame. Yet my obedience will never take that shame away. But when I pursue a righteousness that is by faith then my shame gets nailed to the cross.


"See I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." Romans 9:33.


Our shame gets taken away as we pursue a steadfast obedience to God's commands in love for the One who was perfect in His obedience; to Jesus Christ our Righteousness!


When a person trips and stumbles over something on the ground, there is typically a shame because of our pride knowing others are watching. The cross of Jesus will either make you stumble and be filled with your own shame because of your pride, or it will take away your shame because all of your pride was put to death along with the Son of God 2000 years ago.


"And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming." 1 John 2:28

Separating God From His Word Leads To Moral Relativism And Same Sex Marriage

We must never separate the Word of God with God. God is so inseparable from his Word that he speaks as though he IS his Word.


Hebrews 4:12-13
For the word of God is "living" and active, sharper than any two- edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from "his" sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of "him" to whom we must give account.


Notice the words I put "parenthesis" around. They tells us that the words of the Bible are personal. They use personal pronouns to describe the Bible. No creature (including you and me) is hidden from God. And no creature is hidden from the Word of God. All people will give an account to God as our Judge. All will give an account to the Word of God as our Judge. God speaks as though He and the Words in the Bible are One. This is why I said that we must not separate God from His Word.


When a man is separated from his words is he left mostly powerless. Make a man mute and he will soon have no authority, for who can obey a command from a man who cannot communicate a command.


Now separate a man who is no longer alive on this world from his words and what do you have? You have the equivalent of human atheism.


Jesus is not visible on this earth any longer. God is a Spirit. Our society has taken the sword of the human will and separated God from His Word. When we do this we (seemingly) leave God to have no authority. We are seeking to legalize same sex marriages across our country. We are doing this because a whole generation of children have been brought up in a government education system which has separated God from Truth. And when God is separated from Truth we are left with moral relativism.


Relative human morals will cease to be relative when we stand before the Judge of all the earth; when we stand before the Judge of all true and fixed morals, and when we are judged according to the Word of God. We may separate God from His Word today, but on judgement day we will be the ones eternally separated.


"The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead." Acts 17:30-31

Delighting Truth

Psalms 51:6
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.


God is the teacher of true wisdom. He is the teacher of truth. It is through the gospel of Jesus Christ that God teaches a man truth. It is through the gospel of Jesus Christ that enables a man to "delight" in truth.


Does truth delight you? When you hear or read something from God's Word does it delight you? It is a characteristic of those souls which have been purchased by the blood of the Christ. It is a characteristic of Truthful Christianity.

Making Intercession For Men Of Error

Job 42:8
Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”


It is good to make intercession to God on behalf of those around you who do not speak forth the truthfulness of God. The truth of God comes to us through a book called the Bible. It is truly known and understood by us when Jesus takes His truth and teaches the reader by His Spirit.


Friends can come to us in the name of God and think they are speaking forth truth. When there is no source to turn to as the standard of truth it may appear that both parties are in the right. This is when the Word of God comes as the Judge. The Words of God are the Words of Truth.

Neither Job's friends nor Job had their Bibles open. If they would have then maybe God wouldn't have needed to come in a whirlwind. The Bible should have the same impact upon our understanding of truth and error as the Words of God did with Job and his friends. The Words of God cut like a knife, they discern truth from error. The Words of God showed Job that he was to function as a Priest on behalf of his friends. The Words of God showed his friends that they needed a Mediator.


We have a great High Priest who has entered into the heavens on our behalf. Jesus is our Mediator for all of the words that we have spoken forth in error. Job is a picture here of Jesus.


We are not Jesus, yet we as men of God ought to be lifting up to Jesus our friends who are still speaking forth error as truth. We as men of God need to be pouring into the Words of God so that we can bring His Word to cut like a knife to discern truth from error.

The Supplement of Self-Control

2 Peter 1:5-6
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,

Do you take supplements? We are not a big "vitamin" family. I don't take any multi-vitamins. We have however started taking some sort of natural cod-liver oil pills within the last year. I am unsure of all the health benefits of this supplement, but my wife assures me that there are many, and I greatly trust my wife.

Remembering to take a supplement was a challenge. How do I train myself to remember? Well all I did was create a repeating alarm on my phone to remind me to take it everyday. In the beginning this was helpful to remember, but now the alarm functions more like a backup reminder if I happen to forget. It has become rare that would need the alarm to remind me to take my supplement.

This illustration is helpful in the realm of self-control. God tells me that I am to "make every effort to supplement my faith with...self-control." How shall I remember to take this supplement? Presumably the same way. Seems simple enough right? I'll just set a reminder to go off 5 minutes before every meal to remind me to take my supplement of self-control. What could be more simple? The problem is that in adding this particular supplement is to not add something but subtract something; namely excessive consumption of food and drink. Why is this harder? Because it takes "effort" to restrain the flesh. How much effort? We are reminded that we are to "make EVERY effort." Am I left to myself with a beeper and an alarm function on my cell phone to accomplish this supplement of self-control?

1 Peter 1:3 tells me that God's "divine power HAS granted to us ALL things that pertain to life and godliness." How exactly then? "Through the KNOWLEDGE OF HIM who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great PROMISES."

The supplement of self-control takes great effort to swallow this extremely large pill. But this is possible through getting to know the God of self-control. As we get to know him better, we find that this God of self-control has given us precious and very great promises. And through these promises, we have become "partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desires."

Jesus bore the sin of sinful desires!

Competing Against Your Wife: It's A Good Thing

Do you know that competition against your wife is a good thing? Yep men, we are to "outdo" them! But in my competition against my wife, the moment I get in the lead and begin to raise my hands in victory, the moment I no longer am in a righteous competition, I am in an unrighteous one. What do I mean?

Romans 12:9-10 says "Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor."

This verse is just as true with my wife as it is with my friends, family, strangers or co-workers.

I am to be in competition against my wife. I am to be fervently trying to honor her more then she is honoring me. Does this sound like Christian male domineering headship? This is headship at it's finest. This is the headship of Christ towards his Church. He is the example we are to follow.

Men, as you seek to obey Christ in showing honor to your wife, remember that the moment you pull ahead in the race and lift your hands in victory; you have just begun to dishonor her because of your victory.

"Let love be genuine." Honoring your wife is proving your love for her is genuine. Anything less is actually a false, fake, and imitation of true love no matter where you lay your pillow.

Science And Religion Can't Be Reconciled?

I read an article in the Huffington Post yesterday entitled,"Science And Religion Cannot Be Reconciled," by Victor Stenger. You can read the whole article here. Reading this article has prompted me to desire that "faith" be properly defined.

"Faith" is active trust in a proposed truth. This is different then a "fact." A fact is an observable truth that coincides with reality as we find it. In this I am assuming the basic reliability of my senses. You see a rock, I see the same rock. You believe it evolved, I believe it was created. You believe that the matter which makes up the rock is eternal, I believe it had a beginning. You and I have very different opinions as to the why’s and how’s of the rock; but we both agree that the thing we are looking at on the ground is indeed a "rock." This is a fact. You could call it any name you wish, but we agree that it is true that the rock exists. This is a fact.

But how did the rock get here? Now we are getting into the realm of faith. You believe that the rock got here by accident, I believe it came into being by design. You trust in the evidence of data collected by scientists of the past who were not in the beginning. You trust in their words as being true. I trust in the words that are written in the Bible as true. I trust in those words because of the character of the one who speaks them. In the character of the one who claims to have been there in the beginning. They do not conflict with the reality that I see. I see a world around me that is ordered. I see a world around me that is designed.

I have "faith" that the world was made by God because he has said so in the Bible, in propositions. You have "faith" that the world came into existence on its own apart from a designer. You believe this on the evidence of propositional truth written by scientists of the past.

We both have faith. We both are putting our faith in propositional truth. We both are putting our faith in the character of the one who has penned the propositions. Mine is in the God of Scripture, your is in the god of man.

Victor Stenger says that through the scientific method, man has "eliminated smallpox, discovered DNA, and flown men to the moon." I am rather thankful for these back-slappings; but Jesus has promised to heal from every disease, created and holds the moon in its place, and designed and ordered all DNA.

Good Advice For Being A Better Apologist

Stand To Reason Tweeted this yesterday. I thought is was good advise.

Dependent Upon The Fall

All things fall out of order and wear out. I can imagine that degeneration is a result of the Fall. But the funny thing is, I count on this degeneration for my day to day income. I rely upon furnaces, boilers, roof top units, and control systems to break. If all equipment ran perfectly and forever, I would be out of a job. God provides for all of my family's needs through a fallen creation; praise the Lord!

Are You Qualified To Pastor?

QUALIFICATION VERSES THAT SPEAK TO PASTORS:

1 Timothy 3:1-7
It is a trustworthy statement:if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

Titus 1:5-9
For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self- willed, not quick- tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self- controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.

Titus 2:1-2
But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance.

Exodus 18:21
Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain.

LIST OF QUALIFICATIONS:
- above reproach (unable to be blamed for anything, un-reproachable)
- the husband of one wife (a man who is devoted to his one bride, which resembles the Church; maybe un-divorced)
- a man
- men who hate lies (a discerning man who makes distinctions between truth and error)
- men who love the truth (a lover of the truth lives by the truth and speaks the truth)
- having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion (submissive children who do not rebel against the man or the message the man is teaching and living)
- not self-willed (not looking to push his own adjenda but God's adjenda)
- not quick-tempered
- a lover of what is good (a hater of what is evil, bad and wrong)
- just (a righteous man)
- devout (a holy and pious man)
- self-controlled (has a strong master of one-self)
- holding fast faithfully to the word (to hold on to during opposition)
- temperate (sober, expecially in regards to wine)
- prudent (self-controlled and of a sound mind)
- respectable (orderly)
- hospitable (a lover of strangers)
- able to teach
- able to speak forth sound doctrine to those opposed to it
- not addicted to wine or pugnacious (not a drunk or a striker)
- gentle (fair minded, mild, patient)
- peaceable (abstains from fighting or quarreling)
- free from the love of money (a content and non-coveteous man)
- must manage his own household well
- not a new convert
- must have a good reputation with those outside the church

The Lord Has Made The Wicked

Proverbs 16:4 The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil.

I am going to highlight this text to show more easily the meaning.

The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil.

The Lord has made the wicked.

The Lord has made the wicked for a specific day; the day of evil.

The Lord has made everything for a purpose.

The God Who Never Lies

Way back in chapter 4:22-23, God told Pharaoh that if he didn't let the Israel people go, he would "kill your son, your firstborn." As we come to chapter 11 we see that this promise to Pharaoh is about to come true. God never lies, for he cannot (Titus 1:2). This judgement of God will be multiplied 10,000 times what we may think at first. For Pharaoh was told that his firstborn son would be killed, but now all firstborn sons will be killed, both man and beast. What a consequence to a proud and hardened heart.

God cannot lie! Jesus "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us." Not only does God not lie when he promises he will bring a curse upon a man and a country for their sin; he does not lie when he promises that he has already brought a curse upon his only son Jesus for our sin. Praise be to the God of all truth!

The God Who Humbles

By the end of Chapter 10 there is only one plague that remains. Pharaoh has now lost credibility before the eyes of his people. Even his servants have the boldness to confront him to tell him that he should let the Israel people go (Exodus 10:7), and yet his pride remains. God asks him in verse 3 "How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me?" This is a question that all of us should answer. God may not be bringing calamity upon you and your family right now but God "is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). God is opposing Pharaoh and we get an opportunity to see how severe an opposition it can be. The ultimate opposition from God will be eternal wrath upon the proud; and it is loving of God to oppose the proud in this life in order for his soul to not have to be damned through the ultimate humbling in eternity. God is a God who humbles every proud person, either now or in eternity.

The Pharaoh In All Of Us

Exodus Chapter 9

The plagues of chapter nine bring the death of the cattle, boils, and a thundering hail from heaven which destroyed most plants. Pharaoh again will not believe the Word of God. God is speaking to Pharaoh through Moses and Aaron yet he can not hear. He sees that every time Moses tells him that God will do something, God does indeed do it. Yet Pharaoh hardens his heart and reasons that there is another explanation for what he sees other than that it is indeed God.

We are like that. We struggle to believe God's Word. We seek after signs and confirmations of God's Word, yet we fail to believe that God's Word is indeed God's Word. God tells us in his Word that if our eye causes us to sin, we are to tear it out and throw it away. Also, if our right hand makes us stumble we are to cut it off and throw it from us, because it is better for us to loose our eye or our arm than for our whole body to be thrown into hell for our sin. Yet as I am typing on my computer this morning I am using both of my hands and both of my eyes to see and type with. Have I sinned with my eyes and my hands in the past? Yes I have. Did I believe that if I didn't lob off my arm or pluck out my eye I was heading to hell? Maybe, but then the next day came and I was still here.

You see, God delays the fulfillment of His Word because of His patience. Paul tells us that he was shown mercy so that Jesus' unlimited patience might be put on display before the world (1 Timothy). At times we (like Pharaoh) don't see an immediate fulfillment of God's Word and so we reason that God must not have meant exactly what he said so I'll just sin again with my eye and my hand fully attached.

Recall the whole account of Pharaoh in your mind. Do you remember who hardened the heart of Pharaoh? Was it Pharaoh himself or was it God hardening Pharaoh's heart? Yes! The answer to both is yes. God takes sin very seriously and he wants us to believe His Word because it is His Word!

What's Your Purpose?

What's Your Purpose?

The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out. (Proverbs 20:5 NIV)

The why question is an important question to ask of ourselves. Why do I do what I do? Deep waters are hard to see through because they are, after all...deep. Deep waters are hard to fish in as well for the same reason; they are...deep. Our hearts are like that; like deep waters. They can be hard to see through and hard to fish in. But a man of understanding is not deterred by this. A man of understanding draws out the purposes in his own heart.

I would (and still do) get frustrated at my own inadequacies when it comes to counseling people around me. I find it hard to draw out the purposes in their hearts. What I am seeing is that if I do not becomes skilled at doing this in my own heart first, I will never be the man of understanding that I seek to be with others.