Studying God's Word

What do we know and how do we know it? We know there’s hand to hand combat over us in the spirit realm between angels and demons. Demons seek our destruction and God protects us with His angels. Why else would God have created millions of angels if He didn’t have a purpose for so many?  The obvious purpose for so many angels is to protect man from the onslaught of demons bent on our destruction. Why is that? Man is God’s special creation and much beloved by the Father. Demons hate God and seek to hurt Him by destroying His beloved children. The Bible confirms we have guardian angels.

The ministry of Jesus started after a 40 day battle against Satan in the wilderness. This account is chronicled in Luke chapter 4. All through the ministry of Jesus Satan stirred up the people against Him. Satan again besieged Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Satan’s assault was so powerful our Lord sweated blood. At the trial of Jesus Satan made sure our Lord was found guilty and crucified. What Satan intended for evil God turned to good and our salvation.  After the war in heaven God threw Satan and his demons to the earth but He did not leave man defenseless. God has given us the Holy Spirit and the Word of God for our protection. The Apostle Paul gives us guidance on how we can apply God’s Word for our defense against the powers of darkness and be victorious.

Paul uses an analogy between the armor used by Roman soldiers and God’s protection of His saints. On our own we are weak and virtually defenseless against the power of the evil one. But if we lean on God’s mighty power evil can’t touch us.  Remember that as we genuinely do the Lord’s work Satan’s opposition will be the strongest. As believers we are servants of the Lord and His beloved children. We are soldiers for Christ and our job is to fight the enemy using God’s Word.  Remember that we are never alone in this world.  The physical world we live in is like a fish bowl and we can’t see outside of it but spiritual beings like demons and angels can clearly see us going about our lives. You’ll sin less if you always keep in mind you are a child of God and the spirit world is closely watching what you do.

As Christians we all run the individual race God has planned for us. Our mantra in this life should be, “love what God loves and hate what God hates.”  If you apply this filter to every decision, every action, before you do it you can be confident you’re acting in accordance with God’s will. Be sure to also pray to God for guidance and the Holy Spirit will confirm in your spirit the right course to take. Ask of God always and He will make your paths straight. Do these two things faithfully and you will stay on the narrow path.  God hates evil. God hates Satan and his fallen angels (demons). The Bible tells us this evil empire is on the earth all around us in the spirit world trying to destroy us every minute of the day.  Let me be clear; Satan wants your soul. The question is are you going to fight to keep your soul or are you going to roll over and let him take it without a struggle? In an earlier blog I put forth my proofs that the Bible is the living Word of God which any logical person should accept as fact.

Do you remember the story of the angel Gabriel who was dispatched to answer the prayers of the prophet Daniel in Babylon?  Gabriel was held up from reaching Daniel for 3 weeks because he was struggling with the powerful demon in control of that region who the Bible referred to as the prince of Persia. The archangel Michael had to finally intervene to defeat the demons trying to stop Gabriel from completing his mission from God. This kind of struggle goes on every day. We just don’t see it or hear about it.  Remember the story of the prophet Elisha and his servant being pursued by their enemies. The servant was fearful and Elisha asked the Lord to remove the scales from the servants eyes so he could see their protectors in the spirit world. God did so and camped all around them were a company of angels with swords of fire. Every story in the Bible and every word is put there to teach us and be an example for us to follow. The Bible isn’t a novel. God doesn’t do fluff. The Bible is God’s distilled wisdom.

This battle between good and evil began in the Garden of Eden when Satan induced Adam to sin and that sin fell to every man who came after Adam. The struggle between God and Satan has not diminished since then but has intensified as we get nearer to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.  The powers of darkness assault us every day from the spirit world. It’s an assault on our mind and emotions as they seek our destruction. God has sent His angels to help us and protect us from the powers of darkness. The unbelievers have no protection from God and are therefore easy prey for Satan.

God is our blessed hope! Man’s existence is miserable and futile without hope. It may shock you to know most millionaires and billionaires are desperately unhappy. They thought money and power would bring them happiness but it can’t. The rich people who are happy are those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  When I was young, it was uncomfortable to think I might die one day and go to hell forever. I did what a lot of us do. I put off thinking about it because I had a lot of life yet to live and I knew I could decide about that later. I was saved when I was 12 but when I became a backslider a few years later I thought I wasn’t saved anymore. I worried about going to hell needlessly for 40 years. Once I returned to the Lord and started studying God’s Word I realized once you’re saved God never lets you go. Once your name goes into the book of life it’s there permanently.

For those who have never been saved, you take a terrible risk every minute you wait. An accident or heart attack could take your life before you have a chance to give it to Jesus. Don’t wait! Seek God while He may be found. There is no do-over. Each of us has one life, our “time of decision,”  that God gives us so that we can decide whether or not to accept His offer of mercy and grace unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. No decision is the same as deciding to decline God’s offer of eternal life in heaven with Him.  God sent His beloved Son into the world to give us hope. God sent the Holy Spirit into the world at Pentecost to give us hope. God sent His Word into the world to give us hope. Apart for God there is no hope and there is no peace. At the end of his life King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, came to this conclusion. I’m just repeating it because I also know it’s true. God is our blessed hope! Cling to God while it is still day!

Romans 15:4 – For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

Titus 2:13 – Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Romans 15:13 – Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

God’s favorite thing to do is to dispense mercy. Remember, you are what you do and so is God. God is good, loving, kind, gentle and faithful therefore it is His very nature to want to be merciful. In fact, all of the above are attributes of Almighty God and define who He is. There is no sin you can commit that is greater than God’s ability to forgive, to show mercy.

Psalm 41:4 – Lord be merciful to me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.

Psalm 9:13 – Have mercy on me O Lord! Consider my troubles from those who hate me, You will lift me up from the gates of death.

God’s mercy is boundless! God judges the heart and if your heart is right with God He will forgive you if you ask for mercy. God loves a contrite heart.  God loves the humble before Him.  How do I know this? The Bible is filled with Scriptures that tell us so. We know God keeps His covenants. We know God never breaks a promise. We know God never changes.  We know God cannot lie.  We know God is always faithful to His Word.  We know the only sure thing in this world is God’s love for us and that God will do what He says He will do.  All the Old Testament prophets praised the boundless mercy of our great God. The Bible is filled with stories where God displayed His tender mercy toward Israel, His chosen people. As children of God, we can expect that same outpouring of love and mercy from God. God is tenderhearted toward us. God dotes on us. Not only does God love mercy, God wants us to love mercy as much as he does.

Mark 10:47 – Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!

Isaiah 55:17 – 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.

Micah 7:18 – Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy.

When God created the universe He established physical laws to govern His creation which are maintained by the Word of His power. These physical laws were discovered by scientists and they are constant, unchanging and essential for life. The best known of these physical laws are universal gravity, the laws of motion, the laws of thermodynamics and the laws of conservation of mass and energy.  In the Bible God tells us about His spiritual laws, which are also constant, unchanging and essential for life. These spiritual laws apply to us here on earth while we occupy our physical bodies and are also applicable to the kingdom of God in heaven. The one spiritual law we must always keep at the forefront of our mind is, ” you reap what you sow.”  In your mind it should always be there like a large flashing neon sign. Time after time in Bible stories you see this spiritual law fulfilled. When I look back on my life I can see the same thing.

God is holy and always does what is right, otherwise He wouldn’t be God. God can’t lie and God doesn’t change. A tenderhearted God loves us dearly but that won’t stop Him from dispensing perfect justice. God’s judgements are perfect and we’ll always get exactly what we deserve. That includes everyone who has ever lived. God doesn’t play favorites.  The wages of sin is death. Since all men after Adam have sinned God’s perfect justice for us all would be eternal death in the lake of fire. It’s what we deserve.  But God in His mercy and grace came up with a plan to save His beloved children while at the same time remaining a just God. God Himself came off His throne and came to earth in the flesh so that He could remove all our sins by dying on the cross in our place.  It should’ve been us that had to die but God said “no”, let Me do it for you.  All we have to do to have the gift of eternal life is call on the name of the Lord and believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

There was no other way for God to be who He is and still save us from damnation; because God will always be a just God.  In Christ all our sins are washed away. Those who do not accept God’s mercy and grace must face God’s justice and give an account of their deeds in the flesh. Their sin remains on them no matter how good they think they are and their destiny is an eternity in the lake of fire where they will be in constant torment for eternity.  I sure hope everyone accepts the precious gift of eternal life offered by Jesus while there is still time.

Galatians 6:7 – Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

Numbers 32:23 – And be sure your sin will find you out.

Job 4:8 – Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.

Matthew 12:36 – But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgement.

God made us with an innate need not only to love but also with a need to be secure. Without both love and a feeling of safety in our lives we tend to suffer psychologically.  The only real security in this life is the loving arms of our Heavenly Father. Having God on your side is like having a big brother nobody messes with. It’s like having your own personal bodyguard.

Deuteronomy 33:27 – The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.

Psalm 144:2 – He is my loving God and my fortress….in whom I take refuge.

Isaiah 41:13 – For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you.

Isaiah 43:13 – From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can oppose what I do.

Malachi 3:6 – For I the Lord do not change.

God’s Word contains prophecy to prove God is who He says He is. The other main reason for prophecy is to comfort believers by letting them know what is coming in the future while giving assurance that God will protect His own from harm. Scripture tells us that God is in control of His creation and will do all that He pleases.  If we have made peace with God through faith in his Son, Jesus Christ, then we know we are secure and safe in the loving arms of our Father no matter what happens in the future. Relax and be glad. God is inside you and Satan can’t touch you.  Praise God for His love, mercy and grace!

Psalm 55:22 – Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

Jeremiah 17:7 – Blessed is the man who trusts in God and who makes God the source of his trust.

Isaiah 26:4 – Trust in the Lord forever for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.

Isaiah 46:4 – Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

I have a confession to make. Patience is my favorite attribute of God because it’s personal to me. My sister and I were saved and baptized in the First Baptist Church in our hometown when I was 12 years old.  Later I became a backslider for the next 40 years until I was finally restored to fellowship with God.  That entire time a loving God relentlessly pursued me, not willing to let me go. God crossed my path so many time and in so many ways it was obvious even to my dull mind that I was being hunted. Without a doubt God was stalking me, seeking to restore me to fellowship with a loving Father.  It was the story of the prodigal son but on a personal level. God is sometimes referred to as, “the Hound of Heaven,”  and I can personally attest to that. Imagine that, the Creator of all things, loving me enough to chase me for 40years without losing His patience. In my life, God’s patience has made all the difference. The following Scripture is true; you have my testimony:

Hebrews 13:5 – I will never leave you nor forsake you.

The Old Testament prophets knew well the patience of Almighty God. How many times in the Bible did the Israelites provoke God to the point of wrath? More than I can count. But each time God pleaded over and over for their repentance and patiently waited for Israel to stop their sinning ways. God waited patiently for 40 years while the Israelites wandered in the wilderness because of their sin. Only as a last resort did God punish Israel.  This cycle repeats itself throughout history.  God’s patience is inexhaustible.  Even today, over 2,000 years after the rejection and crucifixion of Jesus by the Jews, God is still patiently waiting for His chosen people to return to His bosom. This will finally happen at the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ when the Jewish remnant will finally confess Jesus as Lord and be saved.

2 Peter 3:9 – The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Nehemiah 9:19 – Yet in Your manifold mercies You did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day, to lead them on the road; nor the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way they should go.

Psalm 86:13 – For great is Your mercy toward me, and You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

Nahum 1:3 – The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked.

I have a rock solid belief that God will always do the right thing. God does what He says He will do every time. One benefit of studying God’s Word is knowing without a doubt you can trust God to keep his promises. We are at peace with God because we know the truth. Every story in the Bible confirms the faithfulness of God.  God is the same every single time. God doesn’t change because He can’t change; because God is holy. Over 500 fulfilled prophecies tell us God is faithful to His Word. We can be confident the rest of the Bible’s over 500 remaining prophecies will be fulfilled in due time.

Micah 3:6 – For I the lord do not change.

Revelation 19:11 – Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.

All the Old Testament prophets reveled in the knowledge that God acts with perfect faithfulness in all He does. God revealed Himself to the prophets so they would know Him. God also promises to give believers the strength to overcome whatever temptations come our way.  God promises to be our refuge, our rock, during our walk with Him in this life. We can count on the faithfulness of God to the end so that our joy in heaven will be great and we will be rewarded for our faith in Him.

Deuteronomy 7:9 – Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments.

1 Thessalonians 5:24 – He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.

1 Corinthians 10:13 – No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

The intensity of God’s love for us is beyond our comprehension. People are incapable of loving as deeply as God and it’s not even close. God revealed the depth of His love for man to His Old Testament prophets. The prophets understood God’s deep love and they marveled at it.

Isaiah 54:10 – Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken.

Exodus 15:13 – You in Your mercy have led forth the people whom You have redeemed.

Zephaniah 3:17 – The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.

We all crave to be loved. God made us that way. When nobody else loves us we can know for certain the Creator of the universe loves us deeply and we are immensely valuable to Him. If the people thinking of taking their own life only knew how much God loved them there would be no suicides. They would understand they have great worth.  We are somebody to God. We are His children and we are royalty in heaven who will one day judge men and angels. This knowledge should give us a quiet confidence as we go through this life. Our life is the “time of choice” for us to choose to follow either someone who loves us or someone who hates us.  The choice is a “no brainer” for me.  How about you? Rest secure in God’s love and let nothing move you from this truth.  Always remember that God is forever faithful and cannot change, therefore nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ.

Romans 8:38-39 – For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I’m so excited about our future in heaven! I know God always speaks the truth plainly and without exaggeration. In the Bible the brief descriptions God gives of our future in heaven lets us know the riches He has in store for us are beyond our imagination. I have a vivid imagination so I’m expecting wonderful things!  I must keep calm and be disciplined in my walk with God. There are still souls to be saved and works to do for the kingdom of God. Every once in a while I can’t help but take a little peek into our future and dream of how it will be. It always gives me a thrill. I know how the Apostle Paul felt. We have a rendezvous with Jesus in the air in the near future. I’ve always wanted to fly and I hope to see you there. Please don’t miss it.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10 – Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.

Proverbs 23:18 – There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.

Jeremiah 29:11 – The Lord designs all of His plans to prosper us, not harm us, to give us a bright hope and a solid future.

John 3:16 – God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Philippians 3:20-21 – For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to himself.