LORD answers prayer                                        verse 1- 3 

I will extol YOU – O LORD

for YOU hast lifted me up

and have not made my foes to rejoice over me

O LORD my God – I cried to YOU

and YOU have HEALED me

O LORD – YOU have brought up my soul from the grave

            YOU have kept me alive – that I should not go down to the pit      

 LORD deserves our praise                                  verse 4- 5 

Sing to the LORD – O you saints of HIS

and give thanks at the remembrance of HIS holiness

      for HIS anger endures but a moment

                  in HIS favor is life

                              weeping may endure for a night

                                          BUT joy comes in the morning 

LORD desires dependence                                  verse 6- 7 

And in my prosperity I said

I shall never be moved

LORD by YOUR favor

           YOU have made my mountain to stand strong

YOU did hide YOUR face and I was troubled 

LORD expects prayer for help                            verse 8- 10 

I cried to YOU O LORD

            and to the LORD I made supplication

What profit is there in my blood

when I go down to the pit?

Shall the dust praise YOU?

Shall it declare YOUR truth?

Hear O LORD and have mercy on me

            LORD be YOU my helper 

Dependence on the LORD brings joy                  verse 11- 12 

YOU have turned for me my mourning into dancing

            YOU have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness

to the end that my glory may sing praise to YOU

and not be silent

O LORD my God

I will give thanks to YOU forever      

 

COMMENTARY:           

DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers  

: 2        O LORD my God, I cried to YOU, and YOU have healed me. (7495 “healed” [rapha] means make                                  healthful, deliverance, healer, surgeon, physician, or restore from individual distresses.)

DEVOTION:  There are at least two kinds of restoration discussed in the Word of God. The one type is deliverance from sin. The other is deliverance from sickness.

Sickness is sent to those who take the LORD’S Supper without examining themselves. They were to examine themselves regarding sin in their life. If they examined themselves and confessed their sin or sins, the LORD would forgive and give them blessing. If they didn’t confess their sin HE would send weakness, sickness and finally pre-mature death.

Sometimes sickness happens just for the glory of God. There are many individuals who have physical problems and use them to bring glory to the LORD. Joni is one example of this happening. So sickness is not always caused by sin. The blind man that Jesus healed was another example.

The third relationship to sickness is that the LORD will not heal because it is better for the individual to not be healed. Paul is another example of this. He had a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble. The LORD can use those that are sick to reach others who otherwise might not be reached with the message of salvation. Those who say that sickness is a sign of those who are out of fellowship with the LORD are lying. Even the trials of Job show that he was not sick because of sin.

The conclusion on the matter of sickness is that sometimes it is caused by sin and sometimes just for the glory of God. We are not to judge the reason unless we know for sure that it is one or the other of the reasons.

David seems to have become more independent of the LORD. He thought that he was so blessed nothing could hurt him no matter what he did. So he made a statement of pride and the LORD dealt with it. In his independence, he stopped being dependent on the LORD and depended on himself. This brought on his sickness.

Here it is thought that David was physically sick and on his deathbed. The LORD restored him to health. He understood his complete dependence on the LORD. He was praising the LORD for the health and the answer to his prayers. We need to be a thankful people.

We sometimes pray and then when the LORD answers we walk away like the nine lepers without saying thank you. Has the LORD been working in our lives? YES! Do we thank HIM enough? Remember the New Testament records that some followers of the LORD are weak, sickly and some sleep. Let us not fall into one of these categories.

CHALLENGE: Dependence on the LORD is not optional. HE wants us to come to HIM on a regular basis. If we don’t we might find ourselves in the same condition as David. 

 

DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers 

: 3        “O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.” The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982). (Grave 7585 שְׁאֹול [shâʾowl, shâol /sheh·ole/] n f. From 7592; TWOT 2303c; GK 8619; 65 occurrences; AV translates as “grave” 31 times, “hell” 31 times, and “pit” three times. 1 sheol, underworld, grave, hell, pit. 1A the underworld. 1B Sheol—the OT designation for the abode of the dead. 1B1 place of no return. 1B2 without praise of God. 1B3 wicked sent there for punishment. 1B4 righteous not abandoned to it. 1B5 of the place of exile (fig). 1B6 of extreme degradation in sin. James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2001).

DEVOTION: For many people the reality of existing in the darkness and shadows of depression and despair is overwhelming! David seemed to have experienced some of this as he cries out to the Lord and gave thanks for escaping the grave and the pit. Whether this episode in his life was when the plague struck in 1 Chronicles 21 or in a different period, David described his answer to prayer for help: God healed him and spared his life. This is stated figuratively as well: God brought him up from the grave (“sheol”; cf. NIV marg.). He was about to die, perhaps because of a physical illness, but the LORD healed him. God’s deliverance prevented death.

Extreme stress and illness can make the believer cry out to the Lord for relief! David acknowledges how close he was to the grave and to the pit and how the Lord had delivered him. This near death experience caused David to exude praise and thanksgiving for deliverance.

Difficulties come into our lives through many venues, some self-inflicted and others that result from circumstances beyond us. While circumstances may occur, how we respond is up to us! David cried out and sought the Lord and then gave the praise to Him!

CHALLENGE:  Let us do the same in our time of trial. (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)

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: 4        Sing to the LORD, O you saints of HIS, and give thanks at the remembrance of HIS holiness. (2623                                 “saints” [chaciyd] means the faithful, godly, a person characterized by loyal love to the God of Israel.                           Also associated with kindness, pious, or devout.)

DEVOTION:  One of the characteristics of someone who is a genuine follower of the LORD is their willingness to sing praises to the LORD. These individuals are called “saints” because they are those who have made a commitment to the LORD that is genuine and the LORD has accepted their commitment.

So these individuals who are called “saints” are individuals who give thank for all the things that they know are coming from the LORD in their lives.

One of the ways they show thanks is that they are willing to sing HIS praise while they are here on this earth which they will also do in heaven. A genuine saint is someone who will honor the LORD in their actions and with their voice.

We need to show the world that we are genuine in our worship of the LORD by making sure that we honor HIM every chance we get to show the world that HE is our Savior. This is not something that we do for just show but it is something that we do from our heart in appreciation for what HE has done and is doing in our lives each day.

The world has to see the difference in our live by our actions and our words for them to realize that it is genuine. We are praising HIM for HIS holiness.

Our responsibility is to try with the help of the HOLY SPIRIT to live a life that is holy. That doesn’t mean sinless because we all sin and need to confess it. Christians are those who have been forgiven for their sins on the basis of the shed blood of Jesus on the cross, not on their own works but HIS!.

CHALLENGE: How loud are we singing the praises of the LORD in our life? How often are we sharing this truth with others?

DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers

: 5        For HIS anger endures but a moment; in HIS favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. (7522 “favor” [ratsown] means delight, what is pleasing, the act of accepting with approval, acceptance, or good understanding.)

DEVOTION:  The concept where sorrow leads to joy is here expressed. The LORD doesn’t like our sin. HE sent a Savior for our sin. If we make a genuine commitment to HIM, HE gives us the Holy Spirit in our life and we can go from a place of condemnation to a place of approval.

The moment we make a commitment to HIM there is a change in our status with the LORD. HE gives us so many gifts. We are no longer under the judgment of hell for eternity but we are promised eternity in heaven with HIM.

We will have joy in heaven but we also will have joy here on earth when we serve HIM faithfully each day of our lives.

Does that mean that we will be sinless once we make this commitment? NO! We will have to confess our sins daily to HIM for our fellowship sake. HE will forgive us based on our commitment to HIM and HIS commitment to us.

Our joy is real not only in heaven but also here on earth. We can have the joy of the LORD in our heart and when we worship HIM there is joy in our heart and our voices. The LORD wants us to have a life of acceptance in our relationship with HIM now and that means a life that daily focus on HIM and HIM along.

CHALLENGE: Where is our focus today? Is our focus on the LORD every moment of every day? We should try to make sure that our relationship with HIM is one that contains focus!

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:12       “To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks                             unto thee forever.” (“Silent,” 1826 דָּמַם [damam], 1 to be silent, be still, wait, be dumb, grow dumb. 1a1                             to be silent. 1a2 to be still, die. 1a3 to be struck dumb.  [Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon.                                   Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.])

DEVOTION: One of the disciplines of the Christian life is to be silent.  That is, to stop what one is doing long enough to hear what God is saying.  This is a particularly important discipline in this hurried world of ours, where we are surrounded by noise (much of it man-made in terms of the media), and time for thought and reflection are largely ignored.

Yet sometimes it is important to not be silent.  David exhorts the people to raise their voices in praise to God for all that He has done for them.  Not only does this entail singing songs of praise, but remembering God should also be part of our normal conversation as believers.  In fact, Jesus said at His triumphal entry into Jerusalem that if men were silent, the stones would cry out (Luke 19:40).  Our mouths speak out of what fills our hearts (Luke 6:45).

Some people are born without the ability to learn to speak a language (natural dumbness), but this is usually a byproduct of not being able to hear or hear well.  In an analogous manner, our praise of God is influenced by our hearing what He has to say to us in His Word. 

In addition, there is a time coming for each of us when our earthly body will become silent in death.  That does not mean that we will cease to exist, but only that we will no longer be able to praise God in our earthly bodies.  That is why it is important to praise Him now while we can do so in our earthly bodies.  We will be praising Him eternally when we go to be with Him in heaven.

CHALLENGE:  If you are tempted to complain about something, remember that God gave man the miracle of language to be able to express a heart of thanksgiving back to Him.  Is your heart and mind filled with praise for God?  If so, let others know by your verbal expressions of praise and thanksgiving.  If not, ask God to show you how to sing His praises even when you don’t feel like it! (Dr. Marc Wooten – board member)

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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:

BODY

Chastity (Purity in living)

Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)

Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)

Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)

Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone) 

SOUL

Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)

Frugality (wise use of resources)

Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)

Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word) 

Declare God’s truth                                                  verse 9 

Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God) 

SPIRIT

Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)

Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)

Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level) 

David’s prayer of rejoicing                                      verse 1- 3

            Cried

            Healed

David’s prayer of deliverance                                  verse 7- 12

            Cried

            Supplication

Hear 

Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)

Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group) 

Sing                                                                             verse 4, 12

Praise                                                                          verse 9, 12 

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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:

Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)

God the Father (First person of the Godhead) 

LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 1- 4, 7, 8, 10, 12

God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign)                        verse 2, 12

LORD my God                                                          verse 2, 12

Holiness                                                                      verse 4

Anger of the LORD                                                  verse 5

Favor of the LORD                                                  verse 5, 7

Helper                                                                         verse 10 

God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)

God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)

Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)    

Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)

Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation) 

Foes                                                                            verse 1 

Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels) 

Foes rejoicing over believers                                    verse 1 

Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins) 

Extol LORD                                                              verse 1

Lifted up by the LORD                                            verse 1

Cry                                                                             verse 2, 8

Healed                                                                                    verse 2

Alive                                                                           verse 3

Sing                                                                             verse 4, 12

Saints                                                                          verse 4

Give thanks                                                                verse 4, 12

Favor                                                                          verse 5, 7

Weeping                                                                     verse 5

Joy                                                                              verse 5

Prosperity                                                                  verse 6

Never moved                                                              verse 6

Troubled                                                                    verse 7

Supplication                                                               verse 8

Praise                                                                          verse 9, 12

Declare God’s truth                                                  verse 9

Heard                                                                         verse 10

Mercy                                                                         verse 10

Helper                                                                         verse 10

Mourning turned to dancing                                   verse 11

Put off sackcloth                                                        verse 11

Gladness                                                                     verse 11

Not silent                                                                    verse 12 

Israel (Old Testament people of God) 

      Psalm of David                                                          verse 1- 12

                  Extol the LORD

                  Lifted up by the LORD

                  Foes not rejoice over

                  Healed

                  Brought up soul from grave

                  Prosperity

                  Favor of the LORD

                  Troubled at times

                  Cried to the LORD

                  Prayed to the LORD

                  Declared God’s truth

                  Wants mercy

                  Wants help from the LORD

                  Dancing

                  Gladness

                  Praise to the LORD

                  Thanks

Saint 

Church (New Testament people of God)

Last Things (Future Events) 

Grave                                                                         verse 3

Pit                                                                               verse 3, 9 

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DONATIONS:

Remember that all donations to Small Church Ministries are greatly appreciated. The treasurer will send a receipt, at the end of the year unless otherwise requested. Please be sure to make check out to “Small Church Ministries.” The address for the treasurer is P.O. Box 604, East Amherst, New York 14051. A second way to give to the ministry is through PayPal on the website: www.smallchurchministries.org.  Also, if you can support this ministry through your local church please use that method.  Thank you. 

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QUOTES regarding passage

11–12 The Lord was faithful in changing circumstances. The psalmist returns to the dominant motif of this psalm: Yahweh the Vindicator. He is the Lord who effectually changed wailing into dancing, mourning into joy, and a deathly cry into a song of joy (v. 11). Such is the goodness of God. Notice how Calvin observed this over four hundred years ago: “But however much God may terrify and humble his faithful servants, with manifold signs of his displeasure, he always besprinkles them with the sweetness of his favour to moderate and assuage their grief” (1:489). (VanGemeren, W. A. (1991). Psalms. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Vol. 5, p. 262). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)

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30:11–12. Using terminology from festive occasions (dancing and joy) David rehearsed how God delivered him from his lamentable state (on sackcloth; cf. 35:13 and comments on Gen. 37:34). As a result of this answer to prayer David sang praises to the Lord. Thus he vowed to acknowledge and thank the Lord his God (cf. Ps. 30:2) forever. Every deliverance a believer experiences should likewise prompt a full expression of praise. (Ross, A. P. (1985). Psalms. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 817). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)

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A New Song—From Mourning to Rejoicing (vv. 11–12)

Seven times in the psalm David wrote “You have” (vv. 1–3, 7, 11), bearing witness to the strong and gracious hand of the Lord working on his behalf. Even God’s chastening of David was an expression of His love (Heb. 12:1–11). Once David knew he was forgiven and accepted, he moved from the funeral to the feast. He took off the sackcloth of sadness and put on the garments of gladness. In Scripture, a dramatic alteration of one’s life was often marked by a change of clothing (Gen. 35:2; 41:14; 45:22; Ex. 19:10, 14; 2 Sam. 12:20; Luke 15:22). “My glory” means “my heart, my soul.” David was singing to the Lord from the depths of his being. He realized that he would be singing praises to God forever (v. 12), so he wanted to start getting ready now! Every difficult experience of life—and David had many of them—is an opportunity to have a “pity party” or attend a rehearsal for singing in the choirs of heaven! We have a lifetime of grace (v. 5) to prepare us for an eternity of glory. (Wiersbe, W. W. (2004). Be worshipful (1st ed., p. 119). Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries.)

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11. This might be true of David, delivered from his calamity; it was true of Christ, arising from the tomb, to die no more; it is true of the penitent, exchanging his sackcloth for the garments of salvation; and it will be verified in us all, at the last day, when we shall put off the dishonours of the grave, to shine in glory everlasting. (Horne, G. (1856). A Commentary on the Book of Psalms (p. 126). New York: Robert Carter & Brothers.)

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Hear, O Lord. The prayer is renewed after the expostulation has been uttered. 11, 12. Thankful acknowledgment. We are now again where we were at the beginning of the Psalm. My mourning into dancing. His prayer has been answered. Beating the breast was the token of mourning. Dancing was an expression of pious joy, as we learn by the case of David himself, 2 Sam. 6:14. So sackcloth was the garb of mourning, 1 Chron. 21:16. Girded me with gladness. New garments are the wonted symbol of salvation, Isa. 61. 12. Glory, that is, as the Sept. supplies, my glory, in the sense of intellectual and moral reason, and speech as its expression, Ps. 16:9. May chant Thee. The rational soul is alone fitted to acknowledge and adore the God of salvation. (Murphy, J. G. (1875). A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Psalms (p. 210). Andover: Warren F. Draper.)

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Ver. 11. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing, &c.] This, with what follows, expresses the success he had in seeking the Lord by prayer and supplication; there was a sudden change of things, as it often is with the people of God; sometimes they are mourning by reason of sin, their own and others; or on account of afflictions; or because of spiritual decays; or through the temptations of Satan; or, as it was the case of the psalmist now, because of the hidings of God’s face; but this mourning is exchanged for joy and gladness when the Lord discovers his pardoning love, revives his work in their souls, takes off his afflicting hand from them, rebukes the tempter, and delivers out of his temptations, and shews himself, his grace and favour. Thou hast put off my sackcloth; which was used in mourning for relations, and in times of calamity and distress, and as a token of humiliation and repentance, Gen. 37:34; Esth. 4:1; Jonah 3:8. And girded me with gladness; by these phrases the same thing is signified as before; see Isa. 61:3. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 3, p. 652). London: Mathews and Leigh.)

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11. Observe the contrast, God takes away the mourning of his people; and what does he give them instead of it? Quiet and peace? Ay, and a great deal more than that. “Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing.” He makes their hearts to dance at the sound of his name. He takes off their sackcloth. That is good. What a delight to be rid of the habiliments of woe! But what then? He clothes us. And how? With some common dress? Nay, but with that royal vestment which is the array of glorified spirits in heaven. “Thou hast girded me with gladness.” This is better than to wear garments of silk or cloth of gold, bedight with embroidery and bespangled with gems. Many a poor man wears this heavenly apparel wrapped around his heart, though fustian and corduroy are his only outward garb; and such a man needs not envy the emperor in all his pomp. Glory be to thee, O God, if, by a sense of full forgiveness and present justification, thou hast enriched my spiritual nature, and filled me with all the fulness of God. (Spurgeon, C. H. (n.d.). The treasury of David: Psalms 27-57 (Vol. 2, p. 47). London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers.)

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There is evidence of this within. “Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing.” The transformation has taken place in his heart. God has taken away his inner gloom and given him instead an inner glow. Sighs have given way to songs, songs which set his feet in motion, that make him want to dance.

There is evidence without. Not just dancing, but “Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness.” The expression “put off” is a vivid one. The word is literally, “torn open,” thus “Thou hast torn off my sackcloth.” The gods of the heathen delight to see their worshipers in sackcloth, with long faces. Even Martin Luther used to think that God, even the true God, was like that. But God wants to tear off our sackcloth. (Phillips, J. (2009). Exploring Psalms 1–88: An Expository Commentary (Vol. 1, Ps 30:11). Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp.)

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FROM MY READING: 

(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)

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1 Timothy 1
Beware of false teachers who may lead you or others astray.
INSIGHT

Lack of integrity is fast becoming a sign of our age. Once highly respected, many professionals are falling into disrepute: lawyers, doctors, journalists, and, most unfortunate of all, ministers. Whereas we once could invest considerable trust in these people, we now must exercise caution and discernment. With the proliferation of books, radio, television, and magazines, the opportunity for unscrupulous or inadequate ministers to foist themselves upon the public increases. Anything we hear being taught must carefully be compared with the Bible and other Bible teachers whom we know to be credible. We must take care not to be led astray by false teaching.  (Quiet Walk)

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LOVING ONE ANOTHER

…let us love one another…  1 John 4:7
I do not hesitate to say that the ultimate test of our profession of the Christian faith is this whole question of our loving one another. Indeed, I do not hesitate to aver that it is a more vital test than our orthodoxy. I am the last man in the world to say anything against orthodoxy, but I am here to say that it is not the final test. Orthodoxy is absolutely essential; this epistle [1 John] has shown us that repeatedly, and it will show it to us again. We must believe the right things, for apart from that we have nothing at all and we have no standing whatsoever; so the correctness of belief is absolutely essential. And yet I say that when we come to the realm of experience and self-examination, the test of orthodoxy is not the ultimate test.
Alas, let us admit it—it is possible for a person to be absolutely correct and yet not to be a Christian. It is possible for men and women to give perfect intellectual assent to the propositions that are to be found in the Bible; it is possible for them to be interested in theology and to say that one theology is superior to another and to accept and defend and argue about it, and yet to be utterly devoid of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the love of God in their hearts. This is a terrible thought, it is a terrible possibility, but it is a fact. There have been men also who have clearly been perfectly orthodox—champions of the faith—and yet they have denied that very faith in the bitterness with which they have sometimes defended it. I repeat, the test of orthodoxy, while it is so vital and essential, is not enough. There is a more thoroughgoing test, and it is this test of brotherly love—love for one another.
A Thought to Ponder: The ultimate test of our profession of the Christian faith is our loving one another.  (From The Love of God, pp. 39-40, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

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How Can a Man Be Just before God?
“Then Job answered and said, I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?” (Job 9:1-2)
Job was the most “just” (i.e., “righteous”) man of his age, according to the testimony of God Himself (Job 1:8; 2:3), yet his friends insisted his terrible suffering had been sent by God because of his sins. He knew he was innocent of the sins of which they were accusing him, and he knew he had earnestly tried to be obedient and faithful to God. Yet, he also knew that he, like all men, had come far short of God’s holiness (Romans 3:23). “I have sinned,” he confessed, “what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men?” (Job 7:20). “Cause me to understand wherein I have erred” (Job 6:24). And then comes the plaintive plea in our text: “How should a man be just with God?”
There is, indeed, no way by which a man can make himself righteous before God, for he is even born with a sin nature, inherited from father Adam. “If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse” (Job 9:20). Yet God created man for His own glory (Isaiah 43:7) and wants “all men to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4). The great enigma is, how can God justify unrighteousness in men and still be righteous Himself.
The answer, of course, is that God, in Christ, has paid the price to make us righteous by dying for all our sins. “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7).
Even Job finally realized that God must somehow become his redeemer. “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and…in my flesh shall I see God” (Job 19:25-26). It is indeed wonderfully true that God can both “be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)

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 True Disciple of Jesus

I am the vine; you are the branches. John 15:5

When Christian Mustad showed his Van Gogh landscape to art collector Auguste Pellerin, Pellerin took one look and said it wasn’t authentic. Mustad hid the painting in his attic, where it remained for fifty years. Mustad died, and the painting was evaluated off and on over the next four decades. Each time it was determined to be a fake—until 2012, when an expert used a computer to count the thread separations in the painting’s canvas. He discovered it had been cut from the same canvas as another work of Van Gogh. Mustad had owned a real Van Gogh all along.

Do you feel like a fake? Do you fear that if people examined you, they’d see how little you pray, give, and serve? Are you tempted to hide in the attic, away from prying eyes?

Look deeper, beneath the colors and contours of your life. If you’ve turned from your own ways and put your faith in Jesus, then you and He belong to the same canvas. To use Jesus’ picture, “I am the vine; you are the branches” (John 15:5). Christ and you form a seamless whole.

Resting in Jesus makes you a true disciple of His. It’s also the only way to improve your picture. He said, “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (v. 5). By Mike Wittmer,  (Our Daily Bread)

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MEGACHURCH PASTOR SAYS JESUS NOT THE ONLY WAY TO GOD (Friday Church News Notes, June 8, 2018, www.wayoflife.org,fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is excerpted from “Why Jesus Is No Longer the Only Way for Many American Christians,”Christian Post, May 19, 2018: “Just over two months ago, as winter landed its final blows of snow in New York City, Michael A. Walrond Jr., of Harlem’s 10,000-member First Corinthian Baptist Church landed an ideological blow of his own in traditional Christendom. Walrond, who was named ‘One of the Lord’s Foot Soldiers’ by Newsweek magazine, told his congregants that the belief that anyone who doesn’t believe in Jesus is going to hell is ‘insanity.’ … People take many paths to God, he argued, noting that he personally celebrates the paths others take in finding Him–even if that path does not involve faith in Jesus. ‘And so the key is you believe in God. And whatever your path is to God I celebrate that. Personally, I celebrate that,’ Walrond said. The New York City preacher’s message drew criticism in traditional Christian circles. Bishop Robert E. Smith, Sr., founder of Total Outreach for Christ Ministries, said, ‘The preacher on this video is both right and wrong: he’s right in that all roads do lead to God; but this God is both love and a consuming fire. If you meet Him on the Christ road of His love, you live, but any other road, be it religion, philosophy, or a miscalculation of the Person of Christ, the lake of fire is waiting!’ While Walrond’s openness as a Christian to the idea that there are many paths to God beyond Christianity may have been shocking to some, new research shows a widespread departure among Christians from traditional Bible teaching such as Jesus being the only way to God.” “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

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Your New Capabilities
“. . . that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened.” (Ephesians 1:17-18)
The “spirit of wisdom” is applied to a wide variety of circumstances. It certainly includes leadership (Deuteronomy 34:9). But wisdom is also identified with the ability to make beautiful clothing (Exodus 28:3) and to engineer and invent complex equipment (Exodus 31:2-6). Daniel was said to have “an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts” (Daniel 5:12). We are even promised to be given wisdom that our “adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist” (Luke 21:15).
A “spirit of revelation” is also made available to us. This revelation (literally “to take off the cover”) is not new doctrine or truth. Revelation is implemented by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10), having the source of His revelatory work from Jesus Christ on behalf of Christ (John 16:13-15).
The Greek language of the phrase “the eyes of [our] understanding being enlightened” (Ephesians 1:18) could be translated “the vision of your deep thought will be made to shine,” or paraphrased in a more colloquial expression “the light comes on!” There are three specific enlightenments cited.

• The hope of our calling (Romans 15:13-14)

• The riches of the glory of our inheritance (Romans 11:33-36)

• The exceeding greatness of His power exercised on our behalf (Ephesians 3:20; 6:10)

Each of those are specifically designed by God to undergird our faith and embolden our confidence, even though we are “strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13). (HMM III, The Institute for Creation Research)

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DANGERS OF A SLOPPY AGE

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked… 
Revelation 3:17 
We are living in an age that dislikes precision and definitions. It is an age that is anti-theological, anti-doctrinal and which dislikes propositions and exact knowledge. It is a lazy age in every respect, a sentimental, sloppy age, an age that wants entertainment and dislikes effort. This tendency shows itself in many ways which are generally very plausible. 
One way is to say that Christianity is something that is so wonderful that it cannot be defined, that it baffles analysis or any attempt to state it in propositions. It cannot be done, they say. You experience it marvelous and wonderful! But if you try to analyze it, then you destroy it, there is nothing left.
Another way is this: that Christianity is only a matter of one’s spirit. What makes us Christians is our spirit, and if we have an appropriate spirit, then we are Christians. Christianity is an attitude, a view of life, a general statement concerning our personality and our being. There was a slogan not so long ago which said, “Christianity is caught, not taught.” You catch the spirit. You feel it in the meeting and you get it. But what is it? Well, you do not know, but that does not matter. You have got it! That is the great thing and you feel much happier and much better than you did before.
If I may say so in passing, the thing that has given me greatest pleasure, and greatest encouragement of all the things I have ever been told that people say about my ministry, is this. It was said by a lady, who remonstrated, “This man preaches to us as if we were sinners!” 
Quite so. “You see, you must not be searched, you must not be examined, you are all right. Of course, denounce those sinners who are outside, or those liberals, but, why, we are the people who are orthodox! We do not need that, we need instruction. We want these general lectures, these addresses, these character studies. How interesting, how nice. But we must not be disturbed. There is nothing wrong with us.” 
And so such people, as you see everywhere in the Bible and in the history of the church, have always disliked anything that searches them, or makes them feel uncomfortable, or probes them.
A Thought to Ponder: People have always disliked anything that asks them to define their biblical foundation. (From Saving Faith, a sermon on Romans 10:3 by Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

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