Good Morning. Hope everyone is doing well and staying warm.
Ps. 28:7. The Lord is my strength and my shield: my heart trusted in Him, and I am greatly helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth: and with my song will I praise Him. Eccles. 12:13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments for this is the whole duty of man. The Lord’s word is full of rich and beneficial instruction, wisdom, encouragement, and hope in life. He teaches us about Himself and who He is and how we should honor and reverence Him in our lives each day. One of His premier teachings is the duty of man before God. Clearly man is to obey God in His commandments and the commandments of God are above those of man. Yet today it seems man is determined to exercise His dominance and disqualify obedience to God as obsolete, not applicable, or just irrelevant. I can recall when I was young and growing up in a military family you couldn’t help but learn the importance of duty and obligations associated with it. Of course such a close association with that life style as youngsters we never thought of following after a malicious path or seeking something disruptive or destructive. And everyone around us supported that obedience and duty. Some may say you didn’t know anything different but we could see the difference and most times determined that difference was not a way to follow. Living a life in Christ is similar. It requires a great deal of discipline and sacrifice to the enticements of the world. Yet the benefits and blessings are immeasurable! And as youngsters we have a host of the faithful to look to for examples. And even at any age we have that host who will encourage and strengthen us along the way. We may have found the social perspectives of society have changed dramatically over the years and see less respect and honor given to God and others that we had always respected. But one thing does not change and that is God. He Is God and changes not. Therefore our anchor, our rock, our premier example is always there for us to look to and follow. God does demand a lot in terms of serving Him as we should. But when compared to serving the lesser His yoke is easy and light and the blessing and benefit are lasting and bring us HOPE. He is our strength and shield and He is the eternal fountain in a dry and thirsty land. May we live to always drink from that fountain. Have a blessed and wonderful day. Bro Mike
0 Comments
Matt. 22:33, 35-39. And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at His doctrine.
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him and saying. Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind This is the first and great commandment. And the second like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The Lord has a way of getting to the heart of an issue in very few words. When this question was asked of rthe Lord , the Jews had built up the law to be such a burdensome obligation that it’s very intent and benefit had been lost in all of the associated ceremonies of the Pharisees. Jesus answers what could be a difficult and rigorous obligatory ritual. His answer to a provacative question is simple and to the point. Love the Lord first with all thy heart, soul, and mind. There are no other stipulations. Just love God and keep His commandments and love thy neighbor as thyself. We might say that maybe not too many love themselves as they should when we see the struggles society has today with truly loving thy neighbor. Maybe if we take more time to consider the Lords teachings, how simple yet needful they are , maybe our behavior would change and help influence our neighbor the same way. For ours is a God of mercy and grace and love. Glory be to Him And May our lives reflect His love. Have a blessed day. Love you all in Christ. Bro Mike Ps. 27:13-14. I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say on the Lord. In this world contentment and true happiness is hard to find and very hard to sustain for any period of time. The world, and Satan are constantly changing trying to entice every last bit of our attention to them and draw it away from God But thanks be to God He understands our weakness and has given hope in Him to carry on. It’s easy to look around and see all the bad, cruel, evil, and wickedness that man can devise in this world. Left to ourselves we would be consumed by such negative thought and perspective. But thanks be to God that He has seen fit to allow us to see and experience a happiness in His truth while we’re here. Therefore we can have a happiness that passeth understanding and it’s His hope that sustains us here in this journey. We shall see His goodness in the land of the living. That’s were those touched by His grace and are strengthen by His truth dwell. We can’t see the goodness of the Lord unless He has opened our eyes and our heart. And when He does what a blessing is poured upon us. When the days seem dark and All Hope is fleeting we need to remember how good the Lord has been to us and how His promises stand sure. To stop a moment and consider all He has done and has promised yet to do: strengthens the heart. And not just the heart but it refreshes and revives the soul to continue on in the journey. May He bless each of you this day and May we take time time to wait on the Lord and see His salvation once again and continue on. Have a good day. |
Eld. Mike HughesPastor of Purcell Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church Archives
June 2022
Categories |