Making Your Way Clean and Pure (and other devotionals)

Making Your Way Clean and Pure

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“I will meditate in Thy precepts, and have respect unto Thy ways.” Psalm 119:15

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Psalm 119:9 says, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy word.” That word “way” really means a “rut” like a chariot wheel would make in the road.

Have you ever heard of a one-track mind? The devil plants a thought in our minds, and over time it becomes a belief. Before we know it, he has captured a stronghold. Thank God there is a way of deliverance.

ACTION POINT:

God’s Word will cleanse you (see John 15:3 and Ephesians 5:26). Picture the Lord Jesus walking through your mind, filling up a wheelbarrow full of filth, and carting it out. Hallelujah! God’s cleansing powers can sweep over your soul today. And fresh winds of the Holy Spirit can blow through the temple of your body and make you clean and pure.

~Adrian Rogers~

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He opened not his mouth (Isa. 53:7).

How much grace it requires to bear a misunderstanding rightly, and to receive an unkind judgment in holy sweetness! Nothing tests the Christian character more than to have some evil thing said about him. This is the file that soon proves whether we are electro-plate or solid gold. If we could only know the blessings that lie hidden in our trials we would say like David, when Shimei cursed him, "Let him curse;... it may be... that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day."

Some people get easily turned aside from the grandeur of their life-work by pursuing their own grievances and enemies, until their life gets turned into one little petty whirl of warfare. It is like a nest of hornets. You may disperse the hornets, but you will probably get terribly stung, and get nothing for your pains, for even their honey is not worth a search.

God give us more of His Spirit, "who, when he was reviled, reviled not again"; but "committed himself to him that judgeth righteously." "Consider him that endureth such contradiction of sinners against himself."
--A. B. Simpson

"Before you" He trod all the path of woe,
He took the sharp thrusts with His head bent low.

He knew deepest sorrow and pain and grief,
He knew long endurance without relief,

He took all the bitter from death's deep cup,
He kept not a blood-drop but gave all up.

"Before you" and for you, He won the fight
To bring you to glory and realms of light.

~L. B. Cowman~

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Looking through the Mirror

When Paul declared the mysterious and breathtaking promise that "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Rom. 8: 28), he was musing in teleology. He was dealing with the realm of the remote rather than the proximate. This suggests that the proximate must be judged in light of the remote.

Our problem is this: We do not yet possess the full light of the remote. We are still looking in a dark mirror. We are not utterly devoid of light, though. We have enough light to know that God has a good purpose even when we are ignorant of that good purpose.

It is the good purpose of God that gives the final answer to the appearance of vanity and futility in this world. To trust in the good purpose of God is the very essence of godly faith. This is why no Christian can be an ultimate pessimist.
The world in which we live is not a world of chance. Its beginning was not an accident, its operation is not an accident, and its telos, or goal, is not an accident. This is my Father's world and He rules it without caprice. As long as God exists, vanity is a manifest impossibility.

Coram Deo: Living in the Presence of God

Spend some time reflecting on the goodness of God. In what specific ways is His goodness being manifested to you right now?

For Further Study

1 Corinthians 13:12: "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known."
Romans 8:28-29: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." 

~R. C. Sproul~
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Name Above All Names

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11

Have you ever been in a position where you were the only Christian? Possibly now, you may be in the situation that your co-workers, neighbors or family members speak against Christians continually and frequently use His name as a curse word. What are you supposed to do? Our tendency is to try to maintain a position of peace (and so silence), especially where our paycheck is involved. We tend to back down, keep silent and ignore the comments. These actions reveal a person who is powerless and ashamed, even if that is not our intent. We should never appear powerless or ashamed of our Lord!

We need to stop and consider Who Our Lord Jesus is. One day all will bow before Jesus and confess that He is Lord. Every tongue, tribe and nation will be on their knees giving glory to God the Father, just by speaking the name of Jesus Christ. That day is coming and what a glorious day that will be! There will be no more denying Who Jesus is and no more discriminating against those who boldly speak His name. There will be no more hiding, embarrassment or guilt, only praise and pride in praising our Savior. And shame and sorrow, “gnashing of teeth,” to those who did not praise Him now.

Most importantly, stop and consider Who He is to you personally today. Should anyone have the right to discredit Your Lord and Savior at any time or anywhere? Paul tells us in Romans 1:16 that he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. By succumbing to fear and acting ashamed of the gospel, we fall right into the pit of the devil. Why? Because our power is stifled. To not be ashamed allows the power of God to be released through your words. We represent life. Those who are criticizing represent death. We have the responsibility and we have the power to share the gospel of Christ.

Today, ask the Lord to forgive you for not speaking up and for not speaking out for Him. Today, as you wait for Him to open the door, ask the Lord to give you an opportunity to speak about Him. Today, ask the Lord to teach you to be bold for Him because you do not ever want Him to be ashamed of you. And today, thank the Lord for saving you, forgiving you and giving you His Holy Spirit so His will.

~Daily Disciples Devotional~