Perfection (and other devotionals)

Perfection 

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 
Psalm 19:7 

Recommended Reading Psalm 19:7-11

A discriminating diner might taste a chef’s dish and exclaim, “Perfection!” An art critic might stare at a famous painting for hours and conclude, “It’s perfect!” Or a young bride-to-be might stare at her engagement ring and whisper, “Oh, it’s perfect!”

Really? Are meals, paintings, and diamonds actually perfect? Not really, but we fully understand what “perfection” means in those situations. Perfection is in the eye of the beholder. So is anything in this world actually perfect? The Bible says one thing is: “The law of the Lord.” And what does that mean? It means that God’s words to man, found in Scripture, are complete, lacking for nothing; they cannot be improved upon. There is nothing missing, nothing God forgot to include that we need for faith and practice in the Christian life. Paul wrote that Scripture is sufficient for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). If it weren’t, it wouldn’t be perfect.

God’s Word should be our first stop and the last word on anything about which it speaks. A “perfect” way to begin every day is with the prayerful consideration of God’s perfect Word
~David Jeremiah~
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John 14:6

(6) Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
New King James Version   

During the Passover service, we always read John 14 in its entirety. It is chock-full of insight and instruction that we, as Christ's disciples, need to live fully as Christians and to prepare for eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Jesus opens the chapter by saying:

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe inGod, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know. (John 14:1-4)

He sets the goal before us, eternal life in God's house. He says that He will soon be going to that same goal, where He will be in a better position to prepare us to reach it. Then He says, "You know the way there," which has Thomas scratching his head. "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" (verse 5). In other words, if we do not have a clear idea of the goal, how can we find our way there? It is impossible. A person must have a destination in mind before he can map out the route.

In verse 6, Jesus provides the answer: "I am the way, thetruth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Jesus' emphasis is on "the way," since that is the force of Thomas' question. Some commentators have even gone so far as to say that the real sense of His statement is, "I am the true and living way"—that is, the words "life" and "truth" modify "way."

He implies that the Father will only accept as His children those who imitate the character and process of salvationthat Christ pioneered. He is called the Captain or Author of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10). Jesus has blazed the trail before us, showing us the way to go—and the way to go is to follow in His footsteps, to imitate Him (I John 2:6). There is only one road that leads to the Kingdom of God, the road that Christ Himself trod. He expands this idea inJohn 14:7-11:

"If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him." Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father, so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves."

This paragraph adds another level to why God will only accept us through Christ—because Jesus was and is just like the Father. A son, if he is a true son, will show the characteristics of his father, which is exactly what we see in Jesus Christ and the Father in heaven. Christ thinks like the Father, speaks like the Father, and acts like the Father. Everything the Father would do is what Christ does. Therefore, if we want to be members of this Family, we, as Christ's brothers and sisters, will have to think, say, and do the same sorts of things as the Father and the Son.

This is why we must go through Christ. There is no other way! The children must have the same character as the Father and the Son, or there is no admittance. Thus, we must imitate Christ if we desire to enter God's Kingdom. He is the way, the method, or the process by which eternal salvation is secured, and if we should try to achieve it any other way, we will fail.

~Richard T. Ritenbaugh~

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Why a Jealous God?

"For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me."

—Exodus 20:5

We usually view jealousy as something negative, and certainly it can be. We might think of a jealous person as controlling, demanding, and even prone to fly into a rage without the slightest reason.

But in Exodus 20 God says, "You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God" (verses 4–5, emphasis added).

God is a loving Father. He loves us and wants an exclusive relationship with us. Is that unreasonable?

If you have children, then I think you are probably a jealous parent. You want the best for your child. You probably think your child is the best at whatever it is that he or she does, whether it's athletics or music or something else. In the same way, God loves you, and He wants the best for you. So He is jealous in a sense.

I would also think that if you are married, you are probably a jealous husband or wife. How would you feel, wives, if your husband said, "My date is here. I'm going out with her now. Can she borrow that outfit that looks really good on you?" No self-respecting wife would put up with something like that. Nor should she.

God is a jealous God and wants an exclusive relationship with us. He is saying, "You belong to Me, and I have committed myself to you. So that is the way it needs to be." That is the concept being communicated when God described himself as a "jealous" God.

~Greg Laurie~

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I saw a door standing open in heaven, and... the voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you....” (Revelation 4:1 NLT)

My aim, in cooperation with the Lord, is to make everything preeminently practical; and so we apply the challenge immediately, and I ask you, is the Holy Spirit within you presenting God's fullness in His Son in an ever-growing way? Is that the nature of your spiritual life? If not, then you must have some definite exercise before the Lord about it; there is something wrong. The anointing means that, and if that is not the nature of your spiritual life, there is something wrong in your case in relation to the anointing. To Nathanael the Lord Jesus said, "Henceforth" (our old English word is "hereafter," but I think many people have mistakenly thought that means the "after life") "ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." Hereafter, of course, was the immediate hereafter, the days of the Holy Spirit which were coming so soon. With an open heaven you see, and you see God's meaning concerning His Son.

That open heaven for the Lord Jesus was the anointing. The Spirit descended and lighted upon Him. It was the anointing, and it is the same for us. The open heaven is the anointing of the Spirit from the day of Pentecost onward upon Christ within us. That open heaven means a continually growing revelation of Christ.

Oh, let me urge this. I am brought back to urge this.... The open heaven at once brings God's revelation in Christ to your very door, makes it available to you, so that you are not dependent in the first place upon libraries, books, addresses or anything else. It is there for you. However much the Lord may see good to use these other things for your help and enrichment, you have your own open heaven, your own clear way through, and no closed dome over your head. The Lord Jesus is becoming more and ever more wonderful in your own heart, because "God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness" hath "shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6).

~T. Austin-Sparks~

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Understanding Grace
by Chuck Swindoll

John 1:14

What exactly is grace? And is it limited to Jesus' life and ministry? You may be surprised to know that Jesus never used the word itself. He just taught it and, equally important, He lived it. Furthermore, the Bible never gives us a one-statement definition, though grace appears throughout its pages . . . not only the word itself but numerous demonstrations of it. Understanding what grace means requires our going back to an old Hebrew term that meant "to bend, to stoop." By and by, it came to include the idea of "condescending favor."

If you have traveled to London, you have perhaps seen royalty. If so, you may have noticed sophistication, aloofness, distance. On occasion, royalty in England will make the news because someone in the ranks of nobility will stop, kneel down, and touch or bless a commoner. That is grace. There is nothing in the commoner that deserves being noticed or touched or blessed by the royal family. But because of grace in the heart of the queen, there is the desire at that moment to pause, to stoop, to touch, even to bless.

The late pastor and Bible scholar Donald Barnhouse perhaps said it best: "Love that goes upward is worship; love that goes outward is affection; love that stoops is grace."

To show grace is to extend favor or kindness to one who doesn't deserve it and can never earn it. Receiving God's acceptance by grace always stands in sharp contrast to earning it on the basis of works. Every time the thought of grace appears, there is the idea of its being undeserved. In no way is the recipient getting what he or she deserves. Favor is being extended simply out of the goodness of the heart of the giver.