When the oneness of our marital relationship is hindered, so is our prayer life. When husbands mistreat their wives (or vice versa) it affects their spiritual life as well. This should not surprise us for God has made us relational beings. And as such, a stone of disunity cast in one relationship, troubles the waters in another. Be reconciled to one another and live together in harmony, and watch your prayer life come alive again.
The Church is not a place, but a people. We have not built it, we are being built into it. While God builds the Church, we are to be the Church. For we are all “holy priests,” offering worship to God through meditation of Christ, the Cornerstone and Great High Priest.
Psalm 119 is the longest in the Psalms. For those who remember “Bible drills,” it lies near the middle of the Bible. It is an acrostic poem based on the 22-letter Hebrew alphabet and a meditation on the Scriptures themselves. In this verse, the Psalmist prays that God would open his eyes to understand the “wonderful truths” of God’s Word. This should be the prayer that every believer prays before opening the Word, because it is not just any book, it is God’s book. And therefore, God’s illumination is needed. Do you pray for God’s help before reading God’s Word?
God revealed His purpose for describing a future temple to Ezekiel (referred to here as “Son of man”). Ezekiel’s temple has never been built. Solomon built the first, which was destroyed by the Babylonians, as Ezekiel’s prophecy predicted. Zerubbabel built the second, which was enlarged by Herod the Great, but destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Ezekiel’s temple is sometimes called the “Third Temple,” or the “Millennial Temple.” Depending on one’s eschatology, some would see it as describing a spiritual temple fulfilled by the church. Others would see a literal fulfillment in the last days or during the Millennial kingdom. Regardless, Ezekiel was to describe it, so that the people of Israel would be “ashamed of all their sins.” Shame is an appropriate response to sin. Yet, there is a hardening of the heart which reduces shame to a dull tickling and then a complete denial. Ezekiel was to describe God’s future temple and returning glory, so that their hearts would feel shame, turning to God in repentance for forgiveness and salvation.
We may blame conflict on the external circumstances caused by another, but James said that the war actually originated within us. One of the early learnings that ministers discover is that “hurt people, hurt people.” Those who have hurts on the inside, act out of those hurts to hurt others. Then, there are those whose own self-love causes them to see offense at every turn, of which they keep record, and plan retaliation. Jealousy, greed, covetousness, these sinful desires and others like them, also cause wars within that lead to fights without. Christ is the only answer for peace on earth. Because true peace begins in the heart. What resides in your heart today? Peace or war?
At first glance, this statement about faith seems to contradict Romans 3:28 which clearly upholds that faith alone pleases God. Yet, James and Paul are not in conflict. Paul is concerned that some would make works and law-keeping the means for justification. He rightly proclaims that faith in Christ’s finished work is the only means for our justification. Faith alone, in Christ alone, by grace alone is Paul’s teaching. But if Paul corrects those who think their own works will be sufficient for salvation, James corrects those who would offer mere lip service to their faith without any fruit verifying its authenticity. Paul is concerned with what true faith believes, while James is concerned with what true faith does after it believes. Faith alone grafts us onto the Vine that we might live, but fruit-bearing shows that we do live.
Not just hearers only, but doers of the Word. Many enjoy a good sermon and think how good it is that the person next to them is getting it. Yet a few will hear the Word and repent in tears, not worrying about those around them. Don’t let the Word go in one ear and out the other. Do what it says.
This proverb encourages us to be responsible stewards of all that God has given us. This begins with knowing the state of your “flocks.” What are your “flocks?” Another way to ask this question would be to say, “What has God entrusted to you to manage?” Do you know the state of your finances? Do you have a budget and do you know how much you spend monthly? Are you saving for emergencies, retirement, college…? What is the state of your marriage? What is the state of your children? If you are a pastor, the state of your flock is relevant. If you are in business, do you know the condition of your store and its bottom line? Many of us go through life with a blind eye towards our “flocks.” But God would have us open our eyes and “know the state” of that which He has entrusted to us.
This prayer for our equipping and sanctification reveals God’s method for making us “pleasing to him.” It is none other than the power of Christ in us. We can pray this prayer too. Praying it for ourselves, we yield our wills to His, and acknowledge our dependence on Christ’s power. Praying it for others, we focus on Christ-at-work in others, rather than their shortcomings.
The image of God as a devouring ( KJV “consuming”) fire is one that seeks to reveal the strictness of his justice, the purity of his holiness and the passion of his love for us. We may boldly approach him through Christ, our Great High Priest, yet we do so reminded of how Moses approached the mountain with fear and trembling.