Bible League: Living His Word "As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever."We don't have the power and authority to design and create a world to live in. Rather, we live in the world that has been designed and created for us long before we ever came on the scene. It is the world that has been designed and created by the Lord God of heaven and earth. We live in this world and it is up to us to acquiesce to the terms of living in this world. King David was wise. He knew the world he lived in. He knew it was not the world of his own design and making. He knew it was the Lord's world. He knew that if his son was to make it in the world, then he would have to acquiesce to its terms just as he did. He knew that Solomon would have to know the Lord and come to terms with Him. If you want to come to terms with the Lord, then you must do what David said to Solomon. You must do four things: First, you must "serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind." Since it is the Lord's world, He is the Sovereign King and Ruler over it. You can't do whatever you want. That's what foolish people do. That's what people do who don't know the Lord and don't know where they live. Second, you must realize that the Lord "searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts." You can't fool the Lord. You can't pretend to be a faithful servant and still harbor rebellious thoughts and intentions. The Lord finds out everything. Third, you must seek Him, so He will find you. You must not go your own way in life. You must seek His will and purpose and follow Him. If you seek Him, you will find Him and He will bless your efforts (Hebrews 11:6). Finally, you must not forsake Him. If you do, then you will be cast off forever. It is His world. It is a privilege to live in it, not a right. If you fail to respect its terms, then you forfeit your privilege. It's time to stop living in a fantasy world. It's time to acquiesce to the world as it actually is. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingNahum Nahum 1 -- The Vision of Nahum: An Oracle about Nineveh; The Majesty of God NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Nahum 2 -- The Armies of God Overthrow Nineveh NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Nahum 3 -- The Miserable Ruin of Nineveh NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Revelation 13 Revelation 13 -- The Beasts from the Sea and from the Earth NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Turn away from evil and do good.Search for peace, and work to maintain it. Insight Too often we see peace as merely the absence of conflict, and we think of peacemaking as a passive role. But an effective peacemaker actively pursues peace. He or she builds good relationships, knowing that peace is a by-product of commitment. The peacemaker anticipates problems and deals with them before they occur. When conflicts arise, he or she brings them into the open and deals with them before they grow unmanageable. Challenge Making peace can be harder work than waging war, but it results not in death but in life and happiness. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Deuteronomy 32:5 The spot of his children.What is the secret spot which infallibly betokens the child of God? It were vain presumption to decide this upon our own judgment; but God's word reveals it to us, and we may tread surely where we have revelation to be our guide. Now, we are told concerning our Lord, "to as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to as many as believed on his name." Then, if I have received Christ Jesus into my heart, I am a child of God. That reception is described in the same verse as believing on the name of Jesus Christ. If, then, I believe on Jesus Christ's name--that is, simply from my heart trust myself with the crucified, but now exalted, Redeemer, I am a member of the family of the Most High. Whatever else I may not have, if I have this, I have the privilege to become a child of God. Our Lord Jesus puts it in another shape. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." Here is the matter in a nutshell. Christ appears as a shepherd to his own sheep, not to others. As soon as he appears, his own sheep perceive him--they trust him, they are prepared to follow him; he knows them, and they know him--there is a mutual knowledge--there is a constant connection between them. Thus the one mark, the sure mark, the infallible mark of regeneration and adoption is a hearty faith in the appointed Redeemer. Reader, are you in doubt, are you uncertain whether you bear the secret mark of God's children? Then let not an hour pass over your head till you have said, "Search me, O God, and know my heart." Trifle not here, I adjure you! If you must trifle anywhere, let it be about some secondary matter: your health, if you will, or the title deeds of your estate; but about your soul, your never-dying soul and its eternal destinies, I beseech you to be in earnest. Make sure work for eternity. Daily Light on the Daily Path 2 Peter 3:4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation."Jude 1:14,15 It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, • to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." Revelation 1:7 BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen. 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. • Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Titus 2:11-13 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, • instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, • looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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