Psalm 117
1 Praise the LORD, all you nations;
extol him, all you peoples.
2 For great is his love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
Praise the LORD.
Only two verses and yet it makes it clear. Everyone needs to praise Him. He is more than worthy. Also it reminds us that He loves us and He will faithfully do so. We have a promise from our Lord. In a world where counting on people can be few and far between, this is a blessing. A sure Word.
1 Timothy 6:9-12 – 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of
evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
The Bible and especially the New Testament doesn’t read like an American get rich book. I read them growing up. I was encouraged by more people to read them vs. the Bible, but ultimately I chose to read them at that time instead of the Bible. I knew what those books were telling me. Since I wasn’t reading the
Bible and I couldn’t tell you what it was saying at all.
I’ve read both of them now. It’s not a matter of taste where the truth lies in the words.
After studying the Bible, I know who the author is of it and I know who the author is of those get rich books.
You don’t even have to have money to love it. There are people that chase after it or things that pertain to it their whole lives and many never get it. Doesn’t matter, because that is where their hearts were.
Verse 9 talks about the temptation of foolish and harmful desires. Those things plunge men into ruin and destroy lives. I’ve seen some walk on a tight wire teetering much of their lives. Most everyone in this country has. The bad thing is no one who is trapped into it ever thinks its them, until they have hit rock bottom or pulled themselves out of it and into a new life with the Lord.
Verses 11 & 12 are the answer to 9 & 10.
Flee from the things of the world. Flee from the temptation. Flee from the destruction.
I know it’s tough. It’s all that is taught by the world today. The fallen flesh desires the very things that most are chasing after. Success by the world’s standards is based off the material possessions and positions attained. Not everyone thinks that way, but the world as a whole does and it is stronger than ever.
Most of us today live in the top 1 percent of luxury and wealth when you figure the beginning of man until the present. There were Kings that didn’t have access to what the average man takes for granted today. Yet most of us are only worried about what we don’t have and what more we could have. We desire it in the name of achievement and motivation.
God wants that same achievement and motivation from us to go towards His Kingdom and in our commitment and love to Him.
I want you to be RICH. Rich in your desire and relationship with the Lord.
Galatians 2:16- 16 know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
I have been listening to Dave Hunt lately and he often mentions that good works outweighing the bad ones doesn’t work. You can’t kill one person today and save two more tomorrow and be ahead of the curve. Think about that. Just trying to weigh the balance of one’s life and hope that it tips in the right direction.
It makes no sense at all. Not to mention who is going to make that measuring determination?
We are not saved by our works or anything that we can do. The only way we are saved is by what He has done.
Ephesians 2:8-9- 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
This is a real easy formula. We are all sinners. Therefore we don’t have to debate on rather someone is qualified in needing their sins forgiven.
Romans 3:23-24 – 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
On the flip side, people take it too far. Many treat their salvation like a get out of jail free card. Faith without works is dead.
James 2:26 – 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
James 2:17 – 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
Also there is the follow up to Ephesians above in verse 10.
Ephesians 2:10 –10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
We’re not saved by the work we do for the Lord. That is the free gift and only attainable by accepting His grace and forgiveness by making Him Lord. However, we if we love our Lord, we need to work for our King. We were created in Christ Jesus to do good works.
John 15:14-15- 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
Are we friends of Jesus?
Who are our friends?
Friends are people you have a relationship with. You can have a distant relationship with a friend if at one time you were close and hung out together. However, how close are those relationships when you don’t have that opportunity to converse or be together as you go along?
Many people have this kind of relationship with the Lord. They got close for awhile but then they slip away. The reason people slip away from their friendship with the Lord is usually chasing after things that are adverse to Him. They are things of the world that have nothing to do with our Lord.
It is so easy to slip back into old habitats that take you away from the Lord. We must do the things that keep us close. We need to take the time. Close relationships take the extra time and effort.
Jesus says you are my friends if you do what I command.
We are created for a loving relationship with the Lord. We were not created to be selfish little Gods destined to chase after our own little selfish pleasures and lifestyle. The Bible makes that quite clear and you won’t get very far in the New Testament without a reminder or warning.
Matthew 12:46-50 – 46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”
48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Strong words from Jesus but they were to make a point, not to be disrespectful.
The family of Jesus and the friend of Jesus is the one who does the will of the Father. Also those
who do what He commands, because the Son and the Father are one.
Actions speak louder than words. It works that way for us all. If a spouse tells us they love us all the time and then go out and cheat, the love isn’t very sincere. However, if that spouse shows constant love to the other and says nothing, it is much more sincere. Of course I encourage everyone to both say and show their spouse that they love them.
Jesus is our friend and we need to treat Him like a real one. Not a fictional character we’ve been told about.
This part could have also been named, “Does Jesus bring up rewards much and therefore should we find it important?”
Matthew 5:12 – 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 10:41-42- 41 Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s
reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”
Matthew 6:1-6 – 1 “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
When someone tells someone to be careful and not jump in the fire, people take that person seriously.
When someone tells someone to not jump off a 100 foot cliff, once again they take that person seriously. However when Christians try to tell each other we need to be in the Word of God and we need to work for our Lord, they don’t want to hear it or take it seriously.
We’re warned that these things on this earth will pass away. Don’t put all your time and efforts into it. We’re also told by someone we can trust that great is your reward, just love Me, and serve Me, not yourself.
So what are the treasures and rewards? They’re beyond our imagination. However, by faith we work towards them. God loves when we put our faith and trust in Him. Do you trust Him?
So what attitude do we need to have? What do we need to do?
2 Corinthians 4:18 – 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
It’s forever. Forever is so long and that this life will seem like a distant memory that many cherish so much.
Isaiah 65:17 – 17 “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.
Our King has some encouraging words for us that we best be taking seriously.
Revelation 22:12 – “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.
He’s closer now than ever.
Revelation 22:20 – 20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Someone recently asked me to give them an example of a treasure I am storing in Heaven.
Here’s the deal. This is not a cop out. I think Paul says it best.
1 Corinthians 2:9 – 9 However, as it is written:
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”
Do you know what the greatest thing is that you would ever enjoy? Do you know what would be the best reward you could ever receive? Can you imagine something being enjoyed 100 times more than the greatest thing you have enjoyed on this earth?
God made us. We have gone through a fall. We’re in malfunction mode with our minds and bodies.
The only thing that resembles how were supposed to be is when we are in tuned with the Holy Spirit and the things of God.
Yet even in a fallen state, we still know when we are enjoying something and when were not. However, we don’t always know what were going to enjoy many times until were experiencing it.
There is someone that knows you from top to bottom. He knows your likes and your dislikes even more than you know them yourself.
You see you enjoy things because that’s how you are programmed. It’s not a fluke. When we smell a fragrance we like it is enjoyable. Why? Because God made us that way. He knows what will make you happy and He knows what will make you sad.
When the Lord is going to give a reward, trust me, you’re going to really enjoy the reward. On the flip side, when people aren’t getting any, it will be a somber and sad time. Unlike getting an award for an activity on this earth, many times you have to be one of the best. To be rewarded by the Lord you just have to love Him and work hard for Him.
1 Corinthians 3:12-15 – 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
You see there is saved and then there is rewards. Is it important?
Matthew 16:27 – 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
If Jesus mentions rewards all the time Himself then rest assured, it’s important.
Tomorrow we will go over some of those verses.
Micah 1:1-5 – 1 In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it.
2 Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
4 Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken.
5 All the nations may walk in the name of their gods; we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.
This will happen after Armageddon. Justice will take place for those who still remain on this earth. Our Lord will sit on the throne. The Jews will have their Messiah and King just as promised and they will accept Him this time.
What about the Church? I believe the church gets raptured before the tribulation, has the Wedding
Supper of the Lamb and comes back with Him at Armageddon. As heirs we get a chance to help our Lord
when He rules and reigns during the millennium. Our citizenship will be in heaven and I believe we will be able to help on this earth. We’ll have a new body that will allow us to do this, that will be like His glorious body.
Philippians 3:20-21 – 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Romans 8:17 –17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
2Timothy 2:11-12 –11 Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us;
I can’t think of anything much more exciting than being able to help our King in His glory in those days.
Notice it says “also reign” with him, not “and reign.” We need to do our best to serve our Lord. It appears that participation in helping the Lord reign may be part of the rewards, which goes beyond saved by grace.
We need to serve our Lord always.
Psalm 146:3-4 – 3 Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. 4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.
I think the part that sticks out on this psalm is the part about saving. The Psalmist understood this back in the Old Testament. We read about it so much in the New and we see that the Jews weren’t focussing on that part when looking for the Messiah in the Old, that we tend to forget that they still had the concept. Mortal man cannot save and the elite of this world still return to the ground like everyone else.
Who can save the soul of a man? Only the Lord can save the soul of a man.
It’s not as easy of just pardoning this one and not that one. The Lord is just and there are rules. The wages of sin is death.
Romans 6:23 – 23 For the wages of sin is death, ………….
Somebody had to pay the wage. God did in the form of the Son.
Romans 6:23 –………but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Somebody had to die. God chose to take the place for sinners, who now will accept His sacrifice
in the place of their own?
Who is willing? Who is willing to make Him Lord and not themselves? Who is willing to come back from the separation that was and is still caused by pride?
If you haven’t done so, I have a page that will not only run you through on how to do that, but another page next to it explaining why we need to do it. Please don’t let another day pass if you don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
1Timothy 6:6-7 – 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.
The world chases after wealth. Who chases after wealth to in the end share it all with others, or gives it almost all away? Who of those people serve the Lord more than chase after riches?
The reality of it is; the devil offers wealth, power, fame, drugs and many types of sexual sin as his main tools to lure people away from a close relationship with the Lord, or from finding one at all.
Matthew 6:19-21- 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:24- 24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Matthew 6:31-33 – 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
These are just a few of many verses. Serve God now and the reward will be waiting for you at the end of the race. Serve ourselves now and don’t live for the Lord or try and do His will or work and we jeopardize that reward. Not an easy concept in this have it all now world we find ourselves in.
2 Corinthians 3:3-6 –3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
4 Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
The letter of the law was written on stone. The idea was not to break the law.
Today Christ has sent the Holy Spirit and Jesus the Word needs to be written in our hearts. The strength is from the Holy Spirit and letting Him dwell in you.
There’s not enough room for the Holy Spirit and someone bent on doing their own thing and following their own desires. Too much of that and there becomes a vacancy. There becomes a lot of knocking at the door from the Spirit so He can try to get back in and clean up the house some more.
What’s really sad is He is always right there, were the ones crowding Him out at times.
When we turn ourselves over to the truth and seek it, we are now capable of being ministers of this new covenant. Truth. There’s a lot of people out there ministering in these last days, but for many there is no truth in it.
It’s not cryptic. It’s in all our Bibles. Most sold all time book and the least read per capita.
If you want to know the Lord better, read his Word. If you want to help others get to know Him, you better read His Word. If you want the Lord to be able to use you, read his Word.
If I gave you GPS, compass, map, water, food, matches, gun, bullets, and dropped you fifty miles in the forest, you would probably find your way out if you use the stuff. Almost everyone should. However,
if you take the pack that has it all in it and never open it up, you’re in trouble.
Same goes for the Word of God. You are living in a battle for your heart. If you’re not covered in the Armor of God, you’re going to be in serious trouble.
We make the choice to serve God, or not. We make the choice to work for the Lord, or not. It matters.