The Times That Try Men’s Souls - Psalm 42:11

   
Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God. - Psalm 42:11


    To quote the great American patriot and founder, Thomas Paine, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” We cannot go a day without worrying about some aspect of our daily lives in this blessed country that we are doubly-blessed to call, “home.” Whether it is the birth rate, the crime rate, the tax rate, or the death rate, we worry! Our days are full of anxiety. Believers and unbelievers. Christians, Muslims, Jews, and people of every other faith are concerned where this world is heading. But why? God is sovereign; He is in control. “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’” - Isaiah 46:10.
    No matter how tomorrow turns out, God is in control! Everything that happens does so because God had planned it from the beginning. Nothing is left to chance. There is no such thing! “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” - Proverbs 16:33.
    It may be our best day; it may be our worst day, but the day we spend, we spend at the bidding of our Lord. It may bring sickness or health. It may bring wealth or poverty. And we know all too well, it may bring life or it may bring death. But we also know that for those who hope and praise God, life has promise, life has purpose. “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.” Romans 8:28.
    How then can we honestly feel ‘cast down’ or ‘disquieted, ever?” Of course, things could have turned out better. We could have been born shorter or taller, richer or poorer, stronger or weaker. We could have gotten that promotion or that raise. We could have placed in a high honors school or landed that sweet job. But know this: we are where God wants us to be because He is responsible for putting us here! Sure, we sat for the test or we did that little extra, worked a little harder, or even prayed a little harder. But what we have and where we find ourselves is where God wants us to be! We should hope in Him and praise Him for all we have been blessed with. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” - James 1:17.
    In our title verse, the Psalmist is rebuking himself for its feelings of disquietude. He insists he will continue to hope in God and praise Him despite his own soul being cast down. To do that in the face of challenge or tribulation requires faith with a capital F. But one who has hope in God and continuously praises Him need not feel cast sown or disquieted.
    There will always be naysayers and complainers because they don’t feel they got a fair shake. Brothers and sisters, believe me; when it comes to God treatment of our lives, we truly don’t want “fair.” If God gave us what is fair we would all be weeping and gnashing our teeth. What we want from God, what we pray for is His mercy! “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,  not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,  whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,  that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” - Titus 3:4-7.
    So regardless of the task before us, the tribulations we face, or the times we live in let always and everywhere hope in God and praise Him.

Lost & Found: The Truth Reformed - John 17:17

Lost & Found: The Truth Reformed - John 17:17:  Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. - John 17:17     It has been said of Christians that we not only need to know what we b...

The Truth Reformed - John 17:17

 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. - John 17:17

    It has been said of Christians that we not only need to know what we believe but “why” we believe it. For the unbeliever, the trouble is not that we believe in the God of the Bible; they’ve both seen and heard our contentions. The biggest objection I am ever faced with is not about “what I believe,” but “why I believe it.” My stock answer has always been and always will be  - “because it is the truth!” And therein lies the problem. Most unbelievers don’t believe in absolute truth. As relativists, they want to stick to the erroneous idea that “what is true for you isn’t necessarily true for me.” “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” - Judges 21:25.
    The problem for unbelievers is that God’s truth would be fine for them if it allowed them the latitude they like to live their own way, unfettered by God’s rules. That’s why so many people either ignore the Bible altogether or carefully cherry-pick those parts they agree with and shed those parts they find objectionable. They are willing to go to any extent rather than admit that God’s holy words ring truth! “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting . . . .” - Romans 1:28.
    Obviously, for these unbelievers, nothing we can say will convince them of those things which they refuse to believe. They have hardened their hearts and minds to God’s enduring truth. They remain in this state of sin because, “having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.” - Ephesians 4:18. These are people who, in this state of sinfulness, are without hope. Only the Holy Spirit is able to change their hearts and unless the Spirit does so they will die in their sin.
    Another consideration unbelievers most often fail to perceive is the fact that the truth is insensitive; it doesn’t care whether they like it or not. It is still the truth. For some convoluted reason, many people believe that for the truth to be genuine, it must also be palatable or at the very least, something they can agree with. They all fail to understand that regardless of their refusal to hear the truth, it remains clear and fearsome. “Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.” - Psalm 86:11.
    As we celebrate Reformation Day, let us acknowledge that God’s truth is what Martin Luther declared to the world on October 31, 1517. Without encumbrances, we can believe in the truth of God’s holy word as revealed to us in the Bible. Sola scriptura, Sola fide, Sola gratia, Solo Christo, and Soli Deo Gloria. By scripture alone, through faith alone, by grace alone, through Christ alone, for the glory of God alone, the truth is Reformed!

Lost & Found: The Face In The Mirror - Luke 5:8

Lost & Found: The Face In The Mirror - Luke 5:8: When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man , O Lord!” - Luke 5:8     A genuine ...

The Face In The Mirror - Luke 5:8

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” - Luke 5:8

    A genuine introspection in relation to our holy God should bring us to our knees in humble, contrite, and repentant sorrow. If it does not then we are not taking a good look at ourselves or we simply have a low view of God. However, it’s not our eyes that are the problem but our hearts. “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” - Matthew 15:19.
    There are many people who simply don’t believe this. They tell themselves that they have never contemplated truly evil thoughts, a thought or word of anger from time to time, but evil, true evil? Mark the words of James the Apostle - “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” - James 2:10.
    One need only consider him or her self, relative to a holy God to see ourselves in the harsh light our thoughts, words, and deeds. When the yardstick is the holiness of God, our shame must be as mortifying and as painful as Peter’s. It is only through heartfelt contrition and repentance that we can, like the tax collector say, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” - Matthew 18:13.
    The concept of “holy” as defined by Donald K. McKim is “being spiritually whole, well, pure, or perfect.” Which of us can look in the mirror and claim those attributes for ourselves? There is only one existing entity in the universe that meets those criteria and that entity is the God of the Bible. “God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne.” - Psalm 47:8. Unless we hold a high view of the holiness of God we cannot begin to comprehend the sinfulness of our lives.
    The title verse is preceded by the account of Jesus telling Peter and the others to go back out in their boats after spending all night fishing and coming up empty. After a moment’s hesitation, Peter relented upon Christ’s command. Soon their nets were so full of fish that they were actually tearing. It was upon seeing this that Peter uttered the title verse. Peter recognized the holiness of the Lord and in so doing saw his own shortcomings as a mere mortal man. What will it take for us to achieve that same understanding? The birth of a child? The sought-after promotion at work? A physical healing? That hard fought for graduate’s degree? The safe return of a service member from deployment or a police officer’s safe  return from his or her shift? A net full of fish?
    God doesn’t skimp on His providence for us. Every good thing we have we received from the benevolence of God Almighty. We have nothing that our great God hasn’t given us. Whether it be talent, aptitude, wisdom, physical prowess or any other gift. It is from God! “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” - James 1:17.
    When we are blessed enough to see this, we are forced to ask that perennial question - “Why me, Lord?” And upon that consideration we should humbly thank God for the grace He has bestowed upon us, despite our sinful natures. Let us all come to God with reverent and contrite hearts. “All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” - Isaiah 66:2-3.
    These are the words of a holy God and unless we see Him as holy we cannot see Him at all. Unrepentant, all we see is the muddied reflection of ourselves staring back at us. Unrepentant, we are alone, staring at the innate sinfulness of the face in the mirror.

Lost & Found: Deliverance From Evil - Genesis 3:1

Lost & Found: Deliverance From Evil - Genesis 3:1: Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said...

Deliverance From Evil - Genesis 3:1

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” - Genesis 3:1

    Now some will contend that the voice of Satan was allegorical. I won’t submit otherwise but only to say that the voice Eve heard, whether allegorically, literally, or in her head, was indeed the voice of Satan, as is the voice we hear that prompts us to sin. Be that as it may, we must understand unequivocally: Genesis 3 is the origin of mankind’s stake in spiritual warfare.
    I am thoroughly convinced that the devil can so control the thoughts, words, and deeds of a man or a woman that their deliverance can only be wrought by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. There is no psychological, psychiatric, or pharmacological remedy. There is only the Spirit of Jesus Christ. A jail sentence is merely a penalty. True conviction can only be given by the Holy Spirit. Therein lies deliverance.
    “And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him.” - Mark 5:2-4. I refer to Mark’s account of the Gerasene demoniac because of the Apostle’s straight-forward writing style. He doesn’t mince words.
    The symbolism contained in the Gerasene account cannot be minimized. Here we see a man whose behavior was described as that of an “unclean spirit.” He lived among the tombs (the dead) as do all who have not been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. And despite his being bound with shackles and chains (laws and convention), he broke them all and no one could tame his impulses (thoughts, words, and deeds). His “possession,” as it were, was uncontrollable and unbound.
    Consider again our title verse - the cunning of the serpent. The devil and his demonic army is no junior varsity team. They are smarter than we are. They know our weaknesses and how to exploit them. And they are extremely successful doing so. Consider the temptation of Christ in the wilderness - “Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple.” - Matthew 4:5. Yes, the devil is that powerful! There are two trains of thought regarding this incident. One, suggests that Satan literally took Christ to the temple, while a second suggests that it occurred only in Christ’s mind. Regardless of the view, what is of the most import is that the devil was capable of such a task. And if Satan was able to move Christ to the temple, where can he move us to?
    There will be many who laugh and suggest I am giving too much credit to an evil spiritual entity, assuming that such an entity even exists. The Bible assures us . . . it does and it is dangerous. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” - 1 Peter 5:8.
    Satan uses the beautiful, enjoyable, and delicious things in life to entice us to sin. He did so from the beginning and he does so now. After all, if sin was not pleasurable who would entertain the thought of it let alone enter into it? “So when the woman saw that the tree was for food, pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” - Genesis 3:6. We see that sin appears desirable and not only draws us into it but encourages us to draw others into it.
    Before coming to Christ we are as unbridled horses running at full speed toward perdition and destruction. This is the direct result of our fallen or sin nature and it is groomed and fed by none other than Satan himself. The devil doesn’t have to work too hard to move us in his direction. Nothing short of a divine intervention can possibly save us from ourselves. This is the curse of Genesis 3. Again, faith in Christ is the only remedy.
    There is evil in the world. To deny this is not only naive but dangerous. The savagery of fallen man knows no limit. History, whether written by the victor or the vanquished, is the story of man’s evil disposition toward himself or one another. There is only one response to evil and that is the presence of Jesus Christ. “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. Christ has defeated death itself; we need never fear.