The Blessing Of Answered Prayer - Matthew 15:2

But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” - Matthew 15:25

    In the fifteenth chapter of Matthew we are introduced to the “Canaanite woman.” In Mark, chapter seven, she is referred to as the “Syrophoenician woman.” She approached Jesus, pleading with Him to cure her daughter who was oppressed by a demon. Christ initially refused to take up the woman’s case which led to this exchange. “And he answered, ‘It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.’ She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.’” - Matthew 15:26-27. What followed is perhaps one of Christ’s greatest and most notable responses to the exhibition of true faith -   “Then Jesus answered her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.” - Matthew 15:28.
    This particular instance is a true example of how God responds to unquestionable faith as shown by our devout and impassioned prayers. This woman’s supplication to Jesus illustrates what the Apostle James means when he says - “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” - James 5:16(b).
    The woman, despite the fact that she was a Gentile, placed her undying faith in Jesus. She knelt before Him and presented her supplication to Him. What is more important is the sheer audacity of her faith. Even after Jesus (and His apostles) tried to dissuade her from continuing her request, she boldly pressed forth her insistence that Christ deliver her daughter from demonic oppression. Jesus saw it as undefiled faith even though she was neither a Jew nor a disciple.
    Prayer, by its very nature, demands that we engage in it wholeheartedly and without reservation. We cannot approach God with our lifeless and lethargic supplications. We must come to Him with an attitude of repentance and acceptance of Jesus as LORD and Savior, not merely savior alone. Scripture tells us - “We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.” - John 9:31. Here the Bible is speaking of ‘unrepentant sinners,’ those who pray in one moment then rub a magic lamp in the next.
    We are given precise instructions if we are to have our prayers heard. “. . . if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” - 2 Chronicles 7:14. There is no confusion or ambiguity here: God will respond to those who seek Him in faith.
    Holy Scripture is straightforward as to the prerequisites for answered prayer and we are to be patient, waiting for God in His time to answer our requests. Certainly, we may be in a hurry. Our situations may demand a prompt response but God moves in His own time and no man can hurry the hand of the Lord. “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” - Psalm 27:14.
    We must remember that there are clearly defined requirements for prayer to be considered by God. Praying to ‘the universe’ or some Wiccan abomination will not result in answered prayers. Praying in some cultic ritual will not bring a satisfactory answer. We must pray to the one Triune God of the Bible if we are to hold onto hope for answers to our prayers and follow the course of acceptable prayer. “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.” - Psalm 34:17.
    Finally, the Apostle Paul reminds us to be persistent, as persistent as the Canaanite woman who would not be turned away from her one quest, from her one plea, from her one prayer. ‘Lord, help me!’ Let us always “ . . .  pray without ceasing . . .” - 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

In God’s Own Time - Psalm 104:5

He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. - Psalm 104:5

    Disallowing for man’s fertile imagination and cinematic license, the very notion that our planet is vulnerable to destruction from a large asteroid or comet is the stuff of myths, pure science ‘fiction.’ One simply has to question, if the earth is truly as old as science declares it is, why do we not look like the moon? Keep in mind that the distance between the earth and the moon is a mere 238,900 miles, a ‘stone’s throw’ in cosmic terms. How could all of those impacts have left their marks on the moon, turning it into a barren dust ball in space and, somehow miraculously missed the earth? The answer, as most scientists explain, is a cluster of suppositions and theories, none of which can be confirmed.
    According to the latest numbers, the earth is approximately 4.543 billion years old. And so is the moon. “And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.” - Genesis 1:16.
    Science insists, to the point of ridiculing Christian ‘young-earth creationism,’ that both the earth and the moon are of equal age. Yet, if the scientists are correct, the moon is pockmarked and scarred far beyond what it must have looked like in it’s cosmic infancy. In the meantime, for over four-billion years (according to man’s finite wisdom) the earth has gradually become vibrant and full of life, with barely a nick in its foundation. According to science, life not only manifested itself on earth but evolved into other life forms all the while the moon was being battered and cratered by celestial bodies which miraculously always seemed to ‘miss the earth,’ All this, despite its proximity to the moon. “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” - Job 12:7-10.
    So what has kept the earth alive in its orbit around the sun for over four billion years? The simplest and most accurate answer is - the providence of God. To deny it is not only heretical but blasphemous as well. What on earth do we have that God has not provided for us? Even science tells us that the earth enjoys a ‘unique’ set of cosmic circumstances that allowed life to manifest itself after a period of time had elapsed. In fact, our most brilliant scientists have yet to discover even one other planet that has the same (or similar) life producing and life-sustaining conditions. To what do we owe this unique set of circumstances? “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” - Romans 11:36.
    A careful reading of Holy Scripture reveals to us that in the end days we will, in fact, experience cosmic destruction at a level unheard of in the annals of mankind’s science. Rest assured that when the cataclysm of the heavens takes place, God is surely coming. “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” - Luke 21:25-27. Such cosmic destruction will not mean the earth is destined to be struck and moved off its foundations. It will mean the coming of the Lord.
    Many will scoff and laugh at the truths revealed to us in Holy Scripture but God’s holy word is truth, regardless of man’s insolent and arrogant temerity in his own science. The faithful need not fear man’s faulty equations or thinking. Man is man but God is God. “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” - Colossians 1:17. Regardless of the science, the earth was created and maintained by God’s hand and will remain firm on its foundation until God, not mankind, decides the end time has come.

No Dice - 1 Corinthians 10:21

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. - 1 Corinthians 10:21

    The human foible of being ‘double-minded’ has left an indelible scar on mankind’s most noble efforts. Countless are the wrecks of good intention because of hesitancy at the last moment. Hedging ourselves by investing our time and energy in two different directions has never worked to bring about a Godly result and the Bible tells us to commit ourselves to the Lord. “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” - James 4:8
    Perhaps it is best to start our understanding of what God requires of us by going back to the source, ‘ad fontes.’ The First Commandment spells out our duty to God in simple measure - “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” - Deuteronomy 5:6-7. Very simply, we must not allow, seek, or accept anything but the one holy triune God of Scripture as the sovereign Lord of all creation. We must not roll the dice, read the cards, or throw our fates at anything but the will of our Lord. Our unadulterated allegiance must be to God and God alone. “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” - Proverbs 16:3. It doesn’t matter how generous or noble our human effort might be; if it is not wrought by the will of God, it is the work of demons. “But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” - Romans 14:23.
    By way of example, there is a scene from the 1999 film, “The Mummy” where Benny, a traitorous scoundrel, is approached by the monster and immediately starts pulling up talisman after talisman from a necklace he wears. Symbol after symbol he holds for a moment as he prays according to that particular belief, first Christian, then, Buddhist, then Hebrew, seeking one and only thing: to save himself. Ultimately, near the end of the film, Benny succumbs to his terrifying fate because he was a double-minded truly godless individual. There is a profound lesson in the character’s uncommitted position, one we should all heed. “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” - James 1:6-8.
    History, if anything, has proven time and time again that mankind is constantly seeking to gain an advantage over the forces of nature and himself by whatever means necessary. Man, in his natural state, gives allegiance only to that which he believes will serve him and his purposes; a testament to our self-serving hearts, well attested to in Genesis 3. “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” - Genesis 3:6.
    Holy Scripture tells us that God will not suffer our pride and hardness of heart forever. His patience is limited and rubbing the filth of our fickle hearts in His face will not long stand His divine judgment. We have all been commanded to - “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” - James 4:8.
    God will always be quick to forgive us if we come to Him in genuine humility and repentance, recognizing Him alone as Lord and Savior. And that fact needs no flip of the card or roll of the dice. It is our guarantee. It is our heavenly assurance.    

Boasting In Christ Alone - 2 Corinthians 10:17

 “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. - 2 Corinthians 10:17-18

    It is all too often that we hear the bluster of one who is intent upon persuading both himself and us of his devotion to his faith. How ‘good’ a person he or she is. How many confessions? How often he worships? How often he reads his Bible? His position in the church as Bible school teacher. It often sounds as though he is trying to convince the world of his sanctity. It seems to be all about what he or she has done. It’s all about what they perceive to be their ‘Christian ranking’. What they and we often forget is that we have a Christian duty to act in a Christian manner; it is part and parcel of our having been justified. “For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” - 1 Corinthians 9:16. We aren’t Christians because we do these things. We do these things because we are Christians! It’s part of our sanctification process. Like a school student, we are not to be exalted because we passed our tests; it is our duty as students to pass our tests.
    The Apostle, James put his finger upon the critical issue: the truly Godly do not boast in their Christian behavior. Only the legalists among us will perpetrate such a sinful attitude. All our boasting in ourselves amounts to nothing more than sin. “As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” - James 4:16.
    How insincere would we be if we were given something of inestimable value by our parents and we bragged to our friends how we obtained it for ourselves? What an outright lie it would be to tell others how hard we worked for what we have received by grace alone? How dare we brag about a possession as though we had earned it when, in fact, we did no such thing?
    Perhaps we forget at times that we are saved by God’s grace because while we were still living in our sin, He chose us. Understanding this, our salvation comes to us as a gift of our faith. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” - Ephesians 2:8-9.
    The only reason we could boast about the things we have done would be if our salvation was earned by our good works. We cannot earn them. Nor can our carnal works add anything to the justification we receive through the death of Christ Jesus. It is through Christ and Christ alone that we are saved from eternity in hell. To say otherwise cheapens Jesus’ death on the cross. To say otherwise suggests that in some way we contribute to our salvation, as though Christ’s death was insufficient
    We are saved only by the goodness of God through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. We can only boast of this and never of ourselves. “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” - Titus 3:4-6.
    As we live our lives in Christ let us always remember the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made to save us from our sinful ways and respond in obedience to Him and the word of God. That is the Good News of the Gospel: Jesus did it all for us so that we can not boast in ourselves. We could never earn our place in Paradise. Jesus earned it for us so let us boast in Him and in Him alone.

A Sad State, Indeed - Deuteronomy 6:7

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. - Deuteronomy 6:7

    Recently, The State of Theology 2020 was published and I must sadly say, theology is not in a very good state. Starting with the response of U.S. adults to the very first statement - Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God. - 52% agree vs. 36% disagree. You read it right. The majority of adults questioned, responded that yes, Christ was a great teacher but He was not ‘God.’ Based on this statement response alone, is it any wonder that our children have no solid grounding if the Christian faith today?
    So whose fault is it that our children have no truthful concept of God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, or anything applying to the Christian faith? Some are quick to cast the dereliction upon society and modern culture in general as Christianity is scoffed at in the public forum. True. Others blame the school system since daily prayer and religious teaching has been removed from the curriculum. True. Peer pressure is also pointed to as a reason for the nations (and the world’s) godlessness. Also true. But while these scapegoats truly do play a large part in our children’s failure to know and love God, they are not the primary cause of theological ignorance today. No, the truth is even far more insidious.
    The leading reason our children are ignorant of faith today is the same reason they may not show courtesy or common table manners - we parents have failed to teach them! “For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things.” - 1 Timothy 4:10-11. It is up to us parents to teach and guide our children in the Christian faith. If we fail to set the example, how can we blame the culture? We are even warned of the penalty for leaving our children without faith in God. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” - Matthew 18:5-6.
    But what of our parents? Can’t the blame be placed upon them because they didn’t teach us? Our parents will be judged for their sins and their sins alone; we will be judged for ours. Truth be told,  as human beings, all of us have some inclination of God and His providence. It is we who have chosen to ignore the truth of His holy word. It is we who refuse to honor the Lord’s Day as a family by attending services to glorify Him. It is we who leave our children to their own devices to dabble in the occult, to worship false idols, to entertain themselves rather than learn of God. Why? Perhaps the most common reason is that we view devout saving faith as an obstruction to worldly success. I mean, let’s face it: we all want our children to be successful in life, don’t we? And since the world is enmity with God, why would we want our children to face the uphill battle of succeeding in such a world while professing ardent faith in God? The reason is because this worldly life is not all there is. There is life after this corrupt and vile world.
    “I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.” - Psalm 78:2-4. Rather than pointing the finger of blame at our parents or their parents, we must today, at this very moment, take responsibility to teach our children well; to take them to church with us; to ensure that our children know that we have not been put in this world by ‘accident.’ It is up to us to set the examples our children grow to live by and share in turn with their children.
    Neither we nor our children should be so ignorant of Christ that we see Him as merely a teacher. Jesus Christ is God, the second person of the Holy Trinity.

The Turning Of God’s Providence - Psalm 40:5

You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told. - Psalm 40:5

Ever count your blessings? If not, you should sit down sometime and begin by writing, starting with your own birth, the parents you were given, and slowly and considerately working your way up to the present day, marking every blessing God has ever bestowed upon you. Trust me: you will neither remember them all nor list them all before your hand cramps from clutching that pen. “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:19.
It is truly incredible when one considers the blessings we receive daily. From rising in the morning to our meals for the day to our very health. In a single day, we might not be able to ‘count our blessings.’ Even when we think that things are not going well, we have His assurance that all things will turn out for the best. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” - Romans 8:28. And here begins the turning upon which all our blessings depend.
I recall from my own sordid past many were my inclinations and intentions, and just as many failed miserably. Had I given it any thought at the time I would have come to the conclusion that I was not very blessed. However, I was surely experiencing God’s providence, a ‘turning providence.’ God was using the tribulations and failures of my carnal life to turn me towards more blessed goals, to turn me towards Him. As the late Scottish theologian, John J. Murray said, “People are usually anxious to get rid of the problem than they are to find the purpose of God in it.” No matter what our circumstance, no matter our troubles, God’s purpose is to turn us to true faith in Him.
There is no situation in life that doesn’t have a lesson attached to it. The situation may be pleasant or it can be troublesome and even painful. But even the tribulations we are often exposed to are meant to benefit us in the long run because much of what God does is best seen in the long view of life. I can vouch for that. If we truly want to experience the greatest blessings available to us there is one thing we must do. “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” - Matthew 6:31-33. The answer to turning God’s providence our way is to seek Him!
This doesn’t mean that all we have to do is throw God’s holy name into a list of desires like it is some magical incantation. We need to understand first that everything we receive and obtain in this life is from God. “John answered, ‘A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.’” - John 3:27. To receive such blessings we must have faith in God for without faith we might as well just roll the dice. We must ask ourselves if that is really how we want to hedge the circumstances of our lives. Will we leave it to chance rather than trust in God?
The reality of the blessings we receive is clear - “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” - James 1:17. We must trust that God is seeking the best outcome for our lives. But without true faith in Him, all we will receive is what anyone else receives through the common blessings bestowed upon all men, good and evil. “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” - Matthew 5:44-45.
Our only real hope is through trusting our very lives to God through true faith. This is the way God’s providence turns. “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” - Hebrews 11:6. The blessings and good providence of God are truly too many to count.

Deliverance From Evil - Mark 5:1-5

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. - Mark 5:1-5

A sad and truly terrifying commentary on today’s world can be seen daily in our news stories, whether in print or on the internet. Some of the reports are too sinister and disturbing to repeat here. Suffice to say that the psychopathy prowling our streets is not an aberration but a routine happenstance in our Godless society. We have been warned. “This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.” - Ecclesiastes 9:3.
Evil, age-old evil, is a concept few today want to acknowledge. The  ‘enlightened minds’ mock the very notion and insist it reeks of superstition and medieval ignorance yet for the life of them, they cannot explain the malevolent acts of man. Evil in modern parlance is described as having been born of genetic defects, harsh environmental elements, abuse, and any number of mitigating issues. The idea is to support the humanist notion that man is born basically good.
It is true that adverse factors affect men differently. Not everyone who endures physical abuse as a child grows up to be a Charles Manson or a Jeffrey Dahmer. So what drives one man to become a serial murderer rather than a law enforcement officer? The answer is simple: evil.
There is a corruption that inhabits all men to varying degrees. We Christians refer to it as the sin nature of man. It prevails over our strongest attempts to curtail it, reroute it, or suppress it when we try to do so in our own human strength. It is only through regeneration by the Holy Spirit and the faith that blossoms thereof that we have any control at all. The evil that men do comes not from God but from our rejection of God. “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” - Romans 1:21.
There is no such thing as a spiritual vacuum. Our souls will be filled with one of two things; either God or the devil. From birth, we have the original sin or ‘total depravity’ to deal with in our lives. Total depravity doesn’t mean that we are as sinful as we can possibly be. It means that there is no part of our humanity that has not been touched by sin. Just like all things in God’s universe, there are degrees of evil. For one person, it is lying to avoid having an embarrassing incident revealed. For another, it is kidnapping and murdering an innocent victim. But we should not make any mistakes: the devil is indeed alive and active in our lives unless we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. “. . .  because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” - Romans 10:9.  If we fail to confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, we are as lost as the demoniac of Gerasenes.
Tethered to sinful humanity in our lives, we are entombed like unclean spirits, forever wandering in our transgressions. The evil that corrupts the murderer is the same evil that corrupts the thief, the liar, or the sexually immoral. The devil never rests and he is present at every Sunday service as he roams the world looking for souls to devour. He seeks the spiritually distracted. Even the devil’s nuances are specifically designed to divert, confuse, and reroute us, rather than allow us to turn to Christ. We must leave our corrupt tombs and seek Christ.
The evil that lies dormant in our hearts is only a breath away from manifesting itself in ways that no man has the strength to subdue. It is only by the common grace of God that we stay one step ahead of the devil. Let us seek God today, this very hour, now!