portion | considering the word

Pr. 21:29: “A wicked man hardens his face, but as for the upright, he establishes his way.”

Yesterday we talked about our beautiful feet, and how our lives, that point to Jesus, preach. (You have beautiful feet) Notice the catch there? When our lives point to Jesus, we preach His gospel. When our lives do not, well…

Sometimes I preach fear. Didn’t God say He gave us a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind? Sometimes I’m so tired that it would almost seem like my strength doesn’t come from the Lord. Sometimes I worry so much that I appear to have no Provider that faithfully supplies all my needs.

When we our willingly living in sin, we point others to satan. When we allow bondage and temptation to drive our actions, we are preaching something other than the freedoms that come from Christ. When we talk only about things gone wrong in our lives or our world, we preach that praise is not our weapon. When we don’t open our Bibles to seek or our mouths to pray, we preach that we have no need of a Savior.

If our actions preach, then we need to be very aware of which actions we are choosing. We must not harden our hearts or faces. Ro. 12:1 begs that we present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God; reminding us that this is our reasonable service.

When we establish our way, our actions will reflect that choice. We must not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds, that we may prove (preach) what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

God will renew our minds daily when we spend time with Him. His mercies are new each morning. He is the portion we need every day, and when we have established our way in Him we can have the strong assurance in the hope we have in Him. With that, our lives will preach the gospel of peace…the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Established,

jamie

You’ve heard that pride comes before the fall. In my reading today I saw more than one example of this. In Ps. 73, Asaph is confessing how he began envying sinners. “Pride served as their necklace,” he said. They were successful, prosperous, glamorous. He was thinking that if they have it so easy and have such abundance, then surely he had cleansed his heart in vain, giving His life over to God.

Then, however, he went into the sanctuary of God and understood their end. God’s Word is true, and those who trust in the lusts of the flesh, lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life are trusting in the world and not in the Father. “This world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:17. Surely they will receive their reward.

Likewise, in Pr. 9:13-18 there is a foolish and prideful woman who is so bold in her pride that she sits at the highest place of the city calling out to those who pass, “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” Isn’t this just was sin and lust do? They are bold, crying out to us that they are pleasant…just as they did to Asaph.

Asaph questioned if it would just be better to give in, act like the world, turn His back on His suffering for Christ. For every man who gave into the clamorous woman; however, we are told, “he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of hell.” That is the truth of giving in to sin. It may seem pleasant, it may sound delightful, it may even promise wonderful things, but the truth is that it leads to hell.

Asaph, upon realizing this same truth, said, “For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry. But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Your works.”

Serving and trusting in the Lord means we are submitting our lives to the One about which Asaph said, “You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.” We have a great reward awaiting us. Lusts and pride of this world tempts us to give in, but we must remember that its end is death.

“My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Asaph. “Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He has promised us–eternal life.” 1 John 2:24-25

Keep trusting in God,

jamie