Scripture Treasures

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ~ Romans 8:31 Sometimes in our speech we use the word “if” in a doubting way. Such as to say, “If she were to do what she planned,” or “If he would stop…”. We are saying here that she may not do what she had planned, and he may not stop whatever activity we hoped he would. It is a big ambiguous question. The “if” used here is not ambiguous. It is certain and assuring. God is with and for his people; we do belong to him and he does approve of us. And, God will help us, and be of great use to us for our advantage. Therefore, who can be against us? Who can actually be against us? All the enemy can do is limited and confined, because all they can do is at the disposal of God. Satan cannot prevail against us. Second, mankind which is servant to Satan’s control cannot prevail in all their attempts against us or the Church, for God is omnipotent! God is not only omnipotent, but he is immutab...

“The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him ~ Exodus 15:2 This is a song of praise, rising up from Moses and the children of Israel. They have been freed from slavery to the Egyptians, they have crossed the Red Sea to safety, and now, they exalt the God who from His divinity has rescued them. They have overcome their enemy, they have been strengthened and have gained courage in their victory; He is their salvation. Christ is our strength, we who are the spiritual Israel. He gives strength to our lives, our hearts, and strength to do His will and His work. It is not always easy. We may feel people are against us, and perhaps some are. We will face temptations of all sorts that we have to overcome. We may have to bear up under extreme cases of affliction or persecution. None of this we do alone, for we have a strong Strengthener and Defender in Jesus Christ. He is my salvation, He ...

So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty ~ Zechariah 4:6 I have written before how we try to use our own “might and power” when it comes to having confidence in our accomplishments. We instrumentally try to affect the outcome of our circumstances, through our “might and power” of control. For some, this is a security measure. They cannot cope with the changes which may alter their plans, and so, they try to create the ending they desire. In this way though, we try to substitute our temporal means for the work of the Holy Spirit, or God’s glory. We then can boast, just as was sung in the old Frank Sinatra song, “I did it my way.” But, my way is not the best way! The only source of spiritual prosperity is through the work, the efficient work, of the Holy Spirit of God. It is He who transforms our character into the image of Jesus Christ. It is through Him we overcome the world and its evil...

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead ~ Philippians 3:10, 11 “I want to know Christ” - that is what makes me a Christ follower! I want to know Him, to understand, to experience His nature and character and His work in a way that shows me clearly who He is so that I can mirror Him. I want to know in the depths of my being the salvation He has worked out for me and the power that lies within it. How, in my own mind and heart does His death impact me and my life? How do I now sense the hope of immortality because of His saving grace and His resurrection from the dead? This is what makes Him like no other – that He was raised from the dead and now lives. I want to know Christ so that I can live as He did, and if need be, that I can die in a way that shows others who He is. New Testament people seemed to want to by martyrs. I ha...

Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the Lord will do to all the enemies you are going to fight.” ~ Joshua 10:25 Earlier in the book of Joshua, God had told Joshua, “Be strong and courageous”, and He repeats this phrase to Joshua three times in the first chapter alone (Joshua 1:6, 7; 1:9, 18). Now Joshua stands over five kings which soon he will put to death. He has been victorious over these five, and though they are not all the kings he will fight, these five stand as an example of all the others. It is as though all his enemies were already overthrown. Joshua is now the one speaking the words, “be courageous and strong” to those who are listening, to those whom have fought the enemy. It is not that we are to follow Joshua’s example of taking another’s life, even if they are our enemy. Certainly, though, we do fight spiritual enemies, and those we are to put to death! The spirit world will bring trials and temptat...

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him ~ Psalm 34:8 In my family, when there are times to come together and celebrate, we eat, lavishly. We as a family usually have pot-luck dinners, and the varying foods we taste on our pallets is wonderful. Each person brings their own specialty and we all down in great gulps the textures and tastes provided in the meal. The psalmist is recommending that the reader dive into knowing God the way my family dives into our food around the table. It isn’t that the psalmist is saying we literally taste God or see God, but that we experience Him, much in the same way we do when we sit down to feast. The psalmist has found in God one he can depend upon, one he has been protected by and is good to him, and all this he has experienced. He is saying to those who may not know God to try Him, test Him by your own experience, and then see for yourself whether you receive blessing and joy. Once many years ago, someon...

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being ~ Ephesians 3:16 This short prayer of the Apostle Paul is full of grace, conveying ideas of great importance to any that read it. Herein is the measure of God’s power to each that ask and to each that prays it over another: that He may strengthen you. We measure our strength by what we can do for ourselves, how we can be self-sufficient and make our way in this world with only self to thank. The Christian, on the other hand, measures strength by his or her limitations, and this is the key to gaining the inward power necessary in life. It is through the gift of the Holy Spirit we gain such strength and power, and this, through faith. Faith gives us inward peace, granted through Christ living within our heart. He is the Lord of our righteousness and of our strength; He is our hope and our glory. Faith opens the doorway to love, and in Christ we are grounded in His love, ...

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak ~ Isaiah 40:29 He who has no faintness in him, gives strength to those who are fainting, and is an encouragement to his people. The Jews at this time were weakened and deprived of all strength, but the prophet shows them that strength, which they are in need of, belongs to God. It is he who gives assistance. Our God not only possesses all the qualities which go along with strength, but he shares them too. He has all the energy, stability, power, and all this he shares with you and me. What wonderful benevolence this is! We alone serve a God who gives freely! Other gods take, they demand, they increase guilt and works to ensure we become worthy, but our God, the one true God gives abundantly! He knows us, physically and spiritually, and he knows the strong and the faint alike. He is the wise Shepherd who takes care of his flock in all ways and at all times. He is the Good Shepherd, who stoops down as a good paren...

I can do all this through him who gives me strength ~ Philippians 4:13 We sometimes misinterpret this verse to think it says that anything I want to do, Jesus will give me the strength to do. This is not what this verse was intended to say, for Paul the Apostle was not omnipotent, and neither are we, even with the power of Christ. Neither could Paul, nor can we, do everything Jesus did. We are very human, and we are very limited in any type of comparison to Jesus Christ. What Paul is talking about is the contentment he could find in every state of life. Whether he was living in adversity, or was living in prosperity, he was content knowing that God would give him the strength and courage to make it through whatever was handed to him. Even if he was to undergo persecution, through the strength Christ gave him, he would be able to bear up under the pressure. And, if Christ directed him to a specific duty to perform, that too Paul would accomplish through Christ’s power. This is n...

The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace ~ Psalm 29:11 Strength and peace – what then, is the connection between the two? H. Melville states that connection is between the head and the heart, that this is how the are identified and related. I wrote a few days ago about how knowing and sharing the Word of God is good in and of themselves, but that if we do not share our stories of how God and his Word have intercepted our lives, we are possibly not witnessing to our full potential. For it is in our story we share the living reality of God working in and through our lives. It is in the knowledge of God’s Word and the acting upon that Word which witnesses into our head and heart that the precepts of God are true and divine. When this takes place, when we do more than set the standard of religion and abide in that Word of God that our heart is therefore strengthened. This too is how the peace of God is obtained. Peace is cultivated from our devo...

The name of the Lord is a fortified tower, the righteous run to it and are safe ~ Proverbs 18:10 A name generally, will only distinguish an individual. I can be called out of a crowd because of my name – when I am called, I answer, I respond, I will come to you. It does not however, describe who I am or what I believe in, for there are others with my name. They do not think, or feel, or know what I know. Because they have the same name as I do does not mean they are alike in all mannerism and thought. Sometimes a name will describe as well as distinguish, and then their significance is increased mightily. The name of God is descriptive, for it describes his character. The Lord, in what we know of him, for we do not know him completely, is full of compassion, ready to forgive, slow to anger yet also pure and righteous, not clearing the guilty. He is merciful and full of grace, and loves us beyond any love we may know or have known. These character traits are what we run to in ti...

You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word ~ Psalm 119:114 When David was pursued by Saul, he found hiding places in the caves among the hills to which he ran. There he would find refuge and preserve himself from the danger Saul had intended to place him in. When he was in battle, he would protect himself with his shield. Both were tools he used when he found himself in dangerous situations. David’s confidence was not only in the caves and in his shield, but in his direct confidence which arose from his relationship with God. If he placed his trust in God as his protector, he had nothing to fear from Saul, or any other enemy he may find himself surrounded by in battle. His protection came from the Divine Protector, whose word David knew, as well as the stories that went along with those words. Our stories of God’s faithfulness are important too. God’s word is strong and piercing, and his Word speaks life into many hearts without any need of tales to ...

The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights ~ Habakkuk 3:19 The Lord is my strength: when I feel pulled down by people, or circumstances, I turn to him. He is the one I can depend upon to carry me when I feel I am ready to sink into the mire of discouragement. He will support and maintain me spiritually, and with hope, faith and love, he will accomplish this. He will defend me against those who are spiritually against me, and he will oppose my great enemy, Satan. And in his so strengthening me, he will give me feet that are not only swift, but steady, feet that will be sure to tread where he has called me to go. I will be established in his love and in the hope of eternal life in him, and there will be nothing which will come between. And when I have reached the summit, I will be exalted and stand above the hills, the crags, the discouragement which assailed me, all will be below me as I then sing my song of...

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you ~ Isaiah 26:3 Perfect peace…how many of us live with this kind of mindset? To live in “perfect peace” is a double emphasis, expressing a mind that lives with confidence in a God that will not betray his trustworthiness. People do that to us sometimes…we place our trust in them that they will do what they say they will do, or treat us with the same respect and love we treat them, yet, not always does that happen in our relationships. There are times when we break the trust we have in each other and for each other. Broken trust is hard to reclaim. It takes work, and even then, is not always successfully restored. God will never break his trust with us. When we have given our lives and heart to him, he will keep us firmly in his hand and in his love. Our minds, which have placed our trust in him, which have committed our cause to him, can, even in the face of trials and the storms of life, be...

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging ~ Psalm 46:1-3 When we need a safe place, a place where we can run to in times of danger, God is there. Refuge comes from a verb “to flee”, or to take shelter in, and what image comes to my mind is a strong tower, or a fortress. God is for the weak and defenseless a place of refuge. What is it that might cause you to seek His refuge? What trouble may come upon you in which you find it is too much for you, too overwhelming to cope with? Then, run to God, for he has always proved himself to be a help and one in which we can confide our troubles. When this psalm was written, there was political commotion and “turbulent conflict” among nations, due probably to the Assyrian conquests. We are not so far removed from those times now. We can easi...

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand ~ Isaiah 41:10 God continues to speak to His exiled Jews as they make new homes and find new livelihoods in Babylon. Though they were in captivity, they were allowed some freedoms, but the ultimate freedom of being back in their homeland was the one great thing they desired. It is hard to be in waiting places. We have little patience for those times when answers do not come quickly and when we wonder what God is doing to remedy our situation. This verse, though, is full of consolation. For though the situation for God’s people in this time was full of fear and anxiety, God promises them they have nothing to fear. It is true for us too. For not only was God with the people in Babylon, but He is with us in our “Babylon” experience. God was their protector as He is ours. There is no better protection than that of the Lord, and...

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future ~ Jeremiah 29:11 God knows the plans He has had, and does have, toward His people. In Jeremiah’s time, God had the restoration of Israel planned so they would return to their own land. If God has those thoughts in His mind, He will remember them, and they will be continued in Him to all generations. We tend to forget what we think and what we will do, but God does not. His plans are to prosper and not bring harm. I have heard people who are going through rough times, and they wonder why this is happening to them. Where is God in all this mess, they ask. The truth is that sometimes prospering us, and the promises of a hope and a future rely not on “good things” happening, but to good things being brought about by the purging of the bad things in us and our life. We were never promised that we would not suffer, for even our captivity in the suffe...

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him ~ Psalm 40:3 We all go through experiences in life, some are tragic, some are slightly disturbing. Some experiences never really affect us though they are a part of our life, and in those ones we seem to sail right on through. We go through seasons of life: summer, fall, winter and spring, which is to say that not all experiences are low and down, for some are high and uplifting and others are calming. Whatever experience we go through though, does not mean we are going through it singing. There are people who even when life is going ok have something to complain about and trust in God is as a wavering candle; sometimes almost extinguished and at others brightly lighting a room. It matters not, really, what our experiences are, for life is mixed with both the highs and the lows. What matters as we face the life we are blessed to live is how and with what song we si...

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness ~ Ephesians 4:22-24 We abandon our old way of life when Jesus enters our heart. Some of that just seems to automatically happen, as the Holy Spirit renews our minds, our goals, our thoughts. The other aspect of this is that we make conscious decisions to change our way to reflect the teachings we have received from and about Christ. Our being made new means our nature is spiritual, not carnal, and this is a change into holiness and righteousness, and truth. It is a moral good we find in the transformation of our mind and heart. Before Christ, our thoughts lead us to desire finding fulfillment in all sorts of lascivious thoughts, in finding our meaning in money, or in objects, or in substance abuse. All are vain and empty...

See the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you ~ Isaiah 42:9 We are in the middle of winter where I live and all is dead, cold, icy. The trees are bare of foliage, the ground barren of grass and flower. The clouds above are usually gray and dark, and little sunshine peeks through. For those who may deal with depression, winter is a hard time of year to live through. These Words we read though are the words God is speaking to his people, and the image reminds me of springtime. There is hope, there is something on the horizon, there is promised life from the death of the present. Israel at this time was under Babylonian captivity, the people had been torn from their homeland, torn from their temple, torn from their God. All was dark and dreary. The former things predicted now spring into the redemption of Israel from Babylon, and through it, God’s revelation will come to all nations. Though this nation could...

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,  the new creation  has come:  The old has gone, the new is here! ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17 Yesterday, I talked about our “old man” who sometimes rears his head and causes us to slide backwards into sin. But I also talked about how we have overcome our past through the power of Jesus Christ and His name! To be fully transformed, to be fully new in Christ, we cannot just say His name, we must be unchanged in our heart! Anyone who has Christ dwelling in their heart by faith, as said yesterday, is dead in their sins, and their old state is changed forever. The one who was a worshipper of the world is now a child and worshipper of God. The one who was lost has now been claimed! In this claiming, that one is now made free from sin and eternal death. God is now his portion, his bread, his very life.  The one who now lives in Christ is united to Christ, as a branch is to a vine. When Christ comes into our heart, our views, our feelings, ou...

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin ~ Romans 6:6, 7 What sets us apart as Christians is not that we will never sin again once we come to Christ, for we do and we will, but that we have been justified in Christ through His shed blood on the cross. This is what sets us apart. We will make mistakes, miss the mark and fall prey to our “old man” at times; that is what it is to be human. We are all in process, completed and perfected only when we cross through the doorway into the heavenly realm. It is through the blood of Christ and His indwelling Holy Spirit that we fight off more readily the “old man” which leads us into sin and thereby have the title of being a saint. Because of the Cross, we are freed from serving the old man of our past for we have been regenerated through the power of Christ. He has atoned for ...

I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh ~ Ezekiel 11:19 Our God is one of regeneration and renovation! He will take a heart which is divided between two poles, between the true God and idols, a heart which sometimes serves God and sometimes serves Baal, and will create that heart into a singular pursuit to His honour and glory! A divided heart wavers, it pauses and halts between opinions, between truth, between worship; it is hypocritical. A single heart is sincere and is firmly attached to the one it loves and the one it desires to be near and to worship. This is the heart God yearns for in His children! One heart, filled with one Spirit, longed for in the days of Ezekiel, and fulfilled through the power of the risen and ascended Christ Jesus! How blessed are we to have His Spirit within us at all times, to sense His presence every moment of every day. This heart of ours, once...

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1 The chapter continues with an explanation of the different seasons of life we will encounter: birth, death, planting and uprooting; a time to kill and time to heal, to tear down and then build. We will encounter tears and laughter, mourning and dancing and we will spend time both scattering and then gathering. The writer concludes this section with affirming there is a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. He covers it all, every experience we will encounter as we go through life. How we face these experiences is another matter. We can be full of dread and fear which cause our lives to become stagnant, or full of apathy which says, “Oh well, it will be what it will.” Many people choose those attitudes of defeat and so live a deflated existence. How we spend our time in these various purposes, to find them meaningful, is best spent with God’s provi...

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning;      great is your faithfulness ~ Lamentations 3:22, 23 How merciful is our God that each and every day we wake up with a new slate, a new focus, a new hope! Yesterday may have been full of mistakes against all whom we know, against ourselves, and ultimately against the God that so loves us. Yet today, we are released from all that we have done and said in His faithful love. It is not that we do not deserve to be consumed, most certainly we do, and most certainly we should be! But in His love He sent His Son Jesus Christ to take our sin and punishment, to wash us clean in the sacrifice of His shed blood. We did nothing to deserve this great ransom, we could never earn our way to receive it yet for us it was bestowed. If you failed miserably yesterday, look up and give thanks, for today is a new day!

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator ~ Colossians 3:9, 10 Our tongues speak many words, some may be false yet are believed to be true, so in effect are not lies. The information may be skewed, but the issue is lack of knowledge, not in the telling of a lie. The tongue which speaks words which are voluntary disagreements with the mind and the speech, that tongue speaks a lie because it knows what is said does not match with what is thought. A “little white lie” is still a lie, though we try to say we speak in such a way to protect someone else. When truth is uncovered white lies still cause hurt. Our tongues have many vices and our heart becomes very evident through the words we speak. As “Little Christians” our words are to match our model of Jesus Christ who spoke only truth. I know my words sometimes get the better of me and lead me to s...

Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy ~ Psalm 33:3 How did you wake up this morning, what mood were you in? I remember when I was a child, and would wake up grumpy, it would be commented that I woke up on the “bad side of the bed.” Now of course I know there is no bad side to a bed, just a bad side to me if I am grumpy. As an adult, I wonder what I could be grumpy about so early in the morning, but I also know I am not the only child to wake up so. How we awaken, what mood we are in when we open our eyes does set the day ahead though. As an adult I can see more clearly the hand of God on my life, even from my early years, and every day we have the opportunity to sing to Him a new song, for every day is a new day. I am alive! The psalmist composed this song to express his feelings for this occasion, to praise God for His divine goodness and protection. So, now new words come out of his mouth and new tunes are played on his instrument to meet all the manifest...

For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind ~ Isaiah 65:17 Isaiah described both the near future and the eschatological future, though he did so in general terms. Things in the future will be so much better than what we experience now that people would not think about what had been. It is most certainly a beautiful thought for those whom have been living through difficult time and experiences. Isaiah’s new heaven and earth is not identical to John’s expression found in Revelation though. Isaiah is speaking more about the here and now for Israel. They were held in Babylon as captives away from their homeland which had virtually been destroyed. The Temple had been decimated, robbed of her precious glory, which for them meant God had been taken from them. These were dark times indeed. The Bible often describes calamity and punishment in the Bible as dark heavens, or as a scroll which is rolled up. Peace, joy, and pr...

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true” ~ Revelation 21:5 It is a New Year and a new decade! It is a bit amazing to know we are starting anew in both the year and the next ten years. Where will both take us? How will we find our lives lived and spent, where and how will we minister through the power of the Holy Spirit? What doors will open or close before us as we progress through the next year and the following years? We have no answers to these questions, only surmises and guesses. There is One though who knows. Only God can make the old new, only God is the beginning and the end! Revelation talks about God creating a new heaven and a new earth when the former things of sin and death will forever be changed. We do not know when these final days will come when the old earth will be changed forever, or, when the time will come when we may walk along streets lit by the glory of ...