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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Sunday, 28 May 2023:
Isaiah 21:8 — Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, and at my post I am stationed whole nights.
Are you paying attention when most aren’t? Are you alert to what God is doing in this day?
Isaiah 21:16 — Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end.
God is patient to judge nations, but when He judges, He judges swiftly. The glory of prideful people and nations is often destroyed instantly like the falling of a house of cards. To most it comes without warning, but not without warning to the faithful watchmen.
Psalm 62:1 — For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.
Wait for God in silence before just acting on your own knowledge and perceived wisdom. True wisdom is a spiritual discernment, not just an intellectual exercise.
Psalm 62:9 — Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a delusion.
Personal power is a very strong delusion.
Psalm 62:11 — Power belongs to God.
Remind yourself of this daily, hourly!
Psalm 63:1 — O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Do you thirst for God?
Psalm 63:1 — Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
The love of God is better than life — it is eternal life. See John 17:3
Psalm 63:3 — Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
Do you treasure the love of God more than life itself? Ironically, Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:6),” and “this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3) John reiterates, “God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” (1 John 5:11) The love of God is life, and Jesus’ prayer for us is that we would be “one” with Him in this life and into eternity. (John 17) When God’s love is more important to us than life itself, we then experience true life and the fullness of joy.
Therefore, God’s greatest commandment for us is to love Him wholeheartedly. (Matthew 22:36-38) The next greatest commandment is to love others as ourselves, and our “Great Commission” is to tell others about Jesus because of our love for both God and them (Matthew 28:18-20). Notice, that Jesus directly tied loving others with loving God – they are inseparable – you can’t do one without doing the other. Jesus went on to say, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments…. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 14:15, John 15:12) Before enduring the cross, Jesus prayed earnestly that we would be united in Him, in His love, and that our love for Him and others would spread the knowledge (not just intellectual but experiential) of Him across the world that the unity in Him would spread across the earth – “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:17-26)
Sharing Jesus with others should come naturally. What we love most is what we are excited to tell others about the most, and when we love others, we are compelled to want the very best for them – the Way, the Truth, and the Life! Psalm 63:3 naturally links the Great Commandment with the Great Commission – “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.” The person who has truly experienced the love of God through Christ can’t help but “proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” (Mark 16:15)
“Your steadfast love is better than life.” During the COVID pandemic, people across the globe took great precautions to guard their lives against the treat of virus, and it was hard to have a conversation with someone without COVID coming up in the conversation, though one hardly needed to say anything since our behavior (social distancing) and our apparel (masks) left no doubt about what was preeminent in most people’s minds. What if we guarded our hearts and our relationship with Jesus as much as we guarded our lives? How might our words and behavior change? And what if everyone’s relationship with Jesus was as important to us as their physical health? What if we were as serious about sharing Christ with others as we were about preventing the spread of COVID? How many people have you shared Jesus Christ with during this global crisis of faith? During this historic time, have you proclaimed His Name?
If you found it more difficult to share the Gospel with others than you did remaining largely isolated and wearing a mask everywhere you went during COVID, if sharing Jesus felt more awkward or unnatural than what you did for sake of COVID precautions and mandates, draw closer to Jesus and abide more fully in His love. When Jesus is your true passion, you won’t have a problem talking about Him with others.
Proverbs 28:1 – The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
Righteousness produces boldness.
Proverbs 28:3 – A poor man who oppresses the poor is a beating rain that leaves no food.
There is nothing worse than a poor sinner who condemns other poor sinners.
Proverbs 28:5 – Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it completely.
Expect less and less justice as the nation moves farther and farther away from God. The hope of our nation is Jesus, only Jesus.
Proverbs 28:6 – Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.
Your integrity before God is more valuable than anything money could buy.
Proverbs 28:7 – The one who keeps the law is a son with understanding, but a companion of gluttons shames his father.
Gluttony is a form of lawlessness. The church population is guilty of gluttony. A 2006 Purdue study found that fundamental Christians are by far the heaviest of all religious groups, led by the Baptists with a 30% obesity rate compared with Jews at 1%, Buddhists and Hindus at 0.7%. Similarly, a 2011 Northwestern University study tracking 3,433 men and women for 18 years found that young adults who attend church or a Bible study once a week are 50% more likely to be obese. The Pawtucket Heart Health Program found that people who attended church were more likely than non-church members to be 20 percent overweight and have higher cholesterol and blood pressure numbers. Finally, a 2001 Pulpit and Pew study of 2,500 clergy found that 76% were overweight or obese compare to 61% of the general population at the time of the study. Christians should be models of self-control.
Proverbs 28:8 – Whoever multiplies his wealth by interest and profit gathers it for him who is generous to the poor.
We can profit from our excess by lending it with interest to those who do not have, or we can give our excess to the poor and build our wealth by producing more. Throughout the Bible we can see that God wants us to build wealth by increasing our productivity, through industry; and in our productivity, he wants us to give freely. God forbids accruing wealth by charging interest in lending to other believers. God’s retirement plan is to create industry that remains productive in your latter years and relying on family and the church community, not hoarding your excess in “barns.”
Proverbs 28:9 – If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.
Prayer rests on relationship with God. If you have a relationship problem because of sin, you have a prayer problem. Don’t be like a foolish child who asks for gifts from his parent while behaving badly.
Proverbs 28:13 – Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
Hiding sin avoids responsibility and the subsequent discomfort of humility which motivates change of behavior. You cannot fix what you are not willing to be honest about.
Proverbs 28:19 – Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.
God calls us to produce and grow daily, growth in character, competence, and contribution. Don’t waste a day.
Proverbs 28:20 – A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.
Be faithful! This is the essence of character, the essence of life. People often ask, “What does God want for my life?” Often they ask with a preconceived notion that God’s will for them involves some version of worldly success – big, visible, proclaimed accomplishments. Many spend their entire lives chasing after big goals, believing this is what God wants for them. However, the Bible tells you what God wants for your life – “For this is the will of God, your sanctification.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3)
Proverbs 28:21 – To show partiality is not good, but for a piece of bread a man will do wrong.
People should be held accountable for sin, but we should not overlook their unfortunate circumstances that might have contributed to their sin.
Proverbs 28:26 — Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool.
Questions?
Proverbs 28:27 – Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.
Christians have the demand from God to give to the poor. “Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 28 May 2023: Share your love for God with others today and proclaim His love for them by sharing the Gospel.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 