Psalm 18:35 (NKJV)
You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, Your right hand has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great.
A shield is a necessary element in the hands of a battle ready soldier. In biblical times hand to hand battles where common and a shield was used for protection from the enemy’s weapons. It was a defensive tool for the sake of fortifying the warrior from harm. Today, we may not be in a physical hand to hand battle, but we are continually in a spiritual battle. We battle the unseen forces of an enemy who attacks our mind, our family, our health, our finances and many other things that can subtly destroy us.
In today’s verse David reminds us that our shield is God’s salvation. Salvation in completely the work of God, we cannot save ourselves or earn it in any way. We just need to repent of our sins and trust Him. When we put our trust in God it is the very power of heaven that shields us from danger. Solomon states is, “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him”, (Proverbs 3:5, NKJV). Our only defense to be saved eternally and protected daily is faith. Paul tells this in Ephesians, “above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one”, (Ephesians 6:16, NKJV). Paul is showing us here that the enemy uses fiery darts, which only are used for the sake of hurt and destroying the opponent.
The main battle ground is our mind. If Satan can deceive us, divert our path or destroy our desire to trust in God, he claims it as victory. We have a powerful tool which is called faith. Faith can and will make these weapons have no effect. Faith keeps our mind on the Lord and His goodness to us, not on the difficulties in the situations at hand. Just as Solomon notes that every word of God is pure, our responsibility relies in the fact that we need to stay in the word of God daily, meditating on Him and His principle. God’s word, infused in our mind will comfort us, strengthen us and stabilize our heart in the midst of all battles. Faith in God and His word diverts our mind unto Him and not the situation.
David goes on to tell us that God’s hand holds us up as we trust in Him. God shows His children individual loving care which daily proves to us and others that He is concerned about every care of our life. It is by gentleness that He establishes this in our mind. He deals with us in all gentleness and expects the same out of us. Gentleness is not weakness. In fact, greater strength is exercised by showing gentleness and not harshness. Paul says that showing gentleness displays the Lord’s presence, “Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand”, (Phil. 4:5, NKVJ).
Thoughts, comments, objections, prayer requests.
Daniel A. Smith
Friday, January 27, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Never Alone
Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
We cannot fully understand the degree of sorrow that the Lord Jesus bore on the cross for each one of us. He is perfect, He is God, He lived a spotless life and shameless in every aspect. But we rejected Him and He died in our place anyway. Most of us cannot fathom dying in the place of someone else who hates us. But that is what the Lord Jesus did for us.
Jesus had such a close relationship with His Father that it must to have been devastating to experience the rejection of His Father. This is why He cried, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”, (Matt. 27:46b, NKJV). Forsaking someone has the idea of turning your back on someone, leaving them or abandoning them. In order for Christ to experience the judgment that we deserve, the Father needed to turn away from Him. At this point Christ experienced the agony of hell that we deserve. This had to have been the deepest spiritual, emotional, mental and physical hurt ever endured by anyone. But Christ’s love for us and His desire to spend eternity with us was greater than His desire for even His own life. Only this kind of love comes from God. But, it does not end there. The victory lies in the fact that He did not stay in the grave.
When He was raised on the third day, He was raised in newness of life. This is why, when we trust Christ as savior He promises that He will never leave us or forsake us. Just as the Father did not leave Him in judgment, even so Jesus will not leave us, if we trust Him. He will be there with us eternally and daily.
After trusting Christ, our natural response should be to give all for His sake. This will probably take sacrifice, but it order to be His disciple we must learn to be like Him. This takes giving of ourselves even when we don’t like the consequences. Jesus said, “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple”, (Luke 14:33, NKJV). Just remember, He sacrificed a whole lot more for us. So, when it seems that life is not fair or that too much is required of you, remember what Jesus gave up for you and me.
Thoughts, comments, objections, prayer requests.
Daniel A. Smith
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
We cannot fully understand the degree of sorrow that the Lord Jesus bore on the cross for each one of us. He is perfect, He is God, He lived a spotless life and shameless in every aspect. But we rejected Him and He died in our place anyway. Most of us cannot fathom dying in the place of someone else who hates us. But that is what the Lord Jesus did for us.
Jesus had such a close relationship with His Father that it must to have been devastating to experience the rejection of His Father. This is why He cried, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”, (Matt. 27:46b, NKJV). Forsaking someone has the idea of turning your back on someone, leaving them or abandoning them. In order for Christ to experience the judgment that we deserve, the Father needed to turn away from Him. At this point Christ experienced the agony of hell that we deserve. This had to have been the deepest spiritual, emotional, mental and physical hurt ever endured by anyone. But Christ’s love for us and His desire to spend eternity with us was greater than His desire for even His own life. Only this kind of love comes from God. But, it does not end there. The victory lies in the fact that He did not stay in the grave.
When He was raised on the third day, He was raised in newness of life. This is why, when we trust Christ as savior He promises that He will never leave us or forsake us. Just as the Father did not leave Him in judgment, even so Jesus will not leave us, if we trust Him. He will be there with us eternally and daily.
After trusting Christ, our natural response should be to give all for His sake. This will probably take sacrifice, but it order to be His disciple we must learn to be like Him. This takes giving of ourselves even when we don’t like the consequences. Jesus said, “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple”, (Luke 14:33, NKJV). Just remember, He sacrificed a whole lot more for us. So, when it seems that life is not fair or that too much is required of you, remember what Jesus gave up for you and me.
Thoughts, comments, objections, prayer requests.
Daniel A. Smith
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Gifted Believers
I Timothy 4:14 (NKJV)
14 Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. 15 Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.
When God gives a gift it is given because of His grace. We cannot earn it and we do not deserve it. If fact, we actually deserve the opposite. But God gives gifts in grace and mercy. Salvation is a gift of God we cannot earn and it is completely given by means of grace. God also gives each believer specific gifts for the sake of His kingdom.
Paul gives us instructions as to how to go about using these gifts. We should not neglect the gifts that God gives us. God has a purpose and plan for each of us. We need to intensely seek to accomplish the plan that He has for us individually. We need to use His gifts for this purpose. The word ‘neglect’ has the idea of being careless with something or making light of it. Christ gave us salvation and it cost Him His very life and the gifts He gives at salvation are also very valuable. Paul encourages us to get going and use our gifts to the fullest extent throughout life. This takes desire, commitment, love for God and staying in His word and prayer daily.
In verse 15 Paul tells us to meditate on these things. We need to think of every way possible that we can utilize God’s gifts to be a fit soldier for His kingdom. We then need to be given over entirely to the use of His gifts and callings in order to have progress in maturity and usefulness for His work.
In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he tells us to stir up this gift. He says, “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands”, (2 Timothy 1:6, NKJV). We need to kindle or set aflame our desire for Christ and use our gifts for His pleasure. In the next verse Paul tells us not to be timid when serving God. He says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind”. (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV). Do not be fearful when using the gift that God has given you. Be bold in His power, but always operate in love. We need to have a sound mind and plenty of love to accurately represent Christ to the world. Ask God how and where He can use you and He will show you where to get involved.
Thoughts, comments, objections, prayer requests.
Daniel A. Smith
14 Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. 15 Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.
When God gives a gift it is given because of His grace. We cannot earn it and we do not deserve it. If fact, we actually deserve the opposite. But God gives gifts in grace and mercy. Salvation is a gift of God we cannot earn and it is completely given by means of grace. God also gives each believer specific gifts for the sake of His kingdom.
Paul gives us instructions as to how to go about using these gifts. We should not neglect the gifts that God gives us. God has a purpose and plan for each of us. We need to intensely seek to accomplish the plan that He has for us individually. We need to use His gifts for this purpose. The word ‘neglect’ has the idea of being careless with something or making light of it. Christ gave us salvation and it cost Him His very life and the gifts He gives at salvation are also very valuable. Paul encourages us to get going and use our gifts to the fullest extent throughout life. This takes desire, commitment, love for God and staying in His word and prayer daily.
In verse 15 Paul tells us to meditate on these things. We need to think of every way possible that we can utilize God’s gifts to be a fit soldier for His kingdom. We then need to be given over entirely to the use of His gifts and callings in order to have progress in maturity and usefulness for His work.
In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he tells us to stir up this gift. He says, “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands”, (2 Timothy 1:6, NKJV). We need to kindle or set aflame our desire for Christ and use our gifts for His pleasure. In the next verse Paul tells us not to be timid when serving God. He says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind”. (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV). Do not be fearful when using the gift that God has given you. Be bold in His power, but always operate in love. We need to have a sound mind and plenty of love to accurately represent Christ to the world. Ask God how and where He can use you and He will show you where to get involved.
Thoughts, comments, objections, prayer requests.
Daniel A. Smith
Friday, January 6, 2012
Salty Speech
Colossians 4:5-6 (NKJV)
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Our words are extremely powerful. They can build up others or destroy others. Solomon says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue”, (Proverbs 18:21a). We need to be careful with the words that we use. We are an example of Christ to a dying world that so desperately needs Him.
Paul begins these verses by telling us that it is imperative that we use wisdom when dealing with people in the world. We need to use the wisdom of God, the principles of scripture and a mind focused on heaven when we deal with others. The good of the other person should be our primary goal. Most people have not partaken of God’s great gift of salvation and we need to tell them about this awesome gift that we have in Christ. Paul also says that we need to redeem the time. We need to get to work. We need to buy back every opportunity that we have missed. We need share Christ to a sin stained world the greatest gift known to man – Christ Jesus.
In verse 6, Paul gives us the principles that we need to follow in order to share the truth with others. He tells us to have our speech always be shown with grace. Grace is an undeserved gift that is given despite how the person has acted or what they have done. Isn’t that what salvation is – an underserved gift in spite of our sin. In our speech we need to show this kind of grace by kindness, love and gentleness. We need to show the difference that Christ has made in our life.
Our speech needs to be seasoned with salt. Salt is a seasoning which, when used sparingly, accents the flavor of food tremendously. Salt also creates a thirst in our mouth so that we desire more of what we eat. Our words need to be used in wisdom and love so as to accent the greatness of Christ. This will put a desire in the minds and hearts of others so that they will want to learn more about Him. We cannot do this any other way but by being abandoned of ourselves and filled with Christ. It is only when we have this Mindset that we can provide this gift of grace in our speech. It is then that we can know how to answer other people, because we are then focused on Christ, the need of the other person and not ourselves.
We also need to realize that we are told to use salt and not sugar. Sugar is a substance most people desire, but too much sugar makes one sick. Whereas salt accents the natural flavor of the food and enhances the needed tastes of the food. In the spiritual realm, the gospel is not always well accepted by some and offensive to many. We need to give people the message that they need to hear and not what they want to hear. This means we may need to speak things that are unpopular but extremely needed. We need to be the salt of the earth are not to sugar coat the gospel, giving people only what they want to hear.
Thoughts, comments, objections, prayer request.
Daniel A. Smith
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Our words are extremely powerful. They can build up others or destroy others. Solomon says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue”, (Proverbs 18:21a). We need to be careful with the words that we use. We are an example of Christ to a dying world that so desperately needs Him.
Paul begins these verses by telling us that it is imperative that we use wisdom when dealing with people in the world. We need to use the wisdom of God, the principles of scripture and a mind focused on heaven when we deal with others. The good of the other person should be our primary goal. Most people have not partaken of God’s great gift of salvation and we need to tell them about this awesome gift that we have in Christ. Paul also says that we need to redeem the time. We need to get to work. We need to buy back every opportunity that we have missed. We need share Christ to a sin stained world the greatest gift known to man – Christ Jesus.
In verse 6, Paul gives us the principles that we need to follow in order to share the truth with others. He tells us to have our speech always be shown with grace. Grace is an undeserved gift that is given despite how the person has acted or what they have done. Isn’t that what salvation is – an underserved gift in spite of our sin. In our speech we need to show this kind of grace by kindness, love and gentleness. We need to show the difference that Christ has made in our life.
Our speech needs to be seasoned with salt. Salt is a seasoning which, when used sparingly, accents the flavor of food tremendously. Salt also creates a thirst in our mouth so that we desire more of what we eat. Our words need to be used in wisdom and love so as to accent the greatness of Christ. This will put a desire in the minds and hearts of others so that they will want to learn more about Him. We cannot do this any other way but by being abandoned of ourselves and filled with Christ. It is only when we have this Mindset that we can provide this gift of grace in our speech. It is then that we can know how to answer other people, because we are then focused on Christ, the need of the other person and not ourselves.
We also need to realize that we are told to use salt and not sugar. Sugar is a substance most people desire, but too much sugar makes one sick. Whereas salt accents the natural flavor of the food and enhances the needed tastes of the food. In the spiritual realm, the gospel is not always well accepted by some and offensive to many. We need to give people the message that they need to hear and not what they want to hear. This means we may need to speak things that are unpopular but extremely needed. We need to be the salt of the earth are not to sugar coat the gospel, giving people only what they want to hear.
Thoughts, comments, objections, prayer request.
Daniel A. Smith
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