Matthew 26:14-16 (NKJV)
14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. 16 So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.
The person of Judas Iscariot has a very negative image in the mind of most people. His betrayal of Jesus earned him this right. Judas did not start his life with such desires. His beginning mission in life was not to destroy the life of Christ in every way that he could. He started small and gradually grew into the ability to commit the most heinous crime ever committed. We will examine the lives of Judas and Peter in order to see how they could make such extremely faulty decisions.
Judas followed Jesus’ words to be His disciple (a request He gives to all). Judas performed all the “right” tasks in front of others so as to appear to be “good”. He may have fooled many, but it was himself that he fooled the most. Judas may have thought that he was doing the right things by following Jesus. But in his heart he had not fully committed to the Lord. This is true today. So many people, within the church, are tares among the wheat. Many think that they are “right” with God, but they do not know Christ, truly as Savior.
Judas spent three years, along with the other disciples, observing Jesus and His ways. He did all the right things and put on the appearance of a disciple. Slowly but surely he got hardened in his ways. This resulted out of a lack of purity in his heart. It was then, when he had the opportunity to betray the Lord, he took it. He eventually got so deceived in his heart and hardened so much that he sold out the very God of heaven for mere money. He then sought every opportunity to use trickery to seize the Lord.
His ultimate response was hanging himself. He displayed a desperate attempt to rid himself of extreme guilt and fear. He knew nothing about a relationship with God, so he only could commit suicide to run from his crime.
Peter, on the other hand, denied Christ. He walked with Christ for three years, followed Christ, observed His ways and sought to know Him more. Peter’s denial was one of confusion and weakness. His response shows that he wept bitterly and had a repentant heart. He did not plan to hurt the Lord as he did. He just made a very poor decision in an awkward time because he was afraid of the reaction of others. After repentance, the Lord was able to use him again greatly. We can sin tremendously, but the Lord can use us again. We need a fully repentant heart, a heart that seeks God in every way. The Lord knows we are not perfect, but our failures many times allow God’s perfecting process to happen. All we need is a heart fully given over to the Lord and willing to follow Him always.
Thoughts, comments, objections.
Daniel A. Smith
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Forgive And Forget
Psalm 103:12 (NKJV)
As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
God is omniscient. He knows all things and God’s power is without limit. He knows even the number of hairs on our head and the number of grains of sand on the earth. But, within God’s vast ability to know all things He has just as much power to forget our past sins, when we confess them to Him. When we come to Him with a repentant heart, asking forgiveness of all our sins, He will reward us with eternal life. After salvation, we then can come to Him, often, in confidence and ask His forgiveness in order to renew our fellowship.
God showed this to Israel many times throughout their journey with Him. He showed them His mercy and forgiveness time after time, proving His love and compassion toward His people. David says, “You answered them, O Lord our God, You were to them God-Who-Forgives, though You took vengeance on their deeds” (Psalm 99:8, NKJV). Israel knew that God forgave sin, but He also showed them the consequences of disobedience. Many times God had to discipline them for their sin. This does not show a lack of love on God’s part, it actually shows the opposite. Any father will discipline his child when they are about to hurt themselves, because the father loves the child.
If we come to God in confession, we do not ever need to seek forgiveness again for that particular sin. Once God forgives, He remembers it no more. Confessing a previously forgiven sin shows lack of faith in God and His ability to forgive. It is like telling God that His word and His promises are not true, thus denying His integrity and truth.
When we partake of God’s forgiveness, we must also be willing to demonstrate this to others. When we say that we have forgiven someone for an offense, but yet we harbor it in our heart, this is bitterness. This is not forgetting, but it is replaying the issue in our mind. This not only shows that we have not fully forgiven the other person. It also brings more damage to us than to the other person. All bitterness accomplishes is the fact that it eats away at us and it enrages us again and again. God’s intension for forgiveness is peace. When we practice forgiveness and forgetting the offence, we then can live a blessed life.
Thoughts, comments, objections.
Daniel A. Smith
As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
God is omniscient. He knows all things and God’s power is without limit. He knows even the number of hairs on our head and the number of grains of sand on the earth. But, within God’s vast ability to know all things He has just as much power to forget our past sins, when we confess them to Him. When we come to Him with a repentant heart, asking forgiveness of all our sins, He will reward us with eternal life. After salvation, we then can come to Him, often, in confidence and ask His forgiveness in order to renew our fellowship.
God showed this to Israel many times throughout their journey with Him. He showed them His mercy and forgiveness time after time, proving His love and compassion toward His people. David says, “You answered them, O Lord our God, You were to them God-Who-Forgives, though You took vengeance on their deeds” (Psalm 99:8, NKJV). Israel knew that God forgave sin, but He also showed them the consequences of disobedience. Many times God had to discipline them for their sin. This does not show a lack of love on God’s part, it actually shows the opposite. Any father will discipline his child when they are about to hurt themselves, because the father loves the child.
If we come to God in confession, we do not ever need to seek forgiveness again for that particular sin. Once God forgives, He remembers it no more. Confessing a previously forgiven sin shows lack of faith in God and His ability to forgive. It is like telling God that His word and His promises are not true, thus denying His integrity and truth.
When we partake of God’s forgiveness, we must also be willing to demonstrate this to others. When we say that we have forgiven someone for an offense, but yet we harbor it in our heart, this is bitterness. This is not forgetting, but it is replaying the issue in our mind. This not only shows that we have not fully forgiven the other person. It also brings more damage to us than to the other person. All bitterness accomplishes is the fact that it eats away at us and it enrages us again and again. God’s intension for forgiveness is peace. When we practice forgiveness and forgetting the offence, we then can live a blessed life.
Thoughts, comments, objections.
Daniel A. Smith
Thursday, April 12, 2012
How Secure Are You?
1 Peter 1:4-5 (NKJV)
4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Where do you find security and comfort? Many find security in money, things, power, authority, position, control and many other forms of self-contrived security. As we analyze these verses, we will find that Jesus Christ is the only security that exists. He even goes above and beyond our greatest imagination to grant us ultra-security.
When we repent of our sins and trust Jesus as our savior, we now have a promise from God that we will receive an inheritance. This inheritance includes the special privileges that only a child of the King receives. This means that heaven is for sure. God’s word and His promises are rock solid and Peter shows how sure our hope of heaven is in Christ.
Our inheritance is incorruptible. Another word for this is imperishable. God’s promise of heaven for the believer is beyond the ability to decay. God’s promises cannot happen in any other way other than what He says. We are also told that this promise is undefiled or unsoiled. God’s promises are fully pure and only good. He would not promise anything that would hurt us in any way at all. His love is fully pure and only good.
God’s promise of heaven does not fade away. His promises and His word are as strong and sure today as the day that He promised them. Heaven is also reserved for the child of God. This has the idea that it is guarded for the sake of His children. Nothing can change this and thus the believer can rest securely in the fact that God’s promises do not change.
Peter then switches to us in vs. 5. God first promises us heaven. He also secures us as eternally His forever. To be kept by the power of God has the idea of being guarded by military enforcement. God’s heart wants to be with His children so tremendously that He secures us unto Himself at the moment of belief in Christ throughout eternity. This cannot be broken and it is eternally secure. God cannot lie and He jealously desires our love to be devoted to Him alone. When we love Him with our whole heart, we then can love others as God desires us to.
All of this happens at the moment of salvation through faith. But, He does not take us out of this world instantly, because we must carry out His work. So, we will endure much pain and difficulty on this earth. Christ will return soon and our hope of heaven will then be actualized. When we are in Christ there is no greater security.
Thoughts, comment, objections.
Daniel A. Smith
4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Where do you find security and comfort? Many find security in money, things, power, authority, position, control and many other forms of self-contrived security. As we analyze these verses, we will find that Jesus Christ is the only security that exists. He even goes above and beyond our greatest imagination to grant us ultra-security.
When we repent of our sins and trust Jesus as our savior, we now have a promise from God that we will receive an inheritance. This inheritance includes the special privileges that only a child of the King receives. This means that heaven is for sure. God’s word and His promises are rock solid and Peter shows how sure our hope of heaven is in Christ.
Our inheritance is incorruptible. Another word for this is imperishable. God’s promise of heaven for the believer is beyond the ability to decay. God’s promises cannot happen in any other way other than what He says. We are also told that this promise is undefiled or unsoiled. God’s promises are fully pure and only good. He would not promise anything that would hurt us in any way at all. His love is fully pure and only good.
God’s promise of heaven does not fade away. His promises and His word are as strong and sure today as the day that He promised them. Heaven is also reserved for the child of God. This has the idea that it is guarded for the sake of His children. Nothing can change this and thus the believer can rest securely in the fact that God’s promises do not change.
Peter then switches to us in vs. 5. God first promises us heaven. He also secures us as eternally His forever. To be kept by the power of God has the idea of being guarded by military enforcement. God’s heart wants to be with His children so tremendously that He secures us unto Himself at the moment of belief in Christ throughout eternity. This cannot be broken and it is eternally secure. God cannot lie and He jealously desires our love to be devoted to Him alone. When we love Him with our whole heart, we then can love others as God desires us to.
All of this happens at the moment of salvation through faith. But, He does not take us out of this world instantly, because we must carry out His work. So, we will endure much pain and difficulty on this earth. Christ will return soon and our hope of heaven will then be actualized. When we are in Christ there is no greater security.
Thoughts, comment, objections.
Daniel A. Smith
Thursday, April 5, 2012
The Battle Gods Way
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.
Within Psalm 18 we are shown the trials and difficulties that David faced when God delivered him from the hands of Saul. David shares the many trials that he faced and how God helped him through all of them. He starts out the Psalm by saying that God is his strength and his rock upon which he stands (vs. 2). He then relates the many times that he was afraid and many times that God fought the battle and delivered him from the enemy (vs. 17).
He continues by telling the degree to which God fought for him. David relates that, many times, he walked in God’s ways, he obeyed God and God rewarded him for his righteous deeds (vs. 20). This is why he tells us in today’s verse that God shielded him and was his salvation. God will reward us if we walk according to His word and seek Him with all of our heart. He will bless us with the confidence to combat many enemies at once (vs. 29). He will grant us light in our darkness and help us in all situations (vs. 28).
The ironic fact is that David says that God trained his hands for war (vs. 34), and He armed him for the strength of the battle (vs. 39). These terms sound extremely cruel and very brutal. But God’s ways of fighting are quite the opposite. Today’s verse shows us that we need to use God’s power, not our own, to fight the battle. We need to use gentleness and not brute force in order to fight the battles that come our way.
How does this happen? The key to most battles is humility. James says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up“, (James 4:10, NKJV). When others use cruelty to fight, God says to use gentleness. We tend to want to revenge. Paul writes, “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.”, (Romans 12:19, NKJV). If we respond in love and forgiveness it is then that God will deal with them. He may not deal with them in our timing or in our way. We may be hurt and want them to be repaid in the same way that we were hurt. But, if we respond in the way that God desires of us, it is then that He can deal with them in a much more powerful way. We always have to realize that God’s timetable is different from ours. This is when we need to respond in faith and not in feelings.
Thoughts, comments, objections, prayer requests.
Daniel A. Smith
You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, Your right hand has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great.
Within Psalm 18 we are shown the trials and difficulties that David faced when God delivered him from the hands of Saul. David shares the many trials that he faced and how God helped him through all of them. He starts out the Psalm by saying that God is his strength and his rock upon which he stands (vs. 2). He then relates the many times that he was afraid and many times that God fought the battle and delivered him from the enemy (vs. 17).
He continues by telling the degree to which God fought for him. David relates that, many times, he walked in God’s ways, he obeyed God and God rewarded him for his righteous deeds (vs. 20). This is why he tells us in today’s verse that God shielded him and was his salvation. God will reward us if we walk according to His word and seek Him with all of our heart. He will bless us with the confidence to combat many enemies at once (vs. 29). He will grant us light in our darkness and help us in all situations (vs. 28).
The ironic fact is that David says that God trained his hands for war (vs. 34), and He armed him for the strength of the battle (vs. 39). These terms sound extremely cruel and very brutal. But God’s ways of fighting are quite the opposite. Today’s verse shows us that we need to use God’s power, not our own, to fight the battle. We need to use gentleness and not brute force in order to fight the battles that come our way.
How does this happen? The key to most battles is humility. James says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up“, (James 4:10, NKJV). When others use cruelty to fight, God says to use gentleness. We tend to want to revenge. Paul writes, “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.”, (Romans 12:19, NKJV). If we respond in love and forgiveness it is then that God will deal with them. He may not deal with them in our timing or in our way. We may be hurt and want them to be repaid in the same way that we were hurt. But, if we respond in the way that God desires of us, it is then that He can deal with them in a much more powerful way. We always have to realize that God’s timetable is different from ours. This is when we need to respond in faith and not in feelings.
Thoughts, comments, objections, prayer requests.
Daniel A. Smith
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