THE LORD SPOKE (June 5)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: II Kings 20-21

"Put your house in order, because you are going to die...." (II Ki. 20:1)

What Hezekiah heard should not have come as a surprise. After all, those words are true for everyone. The death rate for mankind is still one per one. But, Hezekiah had a lot he wanted to accomplish and he just wasn't ready to quit yet. So, what would you do if you had exactly fifteen years left to live (20:6)?

• Would you give more attention to your quiet time with the Lord every day?
• Would you give more effort to leaving something worthwhile behind?
• Would you give more action to sharing the Gospel with the lost?
• Would you give more time to your family?
• Would you give more?

Other lessons from this chapter:

• God may at times signal His direction for us in unique ways (20:11), but normally He speaks through His Word.
• God may at times provide miraculous healing, but this does not exclude the use of known remedies (20:7).
• God may at times give us a new lease on life (20:6), but this is not license to act foolishly (20:13-18).
• God may at times grant us a reprieve in judgment, but it should be a time to recognize His mercy and grace (20:19).

So, is your house in order. You are going to die, you know.


New Testament: II Corinthians 7

Godly sorrow vs. worldly sorrow. They both may look the same superficially but they certainly don’t act the same. And the end result is as different as night and day.

Worldly sorrow is self-centered. It is a response to consequences. The painful results of sin produce regret and a shallow sort of sorrow that does not result in real change.

Godly sorrow is God-centered. It is a recognition of the wickedness of our sin and produces a heart-felt change of direction. That’s the meaning of “repentance” (Gk. metanoia). It involves a deliberate turning from sin to righteousness.

When Peter and John healed the crippled beggar at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple (Acts 3), a crowd quickly gathered and Peter addressed them. After defining their sin in no uncertain terms, he said:

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.... (Acts 3:19)

It’s that wiping out of sin that identifies genuine repentance. Or, as Paul says in today’s text, it “leads to salvation” (II Cor. 7:10). He goes on to say that it produces earnestness and an eagerness to clear oneself, indignation and alarm at the sinfulness of sin, longing and concern to return to God, and a readiness to see justice done (II Cor. 7:11).

This sort of repentance will bring refreshing from the Lord, and how sweet it is! Genuine repentance produces life and restoration to fellowship.

Search me, O God, and know my heart today;
Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from every sin and set me free.

I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;
Fulfill Thy Word, and make me pure within.
Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame;
Grant my desire to magnify Thy Name.

Lord, take my life, and make it wholly Thine;
Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine.
Take all my will, my passion, self and pride;
I now surrender, Lord in me abide.

O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee;
Send a revival, start the work in me.
Thy Word declares Thou wilt supply our need;
For blessings now, O Lord, I humbly plead.

THE LORD SPOKE (December 25)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Zephaniah 1-3

It’s a good thing it ends like it does. After two and a half chapters of fierce wrath, Zephaniah says:

The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with his love,
He will rejoice over you with singing. (Zeph. 3:17)

Being himself a fourth-generation descendant of King Hezekiah (Zeph. 1:1), Zephaniah was familiar with the Judean court and all the hot political issues of his day. He sounds a lot like Isaiah and Amos in that regard. He was a contemporary of Jeremiah, Nahum, and Habakkuk, and prophesied in the days of good king Josiah (640-609 BC).

His message of severe punishment of the surrounding nations (Zeph. 2:1-15) included Jerusalem (Zeph. 3:1-8). The inescapable Day of the Lord (Zeph. 1:14-18) would be bitter and bring wrath, distress, anguish, trouble, ruin, darkness, gloom, and blackness (were there any words left in his thesaurus?).

But God would not leave Himself without a remnant (Zeph. 3:12). He never does. And, He never abandons His chosen people. The day would come when He would take away the punishment and turn back the enemy (Zeph. 3:15). The Day of the Lord begins with the darkest night but turns to dawning and noon-day bright.

“At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home.
I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth
when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,” says the Lord.
(Zeph. 3:20)

Though judgment of sin is certain and there is a point at which all hope is lost, that point only comes after the opportunity to repent has been spent. God offers forgiveness to the repentant sinner always. Like the father of the prodigal son, he comes out on the road to meet us. Quoting the psalmist, the writer of Hebrews warns us:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion....”
See to it, brothers, than none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart
that turns away from the living God...
so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
(Heb. 3:7,12,13)

Proverbs 25

Another chapter on the tongue?! We must really need this instruction. Indeed, we do. Though Proverbs 25 has several other proverbs included, the predominant theme has to do with how we use our mouth - for good or ill.

• Prov. 25:2 - Some things are better off left unsaid. There’s a time when it’s best not to tell all.
• Prov. 25:6-7 - Don’t toot your own horn. Even if it’s a good horn. Better that someone else should discover that melody independently.
• Prov. 25:9-10 - You may never regain a good reputation if you reveal a confidence. Who would trust you?
• Prov. 25:11 - Saying the right thing in the right way at the right time is a work of art.
• Prov. 25:12 - Listen to wise words, even when they hurt. Especially when they hurt. A rebuke will improve you more than anything else, if you listen.
• Prov. 25:13 - How refreshing is a message conveyed accurately, faithfully, and dependably. Like a cool breeze on a hot day.
• Prov. 25:14 - Talk is cheap. Be sure you put your money where your mouth is.
• Prov. 25:15 - A soft word is more effective than a hard one. Both can break but one is more repairable.
• Prov. 25:18 - Might as well just shoot me! If I can’t trust your words, it makes it hard to live with you at all.
• Prov. 25:20 - There’s a time for jollity but make sure it matches the occasion. Silly words can sting more than you ever intended.
• Prov. 25:23 - A man with a clever tongue will be remembered next time. People will shy away from such a one.
• Prov. 25:24 - Like an angel (always up in the air, harping on something), a contentious wife will drive you up the wall.
• Prov. 25:25 - Remember your friends far away and write them an encouraging note today.

No wonder James says “the tongue is a fire” - it can produce wonderful warmth or withering heat. “With the tongue we can praise our Lord and Father [its highest use], and with it we curse men who have been made in God’s likeness [totally incongruous]” (Jas. 3:9).

Solomon give us lots to work on!

THE LORD SPOKE (December 16)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Amos 4-6

What a sad refrain. Five times the chorus is repeated, “...yet you have not returned to me, declares the Lord” (4:6,8,9,10,11). Israel had grown complacent (6:1) and careless about her relationship to God. She went through her religious duties perfunctorily but there was no life there. Sound familiar?

REPENTANCE HAD BEEN AVERTED - One of God’s purposes in sending affliction is to force us to our knees and bring us back to Himself. Though they were hungry (vs. 6), thirsty (vs. 8), decimated by plague (vs. 9), dying (vs. 10), and suffering cataclysmic calamity (vs. 11), they didn’t repent and respond to God’s mercy. So He says, “Prepare to meet thy God” (4:12). There comes a point after which there is no more remedy.

JUSTICE HAD BEEN PERVERTED - “You oppress the righteous and take bribes and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts” (5:12). Israel had it exactly backwards - she loved evil and hated good. But God says, “Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts” (5:15). His message is good for us today also: “Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-ending stream!” (5:24). When our sense of justice is perverted we don’t even recognize anymore how far off the track we’ve gotten. God calls us back with the amazing reminder: He “reveals his thoughts to man” (4:13). Therefore, if we seek Him we will live (5:4,6). Our sense of justice and right-living will be restored and we can please Him once again.

PRIDE HAD BEEN EXERTED - It’s sure to turn God’s stomach every time. He cannot countenance pride. He abhors it wherever it is found (6:8) and has promised to judge it. When it rears its ugly head, which is often, He is committed to strike it down. It was the first sin and it’s the most common sin on every man’s list. Consider what God has to say about it:

• Leviticus 26:19 - “I will break the pride of your power”
• Proverbs 8:13 - “the fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way”
• Proverbs 16:18 - “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
• Proverbs 29:23 - “a man's pride shall bring him low”
• Daniel 4:37 - “those that walk in pride he is able to abase”
• Obadiah 3 - “the pride of thine heart hath deceived thee”
• I John 2:16 - “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

Father, forgive us for our pride and help us to fix our eyes on You. We gratefully acknowledge You as sovereign over all and cast ourselves upon You. Thank you for revealing Yourself to us - and for revealing our sinfulness to us too. Apart from You, there is no life worth living. Don’t let us forget.


Proverbs 16

“Love God and do as you please.” So said Augustine. His statement is quite similar to Proverbs 16:3 which tells us to “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” If we truly love God and commit our every activity to His scrutiny and approval, we won’t want to do anything that displeases Him.

James is sometimes cited as an argument against making big plans on our own. True, it’s a thing that can be done in the flesh but James doesn’t say, “don’t plan”. He says, “Plan!” but do it with the honest preface of “if it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that” (Jas. 4:15). If God can lead us in the doing He can just as certainly lead us in the planning!

So the key is to so love God and desire that His will be accomplished, that our own plans and actions will willingly conform to His direction. Our thoughts will be His thoughts and our plans will be according to His plan. Then our actions too will be in conformity with His will. If we truly love God, we can do as we please for our pleasure will always be to please Him.

Oh! to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh! to be like Thee, oh! to be like Thee,
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

Oh! to be like Thee, full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wand’ring sinner to find.

Oh! to be like Thee, lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer, others to save.

Oh! to be like Thee, Lord, I am coming,
Now to receive th’ anointing divine;
All that I am and have I am bringing,
Lord, from this moment all shall be Thine.

Oh! to be like Thee, while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love,
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Thomas O. Chisholm

THE LORD SPOKE (February 05)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Exodus 33-34

The “tent of meeting” was a place for asking questions (Ex. 33:7-11). Moses would receive the answers from God and then relay them to the people. But Moses had a question of his own, “What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

The answer came in Exodus 34:10. God said, “I am making a covenant with you.” Later the Lord instructed him to “write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel” (Ex. 34:27). In that context, Moses asks the Lord to instruct him. “Teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you.” (Ex. 33:13)

And He did! We have many chapters of content in response to Moses’ plea but Exodus 34:6-7 give us a remarkable statement of the nature of God:

The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God,
Slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness,
Maintaining love to thousands,
And forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin.
Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished;
He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers
To the third and fourth generation.

That passage is often quoted in the Old Testament (e.g. Num. 14:18; Ps. 86:5; Ps. 103:8; Joel 2:13; Neh. 9:17; Jonah 4:2; Nahum 1:2,7) to encourage repentance. And it does! It’s an encouragement to us to experience God’s abundant love and faithfulness. We too can cast ourselves upon His compassion and grace. Aren’t you glad He’s slow to anger?


New Testament: Mark 8

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels. Mark 8:34-38

Do you want to follow Jesus? The way is plain but it isn’t easy. It’s tight and narrow and most people can’t figure it out (Mat. 7:14). There are lots of ditches to fall into and plenty of temptations to turn back. The Devil will make sure that you’re tempted to take every possible detour along the way.

Jesus tells us that if we’re going to follow Him, we have to die to ourselves first. We must lose our life in order to obtain His. The life He gives can’t be bought (“what can a man give in exchange”, Mk. 8:36). You can’t barter for it. It’s not a trade off. You must release your own claims. You must give up trying to do it on your own. You must give up!

The words Jesus uses to express this are: you must deny yourself and take up your cross to follow Him (8:34). A cross is not some heavy burden you must carry. Some people think, “Well, I’ve got this problem - I’ll just have to carry it for the rest of my life.” No, a cross is something to die on! You really have to come to a full stop in your own efforts. You must die to your self. You must “cast your burden” onto the Lord.

You’ll have to give up your sin - especially your adultery (flirting with the world and its pleasures is spiritual adultery against God). There are some habits and thought patterns that will have to go. You have to step boldly out on a new path - the one that follows Him. But He has promised to help you. Like the prodigal son, the Father will meet you more than half way.

Even that “half way” part doesn’t involve self effort. Once your heart changes direction (this is called “repentance” from the Greek word metanoia) the rest of you follows. It all begins with an inner call of the Holy Spirit to submit to Him.

He’s calling. Are you listening?