Tag Archives: A shield

THINGS THAT DAVID SAID – 12

Devotion, ,

ROCK SOLID!

Among the many things David said are statements about God that are rock solid testimony to His character. Let’s examine a few of them.

Psalms 5:12 NIV
[12] “Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.”

Favour! Who doesn’t need favour especially when the whole world sometimes seems against us? Simple things can go horribly wrong without God’s favour.

There’s no favour like the favour of God. God’s favour or, as the Hebrew word suggests, both delight and pleasure, is all around us like a fortified castle of protection.
Imagine that! It’s as though, like a watchful father, He says, “Don’t touch my kids!” and makes good His warning with necessary action.

What does this declaration mean to us?

God blesses the righteous! This is an amazing observation! First, God blesses. Google provides a comprehensive list of God’s blessings… spiritual, physical, material, and circumstantial… too many to enumerate here. Most important is that all these blessings are promised and given in the context of His covenant. His covenant, in turn, is a package deal in response to our faith in Jesus.

Ephesians 1:3-8, 11-12 NIV
[3] “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. [4] For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love [5] he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— [6] to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. [7] In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace [8] that he lavished on us…
[11] In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, [12] in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.”

“In Him…in Him!” All this happened because of Jesus. We owe every we get from God to Him.

Second, even the righteousness which qualifies us to receive all His covenant blessings is His gift to us. Our righteousness is completely inadequate to earn His favour. In fact, according to Isaiah’s observation, our righteousness is no better than “filthy rags”. Our “righteousness”, our very best efforts, stink!

Isaiah 64:6 NIV
[6] “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”

So, the only righteousness that is acceptable to God is the righteousness of His Son which He earned by His obedience to the Father at tremendous cost. This is the righteousness that the Father reckons as ours and blesses with the abundance of His favour and delight.

Imagine that! God lavishes on us blessing after blessing… goodness, favour, loving kindness, covenant love, promises… whatever you want to call them, because of Jesus! God’s favour around us, like a protecting shield, has nothing to do with our merits, only with Jesus’ merits which He freely gives to us. He not only gave us His righteousness. He MADE US the righteousness of God, as righteous as God is.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV
[21] “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Jesus became what we are, sin, so that we can be what He is, righteousness in person.

Now, God can freely lavish on us everything that He is and wants to do for His children. There is nothing to stop Him from being the Father He is to us.

Third, God blocks every evil intention of devils and people with His favour. We are encased in His fanour like a “bubble”, above, beneath, and all around us. Wherever we go, favour accompanies us. We go shopping… favour! We run into problems…favour! We encounter people, conflict, opposition, whatever…favour! We need help…favour! God’s favour is indispensable, reliable, and capable as we meet every situation.

So, how do we appropriate God’s favour when we need it?

Psalms 18:19-20 NIV
[19] “He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.”

David gives us the answer.

Psalms 116:12-13 NIV
[12] “What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me? [13] I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.”

In the cup of salvation is all the favour we ever need, the blessings of His covenant. He is only a call away.

UNCHANGED, UNCHANGING, AND UNCHANGEABLE

Bible Study, ,

One of God’s attributes, so unlike us, is that He never changes. Imagine that! In a world that is constantly changing, God is still the same in nature and character as He was before He made the universe.

Why does God never change nor can He change? Into what could He change? He is perfect in His being and in all His ways.

Psalms 18:30 NLT
[30] “God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.”

Deuteronomy 32:4 NLT
[4] “He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is!”

The only way that God could ever change would be to become less than perfect…and that will never happen!

Hebrews 13:8 NLT
[8]”Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Why, then, do we humans and the earth around us, change and why must we change? The fact that we must and can change is a great blessing. We are all part of an environment and a world system that is corrupted by sin and must change for us to share in God’s eternal kingdom.

Matthew 18:3 NIV
[3] “And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

To be included in God’s plan for His people and His universe, change is imperative. We must leave our sin-riddled thoughts and ways, and be transformed into the likeness of Jesus. We must move from our changing environment, dominated by sin, to enter God’s perfect realm where perfection guarantees that it will never change.

God will never need to amend His constitution because His Word is perfect…

Psalms 19:7-10 NIV
[7] “The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. [8] The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. [9] The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. [10] They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.”

Since God’s Word is His perfect standard, any change in us must be in the direction of His Word which verbalises His will and intention for His forever family.

How does this happen?

God’s perfection is in His thoughts.

Psalms 139:17-18 NLT
[17] “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! [18] I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!”

God shares His thoughts about us in every promise He has made. His love is perfect and unchanging and so are His intentions for us.

Jeremiah 31:3 NLT
[3]”Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.”

So powerful is God’s love for His people that nothing can change or separate us from His love.

Romans 8:35, 37 NLT
[35]”Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?..
[37] No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”

Transformation, for us, begins in the mind. What we believe controls who we are and what we do.

Romans 12:2 NLT
[2]”Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

To become like Jesus, then, is to think like He thinks. How can we know what Jesus thinks?

1 Corinthians 2:13, 15-16 NLT
[13] “When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths…
[15] Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. [16] For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.”

For us, the keys to change are the Holy Spirit and the Word. Jesus promised us a perfect Companion who would be in us…

John 14:17 NLT
[17]”He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.”

1 Corinthians 3:16 NLT
[16] “Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?”

… who would teach us about Himself…

John 16:13-15 NLT
[13]” When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. [14] He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. [15] All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’ “

… and who would change us from within by telling us the truth.

2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT
[18]”So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”

However, not only will God change us inside so that we become increasingly like Jesus until we see Him and are perfected forever…

1 John 3:2 NLT
[2]”Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.”

… but He will also change our mortal bodies to be like Jesus’ body.

1 Corinthians 15:49 NLT
[49]”Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.”

1 Corinthians 15:51-53 NLT
[51]”But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! [52] It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. [53] For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.”

In the world system, change moves from bad to worse. Creation around us is driving everything towards decay and death.

In God’s realm, the possibility of change is real. We don’t have to be stuck in a process of inevitable destruction. By faith, we can enter into God’s plan where change will move us from imperfection to perfection, from death to life, from hell to heaven.

This ancient hymn says it all…

1. Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

2 Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away.
Change and decay in all around I see.
O thou who changest not, abide with me.

3 I need thy presence every passing hour.
What but thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who like thyself my guide and strength can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.

4 I fear no foe with thee at hand to bless,
ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if thou abide with me.

5 Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes.
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks and earth’s vain shadows flee;
in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Author: Henry Francis Lyte
http://hymnary.org

What a great expression of trust in a God who never changes in a changing world!

So great is the power of God’s Word and God’s Spirit that He can interrupt and reverse the process of change and decay. He can move us from imperfection to perfection, and from death to life when we enter His flow by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.

John 3:14-15 NLT
[14] “And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, [15] so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.”

Philippians 3:13-14 NLT
[13] “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, [14] I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”