Tag Archives: secret

THINGS THAT DAVID SAID – 7

Devotion, ,

GOD’S “LOVERS”

Psalms 25:14 NKJV
[14] “The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.”

Psalms 25:14 NLT
[14] “The Lord is a friend to those who fear him. He teaches them his covenant.”

Psalms 25:14 NLT
[14] “The Lord is a friend to those who fear him. He teaches them his covenant.”

Two Hebrew words in this statement…”sod”, meaning “secret” or “intimate”, and “yada” meaning “to know” as in “sexual intimacy”, are the words that imply the intimacy of a husband and wife in a marriage relationship.

It’s no wonder translators differ in the way they render this verse. Could they be afraid to be as a bold and explicit as David was when he made this riveting statement? So, they tamed it down somewhat, reducing the thought of marriage intimacy between God and His most adoring worshippers, to “friendship”!

The intimacy between two people in a marriage implies both trust and transparency… a willingness to bare one another’s hearts as well as bodies, and a joining together of two souls to become one.

Have you ever wondered why God wants intimacy with His people? Like the intimacy between two people in marriage that produces new life, God has “seed” He desires to plant in the hearts of those who share intimacy with Him. God’s seed is His Word. He shares the secrets of His Word with those who fear Him to produce new life.

Amos 3:7 NIV
[7] “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.”

God delights to draw us into His plans so that we can incubate the seed in our spirits through faith, and add our “amen” to what He has spoken.

Did David deliberately choose these words to describe his own relationship with Yahweh? His words are an expression of a union with God that few knew in the dispensation of the Old Covenant. Yet, there were those who came close to the kind of intimacy God yearned to have with His people.

The secrets God shared with David are scattered throughout his psalms. These are prophetic messages about the Messiah that flesh out the word picture of Jesus so accurately fulfilled in His first coming.

First, the operative condition for an experience of closeness with God is “The fear of the Lord”. David used this phrase in many of his songs, calling God’s people to express their fear of the Lord by living lives that honoured Him.

Psalms 34:11-14 NLT
[11] “Come, my children, and listen to me, and I will teach you to fear the Lord. [12] Does anyone want to live a life that is long and prosperous? [13] Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies! [14] Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.”

Psalms 25:8-10, 12 NLT
[8] “The Lord is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray. [9] He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way. [10] The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands.
[12] Who are those who fear the Lord? He will show them the path they should choose.”

These were not only David’s words. Isaiah discovered and wrote the same truth…

Isaiah 33:5-6 NIV
[5] “The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with his justice and righteousness. [6] He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.”

One great theme of the Bible is God’s marriage to His people, concluding, in Revelation 19, with the description of the bride and the wedding of the Lamb. Like Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, who was sent to find a bride for Isaac, so the Father sent His Son to earth to seek a bride. The Holy Spirit, whom Jesus sent in His place, finds and prepares her for her marriage to the Lamb, the bride He bought with His own blood.

Revelation 19:7-8 NIV
[7] “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. [8] Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people).”

So, dear children of God, don’t be afraid to seek this intimacy with the Father, through Jesus the Son, that allows you access to the secrets of His covenant. Not everyone enjoys this privilege…only those who love Him enough to live within the boundaries of His covenant. These alone will enjoy the delights of His love… the rich bounty He provides for those who fear Him. They will receive the seed of the Word and share in the unfolding of God’s purposes.

Psalms 36:7-9 NIV
[7] “How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. [8] They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. [9] For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.”

Faith Is The Glue

Bible Study, , , ,

FAITH IS THE GLUE 

“Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in Him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue, for they loved human praise more than the praise of God.

“Then Jesus cried out, ‘Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.'” John 12:42-46 NIV.

Secret believers! Held captive by fear!

This is the power of false religion. Because religion has its origin in the human mind, it needs humans to defend it and force to keep people from leaving when they know the truth; force, the only way humans know how to exercise power. Fear holds people in bondage and force protects their loyalty.

These religious leaders were bound by the fear of what their colleagues would do to them if they followed Jesus. Is it possible to believe but not to follow? Jesus said not. To follow Him means to take up the cross. Anyone who carried a cross was on the way to death. A disciple is one who has embraced his rabbi, his rabbi’s yoke, and everything his rabbi stands for. He is no longer his own person. He has died. These Jewish leaders, whom John said believed in Him, had not done that. They were afraid.

But fear and force cannot bind the conscience when it is convinced of the truth. How was it that the apostles and many thousands after them, were willing to lay down their lives rather than deny that Jesus is Lord? Did He threaten them with death if they refused to acknowledge Him? Did He destroy Peter for denying him with oaths and curses? What changed cowering men into courageous witnesses? The resurrection convinced them that He was the Son of God and not even death could scare them into submission to the Roman authorities or the bullying religious leaders.

But the reward for believing in Jesus far outweighs the cost! There is a revelation of the face of the Father in the face of Jesus that is reserved for those who recognize and embrace the truth that He and the Father are one.

Throughout the history of His people, Jesus had dealings with them in many different ways. He met Moses through the miracle of a desert bush that burned with an unearthly fire but was not consumed and revealed His name to him on the mountain. He revealed His glory in dreams and visions to His prophets, men like Isaiah and Ezekiel; He gave His personal protection to Daniel in the den of lions and his three colleagues in Nebuchadnezzar’s fire; He spoke in an audible voice to Abraham and Jacob and even wrestled with Jacob until he prevailed and became a prince with God.  But they never saw His face.

Now He was here on earth in person, in human form so that all men might see the face of God in Him; but only those who believed the truth of who He was would recognize in Him the nature of the Father He represented. To some He was a blasphemer; to others at best a prophet or just a good man. Only to those who believed in Him was He the face of the Father.

John lived and walked with Him for three and a half years. To him, Jesus was the Word become flesh…”We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14. Paul met Him on the Damascus road and, from then on He was, to him “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” Colossians 1:15. To the unknown writer to the Hebrews He was “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being…” Hebrews 1:3.

How did Jesus respond to Philip’s request, ‘”Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us’? “Jesus answered, ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.'” John 14:8, 9.

The miracle is that Jesus is just Jesus, good man, prophet perhaps, until faith opens the eyes and the heart sees Him as the Son of God and a mirror image of the Father. This is the glue that binds us to Him. We are not held to loyalty by fear or threats of death. To believe in Him is to see Him and to see Him is to love Him. “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18 NIV.

It’s The Choice That Counts!

Bible Study, , , ,

IT’S THE CHOICE THAT COUNTS

“However, after His brothers had left for the festival, He went also, not publicly but in secret. Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, ‘Where is He?’ Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about Him. Some said, ‘He is a good man.’ Others replied, ‘No, He deceives the people.’ But no one would say anything publicly about Him for fear of the leaders.” John 7:10-13 (NIV).

Jesus was certainly the centre of attention and the talk of the town!

He knew what He was doing when He made it clear to His taunting brothers that He would not be going to Jerusalem at the same time as they were. He knew the Jewish leaders were looking for Him. It was not wise to make a public appearance because there was no knowing what they were planning.

Not only were the leaders against Him but the crowd was also divided. Those who had received ministry from Him in one way or another would definitely have spoken well of Him. Those who were influenced by their leaders would have echoed their misgivings. They muttered among themselves, not daring to make their opinions public in case they fell foul of the big shots who had spies everywhere.

Jesus went to Jerusalem when the crowds on the road had dispersed but He kept a low profile in the city until the appropriate moment when He would reveal Himself. He was not afraid but He was wise. He didn’t want to start a riot prematurely.

“Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews there were amazed and asked, ‘How did this man get such learning without being taught?'” John 7:14,15 (NIV).

It was the rabbi’s job to teach. There was nothing unusual about Jesus gathering a crowd around Him as He began to speak about the kingdom of God. Perhaps there were other rabbis teaching in the temple as well. What the Jews could not understand was the authority with which He spoke compared with the other rabbis’ constant reference to the ancients. ‘Rabbi So-and-so said this and Rabbi So-and-so said that,’ and so it went on.

Jesus simply said, ‘This is what the ancients said, but I say…’ and they could not understand the difference. What right had He to speak with such authority that what He said put paid to all debate? They assumed that as a village lad from Nazareth in Galilee of all places, He would have had minimal education and yet He had the status and recognized authority of a rabbi and carried out the function of a rabbi. It was His authority they could not get over because no other rabbi spoke as He did.

The reason they could not fathom His authority was because they refused to believe its source. Jesus constantly affirmed His connection with the Father. “Jesus answered, ‘My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.'” John 7:16, 17 (NIV).

That’s it! It all comes down to choices, once again. Jesus was saying, ‘What is your heart attitude towards God? If you sincerely desire to be connected to Him and to do what He wants, you will have no trouble in discerning who I am and what my source is.’

God promises that He will “reward those who earnestly seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6b). The Father does not reveal Himself to curiosity seekers. He is not building a fan club. He gives His attention to those who put aside their own interests to listen to Him and to find out His mind for their lives. He always leaves the initiative to us to make the first move towards Him. There is no value in waiting for God to draw near to us when He has done everything He can to pave the way for us to approach Him.

The Jews who constantly confronted and discredited Jesus would never experience the wonder of God’s revelation of Himself to them. It was their unbelief that effectively shut the door in their faces to the possibility of knowing God. They had religion but they did not know God.

Faith in God’s word opens the door to everything He has made available to us in Christ.