Ex. 20:1 And God spake all these words, saying,

Ex. 20:2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Ex. 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Ex. 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

Ex. 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Ex. 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Ex. 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Ex. 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Ex. 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

Ex. 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

Ex. 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Ex. 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Ex. 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.

Ex. 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Ex. 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.

Ex. 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Ex. 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Ex. 20:18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.

Ex. 20:19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.

Ex. 20:20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

 

Welcome To The Light-Washed Path,

All man’’s ills stem from failure to keep the 10 Commandments. This wonderful consolidation of moral light encompasses the entire complexity of human sin. Never was a more perfect and simple charter set before men. Every errant, deviate group known to man is flushed out and caught like flies on a “Shell No-Pest Strip”, by this simple document of decency. There’’s something on this list to offend everybody. Like a great divinely impartial locator, the 10 Commandments zero in to find that specific spot in each heart, where rebellion has lodged its poison.

Every crime, atrocity and misery of humanity derives its inception from the rejection of one of these commands from our Creator. With the 10 Commandments, God has given mankind the great gift of defining right from wrong. Over the framework of the 10 Commandments, man is able to fashion every instrument of law and self-government.

These are in essence, the 10 Reason why we fail. An honest study of exactly what these commandments meant to God, will reveal why we will never do more than destroy ourselves, if we insist on proceeding without Him. Their wisdom escapes none but the self-confident fool.

Here they are……

6. You shall not Murder.

Ex. 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.

“Kill” = (7523 Strong’s Concordance). jAx∂r ratsach, raw-tsakh´; a primitive root; properly, to dash in pieces, i.e. kill (a human being), especially to murder:— put to death, kill, (man-)slay(-er), murder(-er).

7. You shall not commit adultery, breaking the marriage covenant.

Ex. 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8. You shall not steal.

Ex. 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.

9. You shall not lie against your fellow man, perjuring yourself.

Ex. 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

10. You shall not lust after anything belonging to your fellow man, not his wife, his house his material possessions or any of his advantages.

Ex. 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.

Most all reasoned people agree that these are good ideas. But because these are, in fact, not ideas or suggestions, but commandments from God, the God-rejecters in our society are fighting against them. They agree in principle with all but the first two commandments, which have to do with honoring God.

The 10 Commandments, with God removed, is a sterile sentence of death, leaving man with no possible means of success. But the 10 Commandments, taken as they were given, with the presence of God, as the Law Giver, provides the opportunity for help and mercy, when we fail at the Law. If we have no God, then we have no Redeemer. And no Law can redeem, but only condemn. Remove God, and with Him, take away the possibility of mercy and 2^nd chances, and eventually people will abandon the Law itself. Because under the Law, all eventually become guilty. And to be guilty under the Law, without God, is inescapable condemnation.

The basic human need for freedom cannot survive under condemnation. People will always seek to free themselves. And if they have rejected God Who alone can free them from failure under the Law – then they will reject the Law to be free of its condemnations. The 10 Commandments give us the 10 basic Reasons for our failures. They reveal the 10 basic roots of sin. And it is vital that we treat the breaking of these laws as sins, for the word “sin” means the transgressing of God’’s commands. If the 10 Commandments were reduced to eight, with the first two removed, we would be doomed; for broken Law may not be forgiven, if the Law is to be preserved. But sins can be forgiven, because God, the Law Giver, has the authority to grant mercy to repentant transgressors, since the sins are against Him personally.

And thus when you become guilty before God He presents you with an Advocate. And you have a choice other than condemnation and death. The whole purpose of the Law is to point us to the broken relationship with our Creator. The absolute worst thing our society can do, in their ignorance, is to reject the 10 Commandments, especially the claims of the first two. For to reject the 10 Commandments, and the divine claims of the Commander, is to forsake the mercy we so desperately need.

Rom. 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Rom. 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

Rom. 8:3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, Goddid: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,

Rom. 8:4 in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Stay On The Path!

Tags: A list of devotionals by chronological order, Challenge, Conviction & Encouragement // Add Comment »

Ex. 20:1 And God spake all these words, saying,

Ex. 20:2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Ex. 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Ex. 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

Ex. 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Ex. 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Ex. 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Ex. 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Ex. 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

Ex. 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

Ex. 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Ex. 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Ex. 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.

Ex. 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Ex. 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.

Ex. 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Ex. 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Ex. 20:18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.

Ex. 20:19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.

Ex. 20:20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

Welcome To The Light-Washed Path,

All man’’s ills stem from failure to keep the 10 Commandments. This wonderful consolidation of moral light encompasses the entire complexity of human sin. Never was a more perfect and simple charter set before men. Every errant, deviate group known to man is flushed out and caught like flies on a “Shell No-Pest Strip”, by this simple document of decency. There’’s something on this list to offend everybody. Like a great divinely impartial locator, the 10 Commandments zero in to find that specific spot in each heart, where rebellion has lodged its poison.

Every crime, atrocity and misery of humanity derives its inception from the rejection of one of these commands from our Creator. With the 10 Commandments, God has given mankind the great gift of defining right from wrong. Over the framework of the 10 Commandments, man is able to fashion every instrument of law and self-government.

These are in essence, the 10 Reason why we fail. An honest study of exactly what these commandments meant to God, will reveal why we will never do more than destroy ourselves, if we insist on proceeding without Him. Their wisdom escapes none but the self-confident fool.

Here they are…

1. Do not practice idolatry, worshipping anything other than the Lord God, Who is our Maker and Redeemer. From the failure to acknowledge the supremacy of God, flows every corruption of arrogance and self-deception.

Ex. 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

2. Do not worship the false gods of man’’s imagination. They are invented and therefore worshipping them is sinful. For you are giving worship owed to the true Living God, the Creator, to that which is an imposter, invented in ignorance, incapable of responding.

Ex. 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

Ex. 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:

3. You shall not degrade, make desolate and morally ruin the name of the Lord your God, Who is the pinnacle and wellspring of all truth and moral excellence. For through the true reverence of His name every moral good and spiritual value is retained.

Ex. 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain…

4. You shall remember the Sabbath Day of Rest and keep it holy unto the Lord, as a day of worship so that you and your family may remember and refresh yourselves in the truth that the Lord is your Provider and source of blessing.

Ex. 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

5. You shall honor your father and mother, and not denigrate the sacrifice of parenthood, for you are sowing to your own and future generations, with your example.

Ex. 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee…

Tomorrow, 6 through 10.  So until then…

Stay On The Path!

Tags: A list of devotionals by chronological order, Challenge, Conviction & Encouragement // Add Comment »

2 Tim. 3:1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

2 Tim. 3:2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,

2 Tim. 3:3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,

2 Tim. 3:4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God;

2 Tim. 3:5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these.

“…difficult times will come…”

Welcome To The Light-Washed Path,

A time of great difficulty will arise as we enter the last days. We are moving into a time of great moral confusion, in which those who want to live upright before God will find it very hard to survive. Common sense, and the most basic understandings of right and wrong, will collapse. Society will fall back into the dark period before the flood, when “men did that which was right in their own eyes.” The clear distinctions between the moral standards of the world and those of Christians will also dissolve, and confusion will flood the Church. In Matthew 24:38 Jesus warned us about the times we are now entering:

“As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”

The Collapse of Reason

There is one basic shift in the Christian world-view, which will open the floodgates to allow the collapse of reason. It will be a major paradigm shift from a God-centered view of morality to a man-centered view of morality. In other words, the basic concept of right and wrong will be determined by what individuals want rather than what God wants. Morality will be determined by what seems to appeal to people, as opposed to the claims of God, as they are laid out in scripture.

It is quite apparent by now, that we have crossed a line and fallen within the grip of Biblical prophecy, so far as it relates to this era of moral confusion. Paul perfectly quantifies the root of moral collapse by leading off his commentary with this observation that pretty much sums it all up…

“For men will be lovers of self…”

While the events of ecological and political upheavals may be debated, as signs of the end times, the degrading of moral certainty is blatantly apparent.

TODAY this paradigm shift is manifest among Christians in 2 basic moral failures:

Addiction To Acceptance

Fear Of Making Judgments

Fear Of Making Judgments…

Because accepting people, along with their sin, has become the new way to show love, many people now believe they have a right to have their behaviors protected from rejection. They have extended the meaning of ‘grace’, to include all their behaviors and not just their souls. Most Christians now feel pressured to “show love” towards behaviors that they should be reproving. So they are intimidated into accepting peoples’’ sins, in order to accept the person, and have abandoned their Biblical responsibility to exercise judgment. We’’re not talking about condemnation, but simply exercising discretion and discernment. And Jesus made clear that we ought to examine the fruit of people’s lives:

Luke 6:43-44 For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit; nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.

Under the pressure to accept (“love”) everyone, it’’s becoming increasingly unpopular to call sin for what it is. In order to avoid people feeling rejected Christians are increasingly reclassifying sins as problems. Everyone has problems, whether their behavior is good or evil, and problems don’’t reflect on a person’’s moral standing.

The concept of good and evil is now being considered in terms of peoples’’ opinions about certain actions, rather than what the Bible says about it. A thing is good or bad based on whether it helps or hinders you, and not whether it agrees with or violates God’’s righteousness. Sin is no longer viewed as wrong because it’’s an offense against God, but because it’’s an offense against man. The desires and standards of people have become the determining factor in deciding society’’s moral tolerance, and God’’s laws have been tossed aside as meaningless. Murder is still wrong in our culture, but no longer because it breaks God’’s commandments, but because it violates man’’s laws.

A new image of God has evolved in our culture, because we are no longer willing to tolerate the concept of a God who sets absolute moral laws, and makes judgments accordingly. The new concept of God is that He is the Facilitator Of Your Dreams. He’’s simply watching over people, with divine sympathy, as they struggle in their sins; waiting for them to let Him bless them. Since we have privatized sin, moral neutrality is necessary in order to fulfill what many have come to believe is the goal of ministry: helping people live their best life NOW. And because of this new ministry focus, Christians are afraid to judge anything as sin, choosing rather to morally sterilize all bad behaviors as problems or issues.

But problems and sins are not the same thing:

People solve Problems between themselves….

But sin is something between them and God.

Being overdrawn at the bank is a problem.…

Immorality, homosexuality, lying, addictions, etc. are sins.

I can accept your problem and maybe I can help….

But I can’’t accept your sin…

I don’’t have that right because your sin is against God.

Increasingly confused Christians see their role in the world as givers of social charity without calling people to reconciliation with God.

The more we fail to be honest about God’’s requirements, the more people are losing their tolerance for a God with requirements. It’’s a church that’’s losing its saltiness that enables a world to become more rebellious.

Jesus never forgave unrepentant people. On the cross He responded to the man who took responsibility for himself, but ignored the unrepentant sinner. It is cruel for Christians, who have been given the responsibility to represent the claims and Gospel of Christ, to hide what they know as right from wrong, behind a veil of neutrality, knowing that God will judge the world for it’s works. How can we even pretend to come close to representing the Gospel, by refusing to tell the truth about what God says in His Word concerning sin. John the Baptist, the great forerunner of the Savior, introduced Him by calling the world to repentance for its sins. He was specific, straight, unflinching and honest in his presentation. If those who shun the light demand that we dim our standards for the sake of their comfort, and we accommodate them; then we have made ourselves more likeable while pushing them farther from Heaven. When we are dealing with the eternal destiny of other people how can we take liberties with the Truth in order to make our own selves appear more popular? Since Jesus died for the sins of the world, we who have become the beneficiaries of His grace are obligated to tell the truth about it.

Stay On The Path!

Tags: A list of devotionals by chronological order, Challenge, Conviction & Encouragement // Add Comment »

2 Tim. 3:1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

2 Tim. 3:2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,

2 Tim. 3:3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,

2 Tim. 3:4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God;

2 Tim. 3:5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these.

“……difficult times will come…”

Welcome To The Light-Washed Path,

A time of great difficulty will arise as we enter the last days. We are moving into a time of great moral confusion, in which those who want to live upright before God will find it very hard to survive. Common sense, and the most basic understandings of right and wrong, will collapse. Society will fall back into the dark period before the flood, when “men did that which was right in their own eyes.” The clear distinctions between the moral standards of the world and those of Christians will also dissolve, and confusion will flood the Church. In Matthew 24:38 Jesus warned us about the times we are now entering:

Lk. 17.26 “As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”

The Collapse of Reason

There is one basic shift in the Christian world-view, which will open the floodgates to allow the collapse of reason. It will be a major paradigm shift from a God-centered view of morality to a man-centered view of morality. In other words, the basic concept of right and wrong will be determined by what individuals want rather than what God wants. Morality will be determined by what seems to appeal to people, as opposed to the claims of God, as they are laid out in scripture.

It is quite apparent by now, that we have crossed a line and fallen within the grip of Biblical prophecy, so far as it relates to this era of moral confusion. Paul perfectly quantifies the root of moral collapse by leading off his commentary with this observation that pretty much sums it all up…

“For men will be lovers of self…”

While the events of ecological and political upheavals may be debated, as signs of the end times, the degrading of moral certainty is blatantly apparent.

TODAY this paradigm shift is manifest among Christians in 2 basic moral failures:

Addiction To Acceptance

Fear Of Making Judgments

Addiction To Acceptance…

The principle of Acceptance is simple: Acceptance is based in Acceptability. If you want to be accepted learn to be acceptable. But acceptance is associated with approval, and therein lays the dilemma. People want to enjoy the benefits of acceptance from others because acceptance makes them feel approved by others. They can even deceive themselves that they are righteous, when others give them acceptance, even though their works are unacceptable and undeserving of acceptance. But they refuse to disassociate from unacceptable behavior, and raise the accusation of discrimination, when their actions are rejected. In simple terms, people are demanding that their behavior be considered as off-limits to evaluation, while they themselves are shown full approval. So increasingly people are actually craving acceptance, believing they have a basic right to it, without being responsible to fulfill any standards of acceptability or achievement. 

Acceptance today is used as a kind of whitewash for unrepented sin.  This sin is compounded among Christians who want acceptance from man while their acceptability before God is kept free from evaluation. As a result they fall prey to the “fear of man”. They become emotionally addicted to the opinions of others, which are fickle; when the opinion of God is what really matters

Matt. 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

 

Prov. 29:25 The fear of man brings a snare…

Accepting people has become the new way to show love.

And the right to acceptance and protection from rejection is what many Christians now expect as a show of love. They also believe they have a right to be protected from rejection, and have extended the meaning of ‘grace’, to include all their behaviors. Most Christians now feel pressured to “show love” towards behaviors that they should be reproving. And it’’s all because those who exhibit the behaviors have made overlooking them, a prerequisite of acceptance and love.

We can no longer love the sinner w/o loving the sin, too.

Gen. 4:7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you…

Cain was blinded by his craving for acceptance instead of being motivated by the desire for acceptability. But when Cain’’s offering was unacceptable God didn’’t automatically reject him. He simply explained the needed correction and gave Cain a ‘do-over’. But Cain couldn’’t get over himself and killed his brother out of jealousy instead of submitting himself to scrutiny.

We see the same today when goofed up parents enter the Principal’’s Office (sometimes with a lawyer), demanding that their misbehaving child be spared any judgment and extended the same privilege of acceptance as the achievers.

Find out what it takes to be accepted in God’s eyes and let everything else find its place behind that relationship. Let the Lord set the standard for your acceptability.

You can survive without acceptance from people…, but you can’t survive rejection from God.

And if you’re acceptable in God’s eyes…, then so you’ll be also in the eyes of those who matter.

Tomorrow we’’ll look at the second great moral failure of our time: The Fear of Making Judgments.  So until then……

Stay On The Path!

Tags: A list of devotionals by chronological order, Challenge, Conviction & Encouragement // Add Comment »

James 1:2 Consider (command w/ official authority) it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,

Welcome To The Light-Washed Path,

Let’s begin with a quick review of the essential purpose of joy…:

…To take command and overcome (through joy) trying temptations.

Joy arises when faith exerts itself over circumstances. That is the key to gladness…

Psa. 40:16 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee…

Joy begins, not with a feeling of happiness, but with a change of mental focus, a shift from considering the circumstances to remembering God’’s Word of promise.…

Before joy is ever a feeling it begins as a thought, a remembrance….

Recalling the goodness and greatness of God, which lies beyond what you see, is step one. And for this you must know His Word….

In other words, we rejoice in the Truth, not in our circumstances….

Let’’s assume that you find yourself in the middle of a typical set of uninspiring circumstances. Remember the “fog” we spoke about yesterday, and how it shrinks your world down to seeing only the immediate images of your trial. The realities of God’’s blessings become obscured, and typical of navigating through fogs, all your attention is focused on what’’s right in front of you. So how do you begin to bring joy into the situation?

First you realize that joy will not arise from your situation, it must arise from within you. It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, a force of God, if you will, that resides within you, as God’’s child. So you don’’t need to find joy, it simply requires an act of authority on your part to release it. You begin with step one, then two,… three, …four, and finally, step five. Joy most definitely is a disciplined progression. And here it is:

Step One: Focus

We shared this point yesterday. It is the critical start-point of joy. It begins with knowing and recalling the wonderful works and promises of God. Sometimes we need to stop in the middle of a trial, and cast our thoughts out beyond the fog, to behold the vast universe that God has made; the universe He has stretched out and the detail with which He maintains the order of every system. And we are more valuable to Him than all the material of this celestial terrarium in which we dwell.

David said: “O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember you” …(Psa. 42:6)”

Step Two: Remember

Remember God. Think about what the Word says concerning His goodness and faithfulness. Recall His credibility and the deeds that confirm it. This 2^nd step requires that you understand something about God. To recall His faithfulness you must have a revelation about His goodness. Though Moses had seen God’’s acts of power, the first time it’s recorded that Moses worshipped God occurs when God reveals the glory of His goodness to Him.

Ex. 34:6-8 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord! The Lord!A God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness and truth, keeping mercy and loving-kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin… And Moses made haste to bow his head toward the earth and worshiped.

We cannot worship, nor can we begin to exercise joy in the Lord until we have a revelation of His goodness. It is remembering God’’s goodness that gives joy a reason to exert itself. Moses was able to rejoice in the Lord even when Israel could not seem to stay faithful. The Israelites under Moses shrank back from facing God because they only saw His acts of power. But Moses understood God’’s essential nature. Therefore Moses could sustain himself with joy while the children of Israel died in their fears, though both faced the same trying circumstances.

Psa. 103:7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

Step Three: Acknowledge

Once you have focused on God, remembered His goodness and mercy; then it’s time to verbally acknowledge His Truth, as superior to your circumstances. So many of David’’s Psalms are a wonderful mixture of Him laying out his dilemma and then contrasting it with declarations of God’’s goodness and help. At that point it was like David was counseling himself out loud. And that’’s exactly what he was doing!

1 Sam. 30:6 David was greatly distressed, for the men spoke of stoning him because the souls of them all were bitterly grieved, each man for his sons and daughters. But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

Joy will always spring from your own preaching of the Truth. At this point joy begins to exert it’s authority over the claims of your temptations. And the Truth-declarations of your rejoicing are alone, the only force that can defeat your temptations.

Psa. 27:5-6 For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter; in the secret place of His tent will He hide me; He will set me high upon a rock. And now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies round about me; in His tent I will offer sacrifices and shouting of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

Step Four: Thank

Now it’’s time to give thanks to the Lord …out loud. Innumerate your blessings. Look outside the unpleasantness of your immediate trial and as you remember God’’s goodness, thank Him for each blessing, as though you were holding it in your hand. And joy will see to it that you do. David knew that ‘going to church’ and thinking about God, or even complaining to God was not enough. True deliverance comes through praise and thanksgiving:

Psa. 69:29-31 But I am afflicted and in pain; May Thy salvation, O God, set mesecurely on high. I will praise the name of God with song, and shall magnify Him with thanksgiving. And it will please the LORD better than an (sacrifices) ox or a young bull with horns and hoofs.

Step Five: Praise

Finally after focusing on God, remembering His goodness, acknowledging His Truth, and thanking Him for it, joy is arising! Now you’re ready to praise God with temptation-busting power. Nehemiah said, “The joy of the Lord is YOU’RE strength”. And this is how the joy of the Lord arises in you and becomes your joy, …your strength. This is how praising God lifts you up and defeats Satan’’s strategies against you. When you follow these 5 steps to joy you will overcome rather than being overcome by your trials.

Psa. 8:2 Out of the mouth of babes you have ordained strength because of your enemies, that you might paralyze the enemy and the avenger.

Matt. 21:16 And Jesus said to them, Yea; have you never read, Out of the mouth of babes you have perfected (ordained) praise?

By rejoicing through trials with the Truth of the Word, He has ordained our deliverance. God’’s blessing of joy to every Christian is so powerful and impartial that the only way for us to be defeated is to simply keep us from rejoicing in the Lord.

Stay On The Path!

Tags: A list of devotionals by chronological order, Praise, Prayer & Devotion // Add Comment »

James 1:2 Consider (command w/ official authority) it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,

Welcome To The Light-Washed Path,

Joy occurs when faith exerts itself over circumstances. That is the key to gladness. It’’s not waiting for favorable circumstances, but rejoicing because you already have favor with God in the midst of your circumstances. You REJOICE then you ARE glad. That’s how it works.

Psa. 40:16 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee…

But HOW does one do that in the middle of life’’s trying times, particularly when you are surrounded by unhappiness and drowning in bad news??! Admittedly, it takes a certain level of spiritual maturity, great discipline and focus to rejoice in the midst of trials and temptations. But as difficult as it may seem, every Christian can do it, and must learn to do it, if we are to survive the world, much less, overcome it.

Let’s begin by admitting that most days we don’’t find a lot to rejoice over in our surroundings. And a good deal of the time joy seems almost impossible or even inappropriate, when taken in consideration with your circumstances. In short, we can’’t look for the source, or beginning point of joy, in our surroundings. We must look elsewhere for the joy that God is speaking about in His Word: the joy that takes command over trials and temptations. So what is the starting point of joy? For the answer let’’s consider David’s 27^th Psalm:

Psa. 27:3 Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, In spite of this I shall be confident.

Psa. 27:4 One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to meditate in His temple.

Psa. 27:5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.

Psa. 27:6 And NOW my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me; And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

Psa. 27:7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice, And be gracious to me and answer me.

Psa. 27:8 When Thou didst say, “Seek My face,” my heart said to Thee, “Thy face, O LORD, I shall seek.”

Psa. 27:9 Do not hide Thy face from me, Do not turn Thy servant away in anger; Thou hast been my help; Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation!

Psa. 27:10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me, But the LORD will take me up.

Psa. 27:11 Teach me Thy way, O LORD, And lead me in a level path, Because of my foes.

Psa. 27:12 Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence.

Psa. 27:13