All Scripture is Useful For…

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. (Psalms 19:13-14)

I love passages like this, because, even though they’re in the Old Testament, they teach something from the New Testament. For example, in the first verse David is crying out to the Lord, and asking that God would keep him from being dominated by sin. Essentially, David does ask God to keep him from sin, but he specifically asks that God would keep him from being dominated by sin. David knows that he’ll sin, but he’s asking that God would keep sin from dominating his life. This a concept (i.e., that even as Christians we will still sometimes fall to sin, but that God can and will keep it from dominating our lives) that is taught in the New Testament as well… In fact, we can see it in various different passages, for example:

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Likewise, in the second verse David is asking God to let his words and meditation be acceptable before God. Now, this particular bit is actually teaching more through contrast with the New Testament then through comparison… By that, I mean that in the New Testament we see that, if we are Christians, our words and what we meditate on are (or at least should be… Naturally, as mentioned earlier, we will stumble) acceptable to God.

In conclusion though: We can see New Testament truths and events all throughout the Old Testament… In small things, such as the two bits of teaching that were mentioned, and in big things. The ‘biggest’ thing of all, that we see constantly being foreshadowed all throughout the Old Testament, is the Gospel. We see it foreshadowed  in Abraham, when he is told to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. We see it foreshadowed also with Joseph, who, to keep the people from starving, was betrayed into the hands of evil men, only to then be exalted to the right hand of Pharaoh… In short, almost every passage in the Old Testament points forward, or elaborates upon, something in the New Testament… The two testaments aren’t meant to be read separately, but rather to explain various things in one Testament or the other.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Today’s Sermon

Hello again!

Today the Pastor preached on Luke 10:38-42. He said various things on the passage, but the main take-away I got from it was this:

We shouldn’t “classify” people are a “Martha” person, or as a “Mary” person… That is to say, we shouldn’t judge people based upon if they seem to us to be listening to God or going their own way. Rather, we should accept that some people simply are less mature than us in their faith, and that some people are simply more mature than us in their faith. However, we should never assume one or the other. It is very possible for a strong believer to simply be going through a bad time, while someone who normally is not at all mature in their faith can be going through a time of closeness with God.

So then, how did the pastor apply this in a way that could be actually used to benefit us? He said that, though we shouldn’t judge others, we should try to determine if we ourselves are like Mary in or faith, or if we’re like Martha in our faith… Meaning that, are we currently listening to what God’s will for our life is (like Mary), or are we kind of just going or our own way (like Martha)?

I think that’s a question we should all be asking ourself. However, I also think it’s important to always keep in mind that we can only grow in our faith, because of what Jesus has done for us. Indeed, in my opinion it’s only by focusing on Jesus’ finished work for us on the cross that we can ever mature in our faith.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Spotless in His Sight

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his rules were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me. I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt. So the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. (Psalms 18:20-24)

Now, David was certainly not righteous. In fact, he was one of the farthest things away from righteous… When you commit adultery with the wife of one of your own soldiers, and then kill the soldier (see: 2 Samuel 11), you’re pretty far gone. So then, the question naturally comes, why is it David is claiming such innocence? The answer is simple: Because he is innocent!

Now, it is certainly true that Jesus had not yet come, much less died for our sins. However, even back then, you could believe in the Messiah. You can see foreshadows of Jesus all throughout the Old Testament, all someone would have to do to learn about the Messiah, and come to faith, would be to come would be to open up the Scriptures. Now, that being said, belief alone certainly doesn’t save you. If belief alone that Jesus would at some point come did save you, then Jesus would never have needed to come… So, why then do I say David is innocent?

Because, in God’s sight, time means nothing. To God, Jesus died a million years ago, He died today, and He will die and rise again a million years from now. To God, a couple thousand years means nothing. Just because Jesus died thousands of years ago does not make the event any less meaningful for us. Likewise, just because David lived quite a while before Jesus was even born, it doesn’t make the event any less meaningful to God.

In conclusion: You, me, and even David are considered spotless before God. Not only that, but we will always be considered spotless before God.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Crying Out to the Lord

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. (Psalms 18:2-6)

Even if it seems as though everyone has turned against us, we can know that we have a redeemer. We have someone who will always rescue us when we call out to Him. We see this pattern repeated all through the Bible – When the Israelites were in captivity, they cried out to the Lord, and He set them free. Likewise, whenever in the New Testament a person with some ailment called out to Christ, and the request was according to God’s will, He healed them.

Many are tempted to call God an unloving tyrant, because there is sin and pain in the World. The reality though, is that God isn’t a tyrant, nor is He unloving. To the contrary, it was mankind that brought sin and pain upon our-self through sinning, and God who made a way for us to still be forgiven. Jesus has given us the ability to be healed of any and every sickness, whether physical or Spiritual. Though perhaps not in this life, certainly in the next. We just have to, like David, cry out to Him, and He will hear us.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Questions

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

A Psalm of David. O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved. (Psalms 15:1-5)

David asks a question of God: Who will live next to God (“sojourn in his tent”)? Who will dwell on God’s holy hill? The blameless one. The one who does what is right, the one who speaks truth in his heart… The one who doesn’t slander, and does no evil to his neighbor. The one who doesn’t take up a reproach against his friend, despises a vile person, but honors those that fear the Lord. The one who never takes an oath that will hurt someone else, but only himself. The one who doesn’t loan but rather lends money, and the one who doesn’t take a bribe. Read over that list one more time, does it remind you of someone?

Jesus is such a perfect fulfillment of this passage, that there is simply no one it can be coincidence. Who was the only blameless one to ever walk on the Earth? Jesus Christ is the only one who you can never truthfully blame for anything. Even when Pilate asked the pharisees why they wanted to crucify Jesus, they essentially replied that “he should just trust them” (see: John 18:29-30). Jesus is also certainly the only one who always does what is right, and who speaks truth i his heart. Not only that, but far from slandering others, He uplifts those others have torn down (i.e. the woman caught in adultery, see: John 8:1-11).  Likewise, Jesus not only did no evil to his neighbor, He specifically encouraged us to love our neighbors – to love all those around us.

Jesus also never took up reproach against one of His friends. You never see Him getting angry when one of His disciples (or all of them, more often than not) don’t understand something He says. He also despises evil doers… Which is why He came to die, to set them free from their evil doing. Likewise with everything else that is listed – Jesus is the embodiment of the passage. He is the one who “dwells” on God’s holy hill of Calvary, where He made atonement for each and every one of our sins. And now, as the last part of the passage states, He shall never be moved. Satan can’t push us around (if you will) when we are in Christ, because when we are in Him, we shall never be able to move away from the place where He dwells – Calvary. So long as we stay there, at the foot of the cross, our hearts and minds are protected by Christ’s blood.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Foundations

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word

: To the choirmaster. Of David. In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, “Flee like a bird to your mountain, for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalms 11:1-3)

What David implies here is quite true; there isn’t anything anyone can do if their foundation, the thing they put their very faith and hope in, is destroyed. This is one of the reasons Paul in his first letter to Timothy called the love of money, “the root of all kinds of evil” [See 1 Timothy 6:10]; because when you make money your foundation (i.e. you “love” it), it’s eventually going to let you down. Even if you make family your foundation, that’s going to let you down in some form or another eventually, too. In 1 Corinthians, however, Paul shows us the only possible foundation that a Christian can have:

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:10-11)

Jesus will never disappoint. He’ll never take wings and fly away like money. He is our firm foundation, and the one and only person which we can truly trust with everything. If we try to trust in our-self, we’ll disappoint our-self. If we try to trust in doctors, the doctors will disappoint us. If we trust in a job, or electronics, those too will disappoint us. Only Jesus has given His life to save our’s, and He is the only one we can trust eternally.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Memories

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever. The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished. Psalms 9:5-6)

All the “enemy’s” cities have been rooted out, and their very memory has perished. How true that is in our lives today. All of Satan’s strongholds within us have been rooted out when Christ sent His spirit into us, and now we have no guilt or shame over them. You could say that the very memory of them has perished… When you think about it, the memory of something is really what keeps us attached (either negatively or positively) to that thing. An alcoholic who’s struggling to break free without knowing Christ may certainly break free for a time, but there will always be a memory of how good it felt in the moment. We tend to hang on to  the “good” moments like that, while forgetting the consequences. This is not how it is with Christ, though. With Him, our memory is washed clean by His death and Resurrection for us.

A memory is really quite powerful, when you think about it. A memory can remind us to not put our hand in the fire, or to call 911 in an emergency. A memory can also remind us of the (no matter how temporary) pleasure that there is in sin. People addicted to something will, even after breaking their addiction, say that there is always a “want” to have that thing again – there’s always a memory that haunts them for the rest of their life. The thing is, God knows this about us. He knows that we feeble humans are drawn to pleasurable things. This is why people often claim that God is cruel in some way to make us like this; make us to seek out some form of pleasure. However, it isn’t cruel of God to have made us like this, rather it’s a blessing. The more we seek, the more we’ll find that all pleasure that this Earth has to offer is temporary. The effects of a drug wear off, a cigarette comes to an end, and a person can only stay drunk for so long. However, Jesus is eternal. God made us to seek pleasure, so that we will realize that only true and lasting pleasure comes through worshiping Him.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland