Words of Encouragement and Thoughts (4)

Our Field of Battle
"For the LORD your God is He that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you" (Deuteronomy 20:4).

We have no enemies but the enemies of God. Our fights are not against men but against spiritual wickednesses. We war with the devil and the blasphemy and error and despair which he brings into the field of battle. We fight with all the armies of sin -- impurity, drunkenness, oppression, infidelity, and ungodliness. With these we contend earnestly, but not with sword or spear; the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.

Jehovah, our God, abhors everything which is evil, and, therefore, He goeth with us to fight for us in this crusade. He will save us, and He will give us grace to war a good warfare and win the victory. We may depend upon it that if we are on God's side God is on our side. With such an august ally the conflict is never in the least degree doubtful. It is not that truth is mighty and must prevail but that might lies with the Father who is almighty, with Jesus who has all power in heaven and in earth, and with the Holy Spirit who worketh His will among men.

Soldiers of Christ, gird on your armor. Strike home in the name of the God of holiness, and by faith grasp His salvation. Let not this day pass without striking a blow for Jesus and holiness.

Can a lie be justified?
For reading & meditation: Proverbs 19:1-9
"A false witness will not go unpunished and he who pours out lies will perish." (v.9)

Will the universe sustain a lie? Today the Church is being inundated with a philosophy called "situational ethics" which would have us believe that sometimes a lie can be right. I think that is a deadly and diabolical doctrine. A lie is never right - no matter what attempts we might make to justify it. "God is not a man, that he should lie," says the Scripture in Numbers 23:19, and in 1 John 2:21 we read, "' no lie comes from the truth." God cannot lie and He will never delegate to you the task of lying for Him. When we take dishonesties into our lives we take fire into our lives - here and hereafter: "' all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone" (Rev. 21:8, NKJV). "Situational ethics" proponents come up with all kinds of possible scenarios, such as: "What if someone came to your house to murder a member of your family and asked if that person was in. Would it not be right to lie in those circumstances?" Can you see the thrust of this question? It is the argument, "This is what we ought to do because it makes sense." But once we view sin as an "ought," it is magically turned into something that is "good." The Bible does not teach that anyone in any situation ought to sin. 1 Corinthians 10:13 teaches that because God is faithful, we will never find ourselves in a situation where we must sin, but there will always be a way of escape. God never calls upon us to break one of His laws in order to keep another.

Prayer:
O Father, in a world that seems to be always looking for excuses and exceptions, help me to steer my life by the clear statements of Your revealed will. I dont want to measure up to exceptions; I want to conform to the rules - Your rules. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

For further study:
John 8:31-47; Colossians 3:9; Revelation 21:8
1. Who did Jesus say is the source of lies?
2. What was Paul's exhortation to the Colossians?

Thank you for sharing Shalico.

Proverbs 26:24-26

He who hates pretends with his lips, but stores up deceit within himself.
25 When he speaks kindly, do not trust him, for seven abominations are in his heart.
26 Though his hatred covers itself with guile, his wickedness shall be shown openly before the assembly.

The LORD Our Companion
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy Rod and Thy Staff they comfort me" (Psalm 23:4).

Sweet are these words in describing a deathbed assurance. How many have repeated them in their last hours with intense delight!

But the verse is equally applicable to agonies of spirit in the midst of life. Some of us, like Paul, die daily through a tendency to gloom of soul. Bunyan puts the Valley of the Shadow of Death far earlier in the pilgrimage than the river which rolls at the foot of the celestial hills. We have some of us traversed the dark and dreadful defile of "the shadow of death" several times, and we can bear witness that the LORD alone enabled us to bear up amid its wild thought, its mysterious horrors, its terrible depressions. The LORD has sustained us and kept us above all real fear of evil, even when our spirit has been overwhelmed. We have been pressed and oppressed, but yet we have lived, for we have felt the presence of the Great Shepherd and have been confident that His crook would prevent the foe from giving us any deadly wound.

Should the present time be one darkened by the raven wings of a great sorrow, let us glorify God by a peaceful trust in Him.

A Sound Heart
"Let my heart be sound in Thy Statues: that I be not ashamed" (Psalm 119:80).

We may regard this inspired prayer as containing within itself the assurance that those who keep close to the Word of God shall never have cause to be ashamed of doing so.

See, the prayer is for soundness of heart. A sound creed is good, a sound judgment concerning it is better, but a sound heart toward the truth is best of all. We must love the truth, feel the truth, and obey the truth, otherwise we are not truly sound in God's statutes. Are there many in these evil days who are sound? Oh, that the writer and the reader may be two of this sort!

Many will be ashamed in the last great day, when all disputes will be decided. Then they will see the folly of their inventions and be filled with remorse because of their proud infidelity and willful defiance of the LORD; but he who believed what the LORD taught and did what the LORD commanded will stand forth justified in what he did. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun. Men much slandered and abused shall find their shame turned into glory in that day.

Let us pray the prayer of our text, and we may be sure that its promise will be fulfilled to us. If the LORD makes us sound, He will keep us safe.