Friday, December 4, 2015

Psalms 3:7 - written words

Psalms 3:7   Arise, O Jehovah; / Save me, O my God! / Oh that You would *strike all my enemies on the cheek; / And break the teeth of the wicked.

David’s prayer for vengeance against his enemies is contrary to the New Testament, which teaches us to love our enemies and to bless those who persecute us and pray for them.

Matthew But I say to you, Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you

Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, and do good and blend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the unthankful and evil.

In the Psalms the words concerning the psalmists’ hating their enemies, their asking God to avenge them, and their cursing others are not the words of God but are words that issued from the psalmists’ natural sentiment while they were praising God. They are recorded by the Spirit of God in the Holy Scripture to serve God’s purpose of exposing the psalmists’ spiritual condition, i.e., that although the psalmists loved God and sought Him, they were natural, not spiritual, in their sentiment

The old testament had some violent verses, indeed. Especially those pertaining to God, we must recognize which words were spoken by Him and which words came from the natural human conditions. We must try not to take such words in the scriptures to heart and see only what is written. We must consider the instances and conditions in what is written, spoken in. Let us not disregard the context of the words in the Bible, for if taken out of context could cause much more harm to our lives than good.

Romans 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; Bless and do not curse.

Romans 12:20 But “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will heap coals of fire upon his head."

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Psalms 2:12

PSALMS 2:12 Kiss* the Son, lest He be angry and you perish from the way; For His anger may suddenly be kindled. Blessed* are all those who take refuge in Him.

Kiss:
To take refuge in the Son is to believe into the Son, Christ (John 3:16, 36), taking Him as our refuge, protection, and hiding place. To kiss the Son is to love the Son and thereby to enjoy Him (John 14:21, 23). To believe in the Lord is to receive Him (John 1:12); to love the Lord is to enjoy the Lord whom we have received. These are the two requirements for us to participate in the Lord.

Blessed:
Or, Happy. The human concept that man is blessed by keeping the law of Jehovah (1:1-2) is in contrast here to the divine concept that man is blessed by taking refuge in the Son

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Hebrews 11:1 - Faith

(CREDIT NOTE: edited from an e-mail I received through a friend)
Hebrews 11:1 - Now faith is the substantiation of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Our Christian life is a life of faith.
 
With every genuinely saved Christian, they have been given this wonderful capacity called faith. With every child born of God, they have been allotted equally precious faith. So we don't need to ask God for faith. Faith is already in us!   
 
Faith is not just hoping that God will do something for you. 

Rather, faith is seeing what God has already done for you and what God has already given to you. This is where the genuine growth in life is. The exercise of faith is related to our human spirit. Our spirit is a spirit of faith.   

This faith is also infused into us by God's Word. 
 
Faith is solid and substantial because it is founded on the Word of God. Whenever we feel that we are lacking in faith, we just need to stand on the Word! 
 
We know that God is true, we know that we are saved, we're cleansed by the blood and forgiven by God because the Word tells us so. 
Romans 8:24 For we were saved in hope. But a hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees?
All things hoped for are things not seen. As people of hope, we should aim our life not at the things that are seen but at the things that are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)
Romans 4:18 He beyond hope believed in hope in order that he might become the father of many nations according to that which was spoken, "So shall your seed be."
We don't say, "I hope God will forgive me." That's not faith. Faith is saying, "Thank You, Lord, that You have cleansed me, You have forgiven me, and You are living in me."

Hence we walk in faith.