The devout soul rejoices in God as his great Inheritance. When He is always present to our mind, when we are constantly making use of Him, when we find ourselves naturally turning to Him through the hours of the day, then such quiet peace and rest settle down upon us that we cannot be moved by any anxiety of the present or future.
Adapted from “Our Daily Walk” devotional by FB Meyers
Have you ever known someone who was very intelligent yet seemed to have no real sense about the practical things of life? There is a (not so politically correct) term for such a person, “book-smart but street-dumb”. We typically think of knowledge and wisdom as the same thing but they are not; to put it in simple terms, knowledge is having information, wisdom is knowing what to do with the information.
There are millions of books written by some very good authors. There are books that give us hours of entertainment and those that provide useful information and increase our knowledge. But, it is only God’s Holy scriptures can give us godly knowledge and wisdom;. It is in these 66 books that we will find everything we need to live godly lives.
seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. (2 Peter 1:3)
The pride of man lets us think that we “know something”. It fools us into a kind of false wisdom which leads us straight into trouble, too often taking others with us.
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! (Romans 11:33)
As we read and study the word of God, as we hide His word in our hearts, then and only then will we gain godly wisdom that points to us to Jesus, the One who is the source of our righteousness.
Copyright ©️ Sandra Bivens Smith 2023. All rights reserved.
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If it is only the righteous who are promised an inheritance, then what hope do we have?
I look around at all the people. I see some who are good and kind. I see those who are generous and merciful. I see many who are religious and devout. But among them all, I don’t find a single one who can be called righteous; not even the one I see in the mirror. So what are we to do?
Wait. Is that a cross I see? Yes, it is a cross and a man is hanging on it. I look up and notice there is a sign above His head, it reads “This is Jesus, King of the Jews”. I dare to move closer. The scene is horrifying. This Jesus has been tortured beyond any recognition, His life’s blood flows from His body forming a pool at the bottom of His cross.
I hear a voice from a nearby cross, “this man has done no wrong”. Then why? Why is He here? For what possible reason was this innocent man condemned to die this terrible death? Incredibly, He speaks. “Father, forgive them”. I can’t believe what I’m hearing! Forgive them? Why would spend your final breaths to utter such a prayer? I don’t understand.
as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” (Romans 3:10-12)
If it is only the righteous who are promised an inheritance, then what hope do we have?
Only Jesus. He IS our hope, He IS our righteousness, He IS our inheritance. In Him, through Him, and by Him, we are made worthy to inherit the land and live in it forever. Do you know Him?
If you remember, yesterday we said that this passage contains two commands and four promises. We discussed the two commands: keep away from evil, do what is good. Today, we will talk about the promises.
We will abide forever. We not only have the promise of dwelling in His presence for eternity future, according to 2 Timothy 4:18 this is a promise for today and all of our tomorrows – “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom.” The words of an old hymn comes to mind, “When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be” and surely it will be a day of ultimate joy. But, we can have a taste of that joy even now. We can come daily into the presence of our Lord. Through prayer and obedience to His word, we can know the peace and joy of abiding in His presence; its a promise – “The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us”. (1 John 3:24) I like the way Matthew Henry sums it up, “That we shall have a comfortable settlement in this world, and in a better when we leave this”.
We will not be forsaken. Times can be hard. Life gets rough. There are days when we wonder how we’re ever going to get through. It is for just these kind of days that the Lord has given us this promise; “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6). This promise, “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing”; (2 Corinthians 4:8). And this one, I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18); and oh so many more!
We will be preserved forever. Wherever we go, whatever troubles we face, whatever enemy may come against us, we have the promise that God will protect us. Isaiah writes, ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand’ (Isaiah 41:10). And, just in case we may doubt, we have this reminder: But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39)
The wicked will be cut off. Yes, that too is a promise. We look around at the evil of this world and we struggle to understand why. Why does God allow such evil to exists? Why does He allow so much wickedness to continue? Why doesn’t God do something? Why doesn’t somebody do something? With our human reasoning, we will never fully understand, at least not on this side of heaven. As we have already learned, if we are in Christ, we need not fret. We can rest in the promise that God will, one day, exact His perfect justice.
But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. (2 Peter 3:7-10)
Our Heavenly Father wants to give His children good things. He wants us to know that He is with us, He will never leave us, and He will always protect us. But, it’s important for us to remember that while God’s love is unconditional, His promises almost always come with conditions; and that‘s a good thing. Can you imagine what unruly children we would be if there were no rules for us to live by?
What a comfort it is to know that as we abide in Jesus, as we put our trust in Him and obey His word, we can, as the song says, stand on His promises that cannot fail.
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
As I look at the passage this morning I am struggling with where I want to put our focus. Within these few words there is a wealth of wisdom to be mined. So, maybe the best thing to do is just dig in.
Two commands, four promises. Today we will consider the commands.
Depart from evil. That sounds simple enough. After all, evil is the murderer, the drug dealer, the thief; we have nothing to do with evil. Or do we? Paul gives us a checklist in Romans 1:28 and forward. “being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful”. If we were to check off those things in Paul’s list of which we are not guilty, could we check them all?
Do good. If there is one area in which I can associate with the Apostle Paul it is in his battle between spirit and flesh that he describes in Romans 7. Paul confesses: For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. (Romans 7:14) For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. (Romans 7:19)
Thank you Paul for being so honest and open concerning your struggles; it is comforting to know I am not alone.
Clearly we see that we have a problem. Whether we want to admit it or not, scripture teaches us that we are, by our nature, evil. We are told that our hearts are evil, deceitful above all things. Even at our best, our righteousness is like filthy rags. Because of these truths, we need help. What are we to do? Paul didn’t leave us feeling defeated. Mercifully, he gave us the solution to our problem.
Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24-25a)
My body is a great disappointment.
With each birthday I become more aware of the fact that my body is wearing out and there is little, if anything, I can do to stop it. I bathe and lotion it but the skin still grows wrinkles. The ears and eyes require the help of devices to work in any kind of useful way. The joints, they must be getting rusty as they don’t seem to move like they used to. And the mind…well, let’s not even go there.
Maybe it wouldn’t seem so bad if I didn’t remember how it used to be, but I do remember so I just have to deal with it.
I remember something else besides the “joy of my youth”. I remember the foolishness of it and I remember the Lord’s protection through all those years. Even before I could count myself among the righteous, He was watching over me, keeping me for the day when He would claim me as His own.
I remember the recollections of Nehemiah, “You, in Your great compassion, Did not forsake them in the wilderness; The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day, To guide them on their way, Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go. You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst”. (Nehemiah 9:19-20)
Their Teacher has been crucified and buried, they worried they would be next. Their grief was nearly unbearable. Never had they felt so alone and fearful. It was then, as Matthew tells us in his gospel, that Jesus came to the eleven with these words: “lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20b)
The world is always changing. Our lives may change. Our bodies certainly change. But God’s love never changes. What He did for His children in the wilderness, what Jesus did for the eleven, He is doing and will continue always to do for us, even to the ends of the age.
Copyright ©️ 2023 Sandra Bivens Smith. All rights reserved.
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Words by Isaac Watts, tune by Lowell Mason
Leave behind your past sins. They have been many and great, more than you can count. But if you have confessed and forsaken them, they have been put away, “as far as the east is from the west.'” Nothing could be more explicit than 1Jn 1:9. It is useless to brood over the past. God has buried it in the grave of Christ. Go and sin no more!
Over the past week we have looked at how God, in His perfect justice, recompenses both good and evil. I encourage you to take time to read verses 12-22; the Psalmist continues to expound on the blessings of the righteous and the perils of evildoers. Today, we pick up in verse 23 where the focus turns to the Lord’s favor toward those who belong to Him.
Does this scenario sound familiar? We get up from our bed in the mornings, we think about all that we want to get done for the day, we begin to make our plans. Sometimes our plans work out, sometimes they don’t.
In Proverbs 16:9 Solomon reminds us, “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps”. I don’t know about you but I find great comfort in knowing that when my plans fail, when my way turns out to be the wrong way, the Lord is there to make it right.
If you recall, in the opening verses of Psalm 37 we are told to “delight in the Lord”. Have you ever considered that the Lord delights in you? It’s true. Search the scriptures and you will find how many ways the Lord delights in His children. How wonderful that not only does the Lord guide our steps, He takes delight in us!
These verses bring to mind when my children were learning to walk, how joyful, how delighted I was at those first wobbly steps. And, just as I was never so far away that I couldn’t catch them when they fell, so we have that same assurance. Although it may sometimes seem we are about to fall headlong into trouble, we can know that our heavenly Father is there, waiting, ready to reach out and catch us, to set us upright, steady our steps, and keep us in our way.
The LORD bless you, and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)
Copyright ©️ 2023 Sandra Bivens Smith. All rights reserved.
O victorious day!
We have a promise of a soon coming day. The evil and the wicked, the tragic and the sorrow, will be taken away. No more diseases, no more death. It will all be wiped out – forever.
O glorious day!
In our English language inherit means “to have in turn or receive as if from an ancestor” but the Hebrew word used here, yarash, means a lot more than just receiving. According to Strongs, it means to occupy by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place); to seize, expel – cast out. That means that when we come into our inheritance , all our enemies will be gone!
O delightful day!
One day the struggles of this life will come to an end and all will be perfect. Our worries will be replaced with perfect peace, our sorrows will turn to perfect joy, our needs will be satisfied with perfect abundance.
In the meantime, until that day comes, let us delight in Christ, commit our ways to Him and wait patiently for Him, rest in Him. Let us lean on the everlasting arms of Jesus, arms that cannot fail.
Copyright ©️ 2023 Sandra Bivens Smith. All rights reserved.
Sandra Bivens Smith 