- araratchurch
- Jun 20, 2022
- 3 min read
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the Lord commanded the blessing— Life forevermore.”
Psalms 133:1-3 NKJV
Most of us are familiar with the story of the Tower of Babel. After the flood, people began to multiply; and they all had one language. These people were unified; but they were unified—not for what was good—but in order to exalt themselves above God.
“And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.””
Genesis 11:4 NKJV
It seems that the memory of the flood was fresh in their minds and they decided to have a way to keep themselves from ever again being subject to the judgment of the Lord. The Lord would have none of it.
“And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.”
Genesis 11:6-8 NKJV
I began with the story of what happened at Babel because some people have made unity, per se, a goal, without recognizing that it’s about what we are unified. At Babel, they were walking in unity; and yet the Lord scattered them.
The Nazis, in the day of Hitler, were very unified. But, we can’t believe that their unity is to be admired.
Yes, the Lord wants us to walk in unity. As a matter of fact He prayed to the Father that it would be so:
“that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”
John 17:21-23 NKJV
Now, we must not miss the way in which we are to be unified, clearly spelled out in this prayer of the Lord. We are in Christ and He is in us. Only Christ makes us unified one with the other in the way pleasing to the Lord. Our hearts are united with one another as we all hold the things of His heart dear. If that is the case, we are all operating with one mind: the mind of Christ.
The logical question at this point would be, why do so many Christians end up fussing and arguing with one another? James gives a very good answer to this question:
“What leads to [the unending] quarrels and conflicts among you? Do they not come from your [hedonistic] desires that wage war in your [bodily] members [fighting for control over you]? You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your lust goes unfulfilled; so you murder. You are envious and cannot obtain [the object of your envy]; so you fight and battle. You do not have because you do not ask [it of God].”
James 4:1-2 AMP
Many Christians have not allowed the spirit of God to change the way they interact with others; they deal with their Christian brother in the same way people in the world deal with each other: competing and envying.
“So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!”
2 Corinthians 5:16 NLT
Yes, the Lord desires that His people dwell together in unity. But the unity He desires is one that is based on our unification with Christ. This will only be made possible when we lay aside our former ways of being and doing and allow the Lord—by His Spirit—to be the mediator/connector in our relationships.
In our portion from Psalms today we see David speaking of how wonderful it is for the brethren to be unified. You see, David had felt the sting and hurt of betrayal from those who should have stood with him. But again, if we all are not seeking the Lord, seeking His heart, and doing His will, that precious unity will be impossible.
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
God wants His children to be unified.
- araratchurch
- Jun 20, 2022
- 3 min read
“Lord, my heart is not haughty, Nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too profound for me. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me.”
Psalms 131:1-2 NKJV
Anyone who has spent time with children, understands the phenomenon of the bottomless pit of, “Why?” Many times, in trying to explain something to a child, you cannot get to the end of the explanation because every part of the answer brings more questioning.
Think about it, when it comes right down to it, most things, if not all things concerning our existence, our world, are never completely explained. This is because we take some things as “given” for which we really have no explanation.
Why do we fall if we step off a cliff? The answer: gravity. But where does gravity come from? The answer: the mass of objects causes them to have attraction. But why will objects of different masses fall at the same rate in a vacuum? OK, I’ll stop. Now, your knowledge of physics will determine how many questions you can answer in this line of questioning. But eventually, EVERYONE will come to the point of not knowing the next answer. And, those who pretend that they can answer every complex question all the way to the end, is answering with theories. Now that’s a fact!
I’m not trying to cause confusion here. What I’m saying is that there’s more that we don’t know than what we do know. But there will always be people who don’t know what they don’t know; we call those people, know-it-all’s. Ironically, know-it-all‘s, make themselves more foolish than those of “lesser intellect” on whom they may look with disdain. Why? Because, at least the person who is more simple in their thinking, knows what they don’t know. And many times, the “simple” are more teachable—particularly concerning things of the Spirit—than those who fancy themselves to be “intellectual.”
Jesus, after remarking about the many places which had rejected Him and His teaching, made an interesting statement to the Father:
“At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.”
Matthew 11:25 NKJV
You see, those who were “babes” in their approach to truth, received His message. The religious leaders—assuming themselves to be very “learned”—rejected His message; it didn’t fit in with what they thought they already knew.
Many years ago, the Lord spoke to me and said, “Janet, what you think you know about Me, is keeping you from knowing Me.” I did not realize that I had made “holy,” my way of thinking about the Lord. But since He pointed this out to me, I have received understanding of so much more, now that I know what I don’t know; or at least, I’ve begun to know what I don’t know.
In our portion from Psalms today we see David expressing his simple trust in the Lord and likening himself to the child who is calm in its mother’s arms. You see, the child does not have to know why it feels calm in its Mother‘s arms, it just does.
Now, no one can read what David has written, know what he accomplished, and think him to be intellectually challenged. But, he never conflated the things he had learned and was able to do with having perfect knowledge of all things. He knew he did not have perfect knowledge of all things. But he also knew that the Lord does have that perfect knowledge. In another place, in expressing the fact that the Lord knew everything about him, David again remarks on his lack of ability to comprehend the greatness of the Lord’s level of knowledge and understanding:
“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.”
Psalms 139:6 NKJV
Understand, my normal tendency is to be very analytic; I like to figure things out. There’s nothing wrong with liking to figure things out. When it becomes wrong is when we think that if we can’t figure it out, if it doesn’t make sense, we’ll have no part of it. Sometimes, we develop an answer to a question that is not for us to answer and hold to our “answer” as if it is written on the same stone with the law of God.
Trusting the Lord involves knowing that He knows what we don’t know. We are to just follow Him and believe Him.
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
Some things are not for us to understand.
- araratchurch
- Jun 20, 2022
- 3 min read
“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, When men rose up against us, Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their wrath was kindled against us; Then the waters would have overwhelmed us, The stream would have gone over our soul; Then the swollen waters Would have gone over our soul. Blessed be the Lord, Who has not given us as prey to their teeth.”
Psalms 124:2-6 NKJV
A growing number of people in our society believe in what they call “equity.” Now, on the surface, that concept sounds good and fair. But, when you see how it is to be implemented, you come to understand that what they are wanting is to assure equal outcomes for everyone, no matter what the individual does or doesn’t do.
The goal should be equal opportunity; and yes, that should include remedial help for those who need it. But now it seems that the goal is to “even things up” by putting restrictions/restraints on some, while “giving” others freedom of expression and extra benefits. These people want to decide who is worthy and who is not worthy to have freedom of expression and access to opportunity. All this is done in the name of “equity.” But, actually, they want to pick the winners and losers. So, It isn’t even about assuring equal outcome; it’s about deciding who will be more likely to keep them in power and lavish benefits and opportunity on those people.
Now with the Lord, He doesn’t need anyone to help him stay in power; He is God all by Himself. People who align themselves with the will of God and the law of God, position themselves to receive favor. The Lord doesn’t “play favorites” as we may use the term. When people play favorites, they can’t help but allow their personal agenda to affect who does or doesn’t receive their favor; and so often, it’s all about their own benefit.
God has made very clear how we may align ourselves with His favor. And, the same opportunity is afforded all. He sent His Son as His Representative to be offered to anyone who would accept Him. And to anyone who accepts Him, He gives the power or authority to become His favored child:
“He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:”
John 1:11-12 NKJV
Throughout the story of the Bible, we see that it has always been those who seek the Lord who have His favor.
Through the New Covenant in Jesus Christ, we have been given a Person through Whom we receive God’s favor. He—by becoming the perfect sacrifice—has made it possible for us to be (through Him) in position to receive the favor of God!
In our portion from Psalms today we see David talking about the fact that the Lord being on his side, has made all the difference in his life. Without that favor, his enemies would have had their way with him!
Earlier in our “100 Days with David,” we discussed the fact that the secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him:
“The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.”
Psalms 25:14 NKJV
In other words, those who recognize Who God is, and because of that, have reverential fear for Him leading to obedience to His word, are positionally favored over those who reject the Lord. They are friends of God.
Now, people can clutch their pearls over the concept of God having favorites, but it will not change the fact that He gives favor to those who are His through Jesus Christ. Those who are of the world use favor as a tool for their selfish and Godless agenda.
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
God has favorites.