"He repays those who hate Him to their face"

Wow, I never thought of it that way!

Deuteronomy 7:9-11(NKJV)

“Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; 

and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. 

Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them.  

Couple of things here.  First we again see the theme that God's covenant is not extended to everyone but only to those who love God and keep His word. 

The other thing is the whole "God will repay them to their face" thing.  I had never thought of it that way before.  God respects free will and lets people make the choice.  But God is very upfront that when you reject Him you are declaring yourself an enemy of God.

From Scripture I know that those who reject God will be sent to hell.  Kind of an automatic thing.  What I had missed is that each and every person who goes to hell doesn't go straight there.  Each and every one of them finds themselves face to face with God first.  And God then condemns them right to their face.  Wow!

"Enter into the joy of your lord."

The parable of the Talents is one of my favorites.  I think it really encapsulates a lot of what Scripture teaches in regard to serving God.  I think it is about way more than money.  And don't you just love the refrain?  "Enter into the joy of you lord."!

Matthew 25:21-30(NKJV)

His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 

He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 

His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 

And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’

“But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 

So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 

So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.

‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 

And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

We serve God by using the skills that He gave us for His glory.  The more we do that the more we will be rewarded; here on earth as well as in Heaven.  Now what is that reward?  It is increased responsibility in executing God's plan. 

But what does "enter into the joy of your lord" mean?  To me it means experiencing the feeling of closeness with God that we get when we focus on Him.  It means experience the feeling of knowing that God is proud of us like any father is proud of his kids when they do well.

But let's examine the third person in the parable.  Doesn't the punishment in this case seem harsh?

" For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 

And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. "

Take all his stuff away and cast him out?  Wow! 

But let's analyze this a bit.  The guy played it safe correct?  He says so in his explanation.  How could God get mad at someone for playing it safe?  Let's examine that question.

Why did he play it safe?  That is the key here.  He played it safe out of fear.  What does the Bible say about fear?  That we shouldn't do it.  As I have said before fear is simply a physical manifestation of lack of faith.

So here is what I get out of the whole thing.  The guy is punished so severely because he wasted the skills and abilities that God gave him.  He acted on fear instead of acting on faith.  God didn't put us here to play it safe.  God put us here to make an impact for His Kingdom!!!   Make sense?  

This is one of my personal beliefs!

If you are getting one message from the Holy spirit and another message from man, even your preachers, what do you do? 

Acts 4:18-21(NKJV)

So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 

But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. 

For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” 

So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. 

Always, always, always follow the Holy Spirit!!!  Case closed in my opinion.  If God has been kind enough to take the time to communicate directly with you through the Holy Spirit why would you do anything else than follow His guidance?

I was watching Joan of Arc a while back and found this interesting.  All of her life when God spoke to her she listened.  One time she did not.  One time she listened to all of the "learned Bishops" instead.  Biggest mistake of her life!

Does God look out for everyone or just His own?

I think that there are a lot of people out there who get this wrong.  They think that God is looking out for everyone.  I don't believe that is what Scripture teaches.  Take a look and see what you think.

Psalms 101:6(NKJV)

    My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land,      That they may dwell with me;     He who walks in a perfect way,     He shall serve me.

While this is just one Scripture I could find many more in a heartbeat.  God specifically says that He is looking out for the faithful, not for everyone, for the faithful.  Those who listen to God and strive to develop a relationship with Him and do His will.  Those who believe in His son, Jesus Christ. 

As I have said in the past I look for confirmation of concepts in both the Old T and the New T.  I can provide that in this case as well.  There are several spots in the New T where we are described as "heirs" with Christ.  Now what does that mean?  Well to me one of the things it means is that you are part of the family and get preferential treatment from God.  In other words God is looking out for His heirs. 

Want another example?  Take a look at what Jesus says in the book of John.

John 17:9-11(NKJV)

“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. 

And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. 

Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. 

Here Jesus makes the exact distinction that He is not praying for everyone (the world) but He is only praying for protection for God's people, those who are serving God. 

Interesting isn't it? 

I don't know about you but I love the fact that God is watching out for me.  I see it in my life all the time.  Would you like to have that comfort as well?  It starts with accepting Jesus.  Simply ask Jesus to come in to your life and guide you.  Have a conversation with Jesus.  "Dear Jesus….."

 

What do you think Jesus means here?

 

John 10:11-18(NKJV)

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 

But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 

The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 

I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 

As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 

And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 

No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

I know that some use this verse as a way to explain how believers in other religions can get to Heaven.  That Muslims for example are some of the "other sheep which are not of this fold" that Jesus will bring along. 

I reject that line of reasoning and I'll tell you why.  Notice that after Jesus says that He has others to bring along He says that "they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd."  In other words to be included at some point they have to believe that Jesus is who He says He is.  At that point they are no longer Muslims; they have become Christians.  Make sense?

In addition we know that elsewhere Jesus has said that a "house divided against itself cannot stand".  In the verse above Jesus tells us that we will be "one flock".  In other words united, not divided.  So once again one side had to bring their beliefs into alignment with the other side.  I don't know about you but I don't see Jesus changing His beliefs in this scenario!  :)

God is….

I mentioned a while ago that I am doing a word study on the phrase God is….

To refresh your memory I found that there are about 40 words used in the Bible with the phrase God is.  For example God is wise; God is love; God is merciful.  Some of the words are used only a couple of times and one word is used 34 times.  The word that comes in second is used only 12 times so it seems to me that the word used 34 times may have some special significance.  I'll share what that word is later.

So I have now started going through the words one by one.  I started with God is …. Wise.  What I found is that the word wise is used in the Bible over 180 times but I could only find 2-3 instances where the Bible specifically says "God is wise". 

But what a blessing it has been to see what the whole Bible has to say about wisdom (being wise).  God exhorts us over and over to seek wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.  I wonder how many actually take that to heart and do it?

Do you use your power?

A thought struck me today when I read this verse. 

Acts 1:7-8(NKJV)

And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

I always think of the Holy Spirit as being here to guide me.  I had never thought of the Holy Spirit giving me power.  Interesting.  I guess I need to explore that more and make sure that I am using and harnessing that power.