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Our Shield, Sustainer and Savior

Posted on May 31, 2015 by Jared Meredith

The Lord Is Our Shield (v 3)

Consider the arrows and spears of David’s time
The fiery darts of Satan we endure

Ephesians 6:16

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

God’s people have always been targets of enemies
What people forget is that God is our shield
He was abraham’s shield, he was david’s shield

Genesis 15:1

15 After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

And he is ours! The shield protects during battleThe Lord is our sustainer (v 4-5)
David cried to the Lord for help
Our Lord’s many invitations to pray1. Call unto me (Jeremiah 33:3)
2. Ask and it shall be given (Matthew 7:7)

3. Believe that ye receive (Mark 11:24)

4. Ask what ye will (John 15:7)
David was in so much peace that he could sleep (verse 5)
He slept in peace and woke up invigorated, The lord sustained him in danger

The Lord Is Our Strength (v 6)

“I will not be afraid” (verse 6)
Consider the circumstances, the forces against him
One plus God is a majority
As faith increases, fear decreases
Perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18)

The Lord Is Our Source of Victory (v 7-8)

David sees his enemies overcome by God’s power

our salvation and freedom from our enemies is from the Lord
Salvation from our sins has come through Christ’s blood

Romans 5:6-9

6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

we also obtain victory from satan’s attacks

Ephesians 6:10-18

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

– There really is victory in Jesus!

1 Corinthians 15:57-58

57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

It’s Time To Stop Pretending

Posted on May 31, 2015 by Jared Meredith

John 5:36-40

³⁶But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.

³⁷And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

³⁸And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.

³⁹Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

⁴⁰And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

Most of us instinctively draw back from dealing with this stubborn commitment to independence from the world, pretending we are all right as we are. It is much easier to pretend we are thirsting after God than it is to face the challenge of giving up our commitment to independence from sin.

Psalm 42:1

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

What is the answer? We must ask God to search our hearts, expose our self-centered motivations, and help us to see just where it is that we stop short of panting after Him.

You see, the more deeply we sense our thirst, the more passionately we will pursue water. But we will never sense that thirst until we are willing to face the fact that we may be drinking more from our own self-constructed wells than from the wells of God.

We cannot continue this way. The days of pretending are over.

Proverbs 14:12

¹²There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Our own reasoning will lead us to destruction. Without God’s counsel we will perish.

1 Corinthians 10:20-21

²⁰But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.

²¹Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.

We cannot pretend to be one way and be another. There is no middle ground. You are either free from your sins and fighting temptation or you are in bondage and fighting to pretend you are free.

James 3:14

¹⁴But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.

Don’t fight to prove that you are something that you are not. Do not lie against the truth of who you are. It is better to face and fight our demons than it is to try and hide them from the view of others.

Philippians 3:12-14

¹²Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

¹³Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

¹⁴I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

If we forget about something then it is dead to us. Until what leads you into sin is removed from you through the grace and mercy of God then they are not forgotten (or behind you).

Life for us now consists of discarding wrong attitudes and habits accumulated in the past. In modern, psychological terms, we must lose our baggage. For us, the past is dead, buried in the waters of baptism. With that behind us, we must diligently make unwavering progress in putting out the leaven of sin, growing in God’s love, producing the fruit of God’s Spirit, moving toward the Kingdom of God, and putting on Christ’s perfection, His image in us.

Challenges of Our Faith: Humbleness

Posted on May 31, 2015 by Jared Meredith

One of the next challenges of our faith is to learn how to keep our humbleness in balance with what we do not understand.

Matthew 23:12 – And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Why is humbleness important? (Defined as having or showing a modest or low estimate of one’s own importance.) Humbleness as it is related to our faith is what keeps us grounded to the central point of focus. Without being humble we stray from the very ideal that God is able to perform our petition and that we cannot. And the further we go away from humbleness the more opposite of the outlook we obtain: instead of “I can do all things through Christ” we start thinking “I can do it on my own” Having no humbleness in your heart to strengthen you is like going to the pool and wanting to swim but the pool has no water. It is like trying to take a drink of water from an empty bottle. So it is like we try to do something by faith but we do not satisfaction while we are doing it.

1 Kings 17:14-24

Neither one of them blames God for their tragedy. Neither one of them tries to explain it away with easy answers. And neither one concludes that with the right amount of faith, there will never be any more pain in the widow’s life. They simply go to God, asking him for help, appealing to his mercy. They have what we would call a humble faith. It’s humble because they recognize that God often does things they don’t understand. But it’s faith because they never cease believing in the goodness of God.

A lot of people attempt to have faith without being humble. In order to believe, they demand that God do exactly what they think he should. If he doesn’t, then they lose their faith. In order for them to obey God’s moral instructions, for instance, they have to agree with them. But if God doesn’t say things that offend you or do things that confuse you, then you aren’t dealing with the true God; you’re dealing with a figment of your own imagination. A god who conforms to your mind is usually only a projection of your mind. One of the ways we know that God is a living God—and not just a projection of preconceived notions—is that he leaves us with so many unanswered questions. If I invented a god, he would always take care of the people I like and would never surprise me. But God is confusing. He is surprising. He is constantly doing things that make me say, “What?” A humble faith is willing to live with unanswered questions, yet is confident in God’s goodness.

So how do we stay humble?