Author: evangelist_breland

Families are very important to God because we are the crown of His creation. He chose us for His purpose and good pleasure; therefore, we can’t go whoring after other gods, especially those who have accepted Him as their savior. We are His family and are to have no other gods before Him; He is jealous and wants our undivided loyalty. Our relationship with Him is a holy union through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. The prophet Hosea told the Israelites God said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6a). “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7a). Families that stay together love one another because they fear God.

Children of God must dare to be different from the world and not forget the Lord. Families that stay together love one another because they remember that the Lord has been so good to them. Love is powerful; it is why the only true and living God sustains us. In Deuteronomy 6:4-5 He commanded us to love Him with our whole being. If families could love Him whom they had never seen, they could love one another.

At the last Passover Jesus gave his disciples a renewed commandment – “that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. ³⁵ By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). This is his expectation for his family even with all of its diversity. In Leviticus 19:18 God commanded Israel, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Love is a resolute factor in showing who we are and whose we are. Jesus said that you are to love one another as I have loved you. Families should have the mind of unselfishness that was in Christ. He humbled himself, took on the likeness of man, and obeyed God, giving his life on the cross (Philippians 2:5-8, paraphrased). Families that stay together love one another because they are unselfish and show others that they are Christ’s disciples. So come on families. Let the fear of God manifest in our lives. Remember His kindness. Give Him thanks for being unselfish.

Psalm 84:10-12

This psalm began with the psalmist declaring, “How lovely is Your tabernacle” (v.1)! Here again in verse ten he expressed how great his longing was for the house of God, and what pleasure it was for him. He’d rather spend just one day in God’s house than a thousand days any place else. Shouldn’t that be our duty as children of God?  By the standards of man, the doorkeeper’s job might have been menial, but this psalmist found this humble position a pleasure. He found joy ushering the saved and the wayward into God’s house where God is being celebrated than “live in the tents of wickedness.” The tents of wickedness explicitly suggest living in places where there may be all the comforts of life but corrupt activity that only reaps destruction. The psalmist clearly doesn’t want to be there; he’d rather gladly welcome others into God’s house.

The psalmist goes on to proclaim “the Lord God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly” (v.11). The sun is vital to all living organisms, providing light, heat, and energy. Therefore, the psalmist described the Lord as a sun. Spiritually where there’s darkness in our lives, He blesses and sustains us with life like the sun. We are His people “chosen to proclaim the wonderful acts of God, who called you out of darkness into his own marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9, GNT). Not only did the writer describe the Lord as a sun but also a shield. He is our almighty shield – the protector and defender of His people. God came to Abram in a vision and said, “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” (Genesis 15:1).   When we who trust the Lord are vulnerable, we can count on Him; we are blessed because He promises to carry us through difficult times.

Lastly, the psalmist addressed the Lord of hosts, saying, “Blessed is the man who trusts in You” (v.12, KJV)!  Brothers and Sisters, keeping trusting the Lord; He is a rewarder of those who walk uprightly, obeying His word.

Every believer should have a deep longing for celebration in God’s presence. Due to COVID-19 protocol of social-distancing, we have experienced time away from God’s house like the psalmist. Psalm 84 is a prayer in which the psalmist longed to be in the house of God and especially to be in the presence of the living God. 

The psalmist began by addressing God as “Lord of hosts,” acknowledging that He was sovereign over all powers in the universe.  He emphatically expressed that God’s dwelling place (plural in KJV) was lovely – “How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts” (v.1)! Even though they were made by the hands of man, they belonged to God. The psalmist declared, “My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord” (v.2a). He was saying that he had an intense longing for God. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). He was homesick and longed for the courts of the Lord so much so that he fainted. He wanted God more than anything else in his life. The psalmist went on to say “…my heart and my flesh cries out for the living God” (v.2b). With his whole being he cried out for the living God; he missed worshipping and communing with Him. Just as the hart depends upon water to quench his physical thirst, the believer depends upon God to quench his spiritual thirst for everlasting life. “Even the sparrow has found a home , and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God (v.3). Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they will still be praising You. Selah” (v.4).

If by instinct and nature, the sparrow and the swallow can find their way to dwell in the courts of God, what about us? The psalmist declared that those who dwell in the house of God are “blessed,” literally happy, and are always praising Him. Like the psalmist there in the presence of God, we can celebrate the living God away from outside distractions of the world. Give God glory!   

Amos 5:1-6a

In this chapter Amos began his message of prophesy with the command from God for the house of Israel to “hear this word which I take up against you” (v.1). This message was a lamentation – “a song or hymn usually composed for funerals or fallen leaders, but often used sarcastically by the OT prophets to lament or to ironically predict the death of a nation” (see note Ezekiel 19:1, NIV). Here the prophet mourned the coming destruction God had brought against His chosen people. They disobeyed Him and fell prey to sin. Amos exposed how wealthy Israelites had become corrupt and oppressed the poor (chap. 2). They refused to repent and turn back to God after repeated warnings and calls. They loved the form of religious rituals but not God’s goodness, mercy, kindness, justice, and etc. When we stubbornly reject God and His grace, it will eventually result in His wrath.

He personified Israel as “the virgin of Israel,” who has fallen and won’t rise again. She has been forsaken in her land by the false gods in which she trusted. They cannot hold us up; they always fail. Israel doesn’t have any help to raise her up (v.2); she’s left alone because God brought judgment on all her neighbors. False gods are lifeless and couldn’t save Israel. The Lord said that 90 percent of Israel   would be destroyed. Their neighbors couldn’t save them; their false gods could save them, and neither will they save us.

The Lord commanded Israel to seek Him (v.4) not Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba. These had become their centers of idolatry and would certainly go into exile (v.5). He said to “seek the Lord, and you will live” (v.6a). What a gracious invitation to avoid destruction! God commanded His people to love Him unconditionally then and now. He told His covenant people at Mt. Sinai that He was a jealous God; therefore, for the sake of our souls, we must believe Him. Will you seek the Lord today and live?

1 Samuel 16:14-23, CEV

First Samuel 16:14 begins with Saul being in a very serious condition – “The Spirit of the Lord had left him, and an evil spirit from the Lord was terrifying him.” Saul was in trouble, and so are we when God withdraws His sweet Spirit, His hedge of protection from us. Those serving Saul in an official capacity told him that an evil spirit from God was frightening him (v. 15). They requested that their Majesty let them go and look for someone who was good at playing the harp. He could play for him whenever the evil spirit from God bothered him, and he’d feel better (v.16). Saul was so tormented by the evil spirit from God that he readily accepted the advice of those officials. He told them to “Provide me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me” (v.17, NKJV). One of Saul’s officials highly recommended David, a son of Jesse who lived in Bethlehem. He could play the harp, was a brave warrior, good-looking, could speak well, and the Lord was with him (V.18). All of these attributes are useful for various reasons, but “…the Lord was with him” is most important. In order to do the work of God, we must have surrendered ourselves to “walk worthy of the vocation to which we have been called.”  

Saul sent a message to Jesse: “Tell your son David to leave your sheep and come here to me” (v.19). Jesse readily complied with the king’s order, and sent David to Saul with a gift. Recall that David had already been anointed king of Israel without Saul’s knowledge. Scripture declares that whosoever God blesses, no man can curse. David became a part of Saul’s court and found favor with him, who made David his armor bearer. Shortly afterward, Saul sent another message to Jesse, expressing his favor in David and requested that Jesse let David stay with him. Whenever the evil spirit from God bothered Saul, David played the harp for him. This relaxed Saul and made him feel better, and the evil spirit would go away. Music can stir us to worship, and it can calm us when we are distressed and troubled. Take time today and listen to or belt out one of your favorite hymns or songs. Close your eyes and receive the blessed effect it has on you.