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www.bible.com/1713/psa.127.1.csb

How are your plans going today? In this short Psalm, Solomon reminds how important it is to choose the right architect. An architect is the person who designs the house, lays out the plan for a building. Once the blueprint is in hand, the contractors can begin to build.

Solomon reminds us that only a premium set of blueprints and a wise architect will produce a building worth living in. Unless the Lord designs the house, those that build it are just wasting their time.

So who’s plan are you following? If you are planning for your own life, be prepared for failure. We can’t plan for every contingency, every possibility, every eventuality. Only God can do that. He can see the future. You can’t. You can’t conceived of every problem. Only God can do that.

But you are a laborer on this house. Would you rather build with plans made by an all-knowing God, or a man with limited knowledge?

Just something I want you to be thinking about this morning. Let God plan the work. You work the plan.

www.bible.com/1713/pro.27.17.csb

A fool believes he is wise when he goes unchallenged. There are plenty of fools in this world today. Most of them agree with each other. And I am not sure how that happened. I mean, how did we get so many fools that they outnumber the wise? What makes a person foolish?

As the Scripture says, “The fool says in his heart, there is no god.” If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, then the fool abandoned that train early. The Bible affirms that the source of truth is God. Those who deny Him deny themselves immediately their one source of certainty. If truth is that which corresponds to reality, then the fool has denied himself the ability to see reality and has instead invented on of his own.

And this is the “reality” that most have bought into: no God, no absolute truth, choose your own adventure. When the fool and the wise cannot agree on what’s real, then there is no means of conversation. There’s no grounding for the meaning of words. Only when a mass shooting takes place do some lay claim to what evil is, but even then, it doesn’t last long. Evil is now redefined as that which does not agree with my opinion. The fool is the final arbiter of what is true.

This is maddening. And this will infuriate the wise. If you are wise, you need other wise men and women to sharpen you, because too much exposure to fools will make you dull that’s why you read this blog and study the Scriptures. You want to grow in your wisdom. That’s why I ask for comments to help sharpen me. I hope that today you will grow sharper. The right word at the right time can correct a fool.

God bless you today.

www.bible.com/1713/pro.18.2.csb

Do you have much tolerance for foolish people? I tolerate them, but only as long as I have to. Some are fools that ignore history, or common sense, or even the facts before their eyes. I find it hard to follow someone who denies what their own eyes tell them. But that’s a fool.

The harder spot is the foolish thinking I’ve had myself. Sometimes I mistake my own opinions for facts, and it doesn’t feel good when someone calls me out on it. Granted if you are in leadership, sometimes you have to make choice without all the facts. Sometimes you are wrong, and others call you out. We don’t like criticism, but we need it like air. We are not as wise as we think we are. And someone spotting the fool in me is doing me a favor. Do you have friends who sometimes act like fools? Would you let them continue in their folly or would you offer helpful correction?

It’s painful to watch a fool, because you know they will come to a bitter end. Reality will catch up to their opinions, and they will suffer. But often fools resist correction, thinking their own opinions are paramount. At that point, only God will be able to correct them. But a kind word on our part doesn’t hurt either.

God bless you today and watch our for those falling in their pride. You might be able to catch them.

www.bible.com/1713/jhn.7.38.

Did you come thirsty this morning? Looking for a cool glass of encouragement? I do too. Every morning I come to this well of the Spirit to see what new treasure I might find. This morning I found another.

What streams of living water could Jesus be taking about here? This same word picture is described in Isaiah:

“For I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants and My blessing on your offspring.”  (Isa 44:3)

When we put our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and we are baptized in the very real act of immersion in water, we receive His gifts, namely, remission of sin (that is, we are justified before God as if we never sinned because we are purified through the blood of Jesus), we receive the gift of eternal life (starting at that moment, a life more abundant and more fulfilling than before), and we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We cannot earn this gift. It is freely given. He comes and dwells within us, so that we become a life-giving stream of water for others. We aren’t intended to be a dam for the presence of God, but a flowing stream, so that others may cool themselves in our presence. That is an amazing gift of God, in which we may participate in His holy work.

Jesus invites you today to join His work by faith, so that you have have the same effect He did upon others, being gracious and kind, but also firm in your conviction of good and right. Would you be a stream for the presence of God? Would others be thirsty for that holy presence in you?

www.bible.com/1713/2co.4.18.csb

Are there aliens among us? Is there another dimension in which life exists? The Bible seems to say so. In fact, we are told to actually believe in these extra-dimensional beings. We are told that they are responsible for the creation of our realm. Weird, huh?

The popular conception of aliens is that they too are created or evolved beings. But we would only be partially correct. The unseen dimension was created, but by a greater unseen Being, the creator of all things. Wow.

As Christians, we have this powerful recourse to the King of the Universe. The things we see around us matter and are real as far as it goes, but we also know that the unseen, the original eternal realm of God and His servants the angels lie behind it along with the enemy and his cohort. That is behind the world we see, behind the enemies we fear, and the protection we seek.

I encourage you today to take this verse to heart. Our God is unseen, but more real and powerful than reality. Focus on our eternal obligations and our Eternal King and our present troubles will diminish by comparison.

God bless you today.

www.bible.com/1713/psa.91.2.csb

If you were to read this Psalm in total, you will find a God who protects from physical danger, from damage in warfare, from plague and pestilence. This is a God who will protect you from all harm at all times because you are His child.

That sounds awesome!

This is also he Psalm the devil quotes to Jesus in an effort to tempt Him to jump off the Temple’s pinnacle. He quotes this Psalm saying that God will protect Him from dashing his foot against a stone. Jesus’ response is simple. Dt 6:16 “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Don’t try it.

This is the same Son of God who was crucified, after being scourged mercilessly, on a Roman cross and then died. Surely, if anyone deserved the protection promised by this Psalm, wasn’t it Jesus?

Yet even reminded of this Psalm, Jesus refuses to play into the Devil’s hand. If I speculate, I’m sure Jesus would have been just fine had He cast Himself from that height, but that wasn’t His purpose, showing His raw power like that to get followers. That’s not how you build God’s church.

He also may have died, an overly common death, with no meaning. It would not have accomplished the later purpose of salvation through His blood. He couldn’t have risen with the same aimlessness, because this was giving in to temptation. That wouldn’t work either.

All of that to say that Jesu’s response ought to be our response. If you are tempted to tempt fate as it were and cast yourself upon the promises of this Psalm and demand that God protect as He promised, Jesus’ words come back to us. “Don’t test Him.”

Why not?

I would be interested in your thoughts below.

www.bible.com/1713/rev.21.4.csb

What keeps you motivated through the slog that is daily life? Through the daily temptations, and sometimes the cycles of sin, guilt, and forgiveness to try holiness again, what keeps you going and gives you hope?

For me, it is this promise of heaven. Not all the time, not everyday, but when I have a chance to think and remember, it is this. We were born for more than this world can offer. We were born for eternity. So while the daily grind grinds me down, I have only to remember why I am here, how I am being purified and refined for a greater destination.

Yeah, it’s high-minded and “pie-in-the-sky”, but a day is coming when it won’t be hope, but real. That will be a good day.

www.bible.com/1713/1pe.5.6.csb

One of my favorite comic panels featured two dinosaurs standing on a small island with Noah’s Ark floating in the distance. Obviously the Flood has already started and one dinosaur says to the other (apparently in regard to their invitation to board said Ark), “That was today?” It embodies the anxiety of missing an appointment, in this case one very important.

The verse above reminds me that we never have enough time to prepare for our Big Appointment with Jesus if we aren’t already working on it. I run into many people who didn’t plan on going to the hospital, let alone getting into a situation where their life is at stake. No one I’ve spoken to in the ER, families of people who have died, ever planned for it. They are seldom dressed for the occasion. It is not unusual to have the same reaction as the dinosaurs.

Instead of being surprised, God tells us to plan ahead. Humble yourself. Don’t think you are all that and immune to God’s judgment. Rather be ready at all times, be that one that says, “God, I am at your service. I will do as you will.” For God looks at the heart, not the outward man. God seeks the meek and the humble to do His will, not the proud.

At the right time, at the perfect time, God will exalt you. So let God do the boasting. Let God do the clapping for a job well done. And you may be surprised when the day comes, but you will rejoice to hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”

www.bible.com/1713/heb.12.1.csb

I am not s runner. But I have done 5K’s (walking) enough to appreciate it. At first, you feel great, plenty of energy. Halfway through you start questioning your life choices. By the end you just want it to be done, and fight your own mind trying to convince yourself you don’t have anything to prove.

Well, that’s not too different from our run with Christ. Sure you get some bumps along the way, but then your Faith gets truly tested. God does some pruning in your life, and start to question whether God is really on your side or not. Before it’s over, you have to work to overcome your doubt if God is really there.

That’s why it’s so important to divest yourself of anything that hinders, including pet sins, that easily slow you down and divert you from He path. In the end, you will find the reward worth all the trouble of the journey.

Ask God today to help you see the entanglements that easily trip you up. God bless you today!

www.bible.com/1713/hos.6.6.csb

“The Church is full of hypocrites! I don’t want to go to church until I can look God in the eye.” Cry me a river. This is the most pathetic statement I hear as an excuse for not going to church. Why? Doesn’t it sound sincere and condemnatory at the same time. Oh, it’s brilliant as a cop-out. It worthless in the long run. I am always tempted to respond, “There’s always room for one more.”

I know it sounds noble to say that I want to clean up my life and be a good person before I go to God’s house. Imagine if the Prodigal Son said that? There in the pigpen, with a sincere desire to go back home, but forcing himself to stick it out as an act of holiness so that he can life himself up and prove he can be a good person on his own. This is works-based heathen religion thoroughly. It is the faith of Cain, jealous of his brother Abel. Do you ever wonder if Cain thought his “holier-than-thou” brother was a hypocrite? All that dude does is bring a sheep to the altar. I brought all the hard work of my labor in the field. What a loser! I know what’s he’s like on Monday morning. There’s no way God would accept his pathetic sacrifice of a lamb over bounty that I’m bringing. It’s like he’s not even trying.

But like Cain, many are continually flabbergasted at God’s acceptance of humble sheep against their hard work of self-improvement. All they have to say is “Hypocrite!”

Christians today struggle with holiness. And I believe that the lost have a higher regard for what holiness looks like than most Christians. The lost are looking for saints. The lost are comparing their half-heard Bible storied from Sunday School with the “Christians” they see everyday and find them wanting. Yes. The lost are comparing us to their best memories of the saints of Scripture. And they are using that as the reason they can’t come to church. We are not as faithful nor as holy nor as consistent as their dear sweet grandmother who took them to church as s child. We are not as holy as the heroes of the Bible they learned about as a child. Is it an unfair comparison? Absolutely. But it takes place everyday.

Every misstep you make in the name of Jesus can and will be used as a reason someone doesn’t come to church. Every lost temper, every betrayal, every weak moment, every time you are not on your game is an excuse to cry “hypocrite!” And another soul offers this as proof that Christians aren’t any better than anyone else. Why bother?

No pressure.

Hosea reminds us today that the internal motivations like love and mercy and the knowledge of God are more important than physical acts of piety. If our love and knowledge is lacking, then our piety looks and feels fake. And we are hypocrites.

Keep that in mind this week.