Proverbs 13:13:
13Whoever despises the word and counsel [of God] brings destruction upon himself, but he who [reverently] fears and respects the commandment [of God] is rewarded.
This verse tell us that if we reverently fear and respect the Word of God, we WILL be rewarded. It also says that anyone despising the Word of God will bring destruction on himself! The enemy isn't ALWAYS responsible for our problems! Sometimes it is because we don't reverence the Word of God! That means that we don't give the Word of God first priority in our lives and study it with the purpose of being obedient to it! The Word WORKS! Let's put it into practice!
In Galatians 2 we see Paul having to deal with people who were trying to put believers under bondage by telling them that they had to continue to observe the Law once they were born again. NOT TRUE! Verse 16:
16Yet we know that a man is justified or reckoned righteous and in right standing with God not by works of the Law, but [only] through faith and [absolute] reliance on and adherence to and trust in Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). [Therefore] even we [ourselves] have believed on Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law [for we cannot be justified by any observance of the ritual of the Law given by Moses], because by keeping legal rituals and by works no human being can ever be justified (declared righteous and put in right standing with God).
Hebrews 9:22:
22[In fact] under the Law almost everything is purified by means of blood, and without the shedding of blood there is neither release from sin and its guilt nor the remission of the due and merited punishment for sins.
Thank You, Jesus, for shedding Your blood so that we could be set free from sin!
Verses 20-21:
20I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21[Therefore, I do not treat God's gracious gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose]; I do not set aside and invalidate and frustrate and nullify the grace (unmerited favor) of God. For if justification (righteousness, acquittal from guilt) comes through [observing the ritual of] the Law, then Christ (the Messiah) died groundlessly and to no purpose and in vain. [His death was then wholly superfluous.]
Did you ever realize that when you try to be good enough to "merit" the Grace of God you are actually treating everything that Jesus did for us as something of little importance? What we need to be doing instead is focusing our attention so much on God's Primary Purpose (reaching the lost with the Gospel of Jesus Christ) that we don't have time for the devil's lies about us! Fall in love with Jesus and you will want to do what is pleasing to Him and you will want to bring joy to all of Heaven by sowing the seed of his Word so people can be born again! AMEN!
2 Samuel 13-14 is a real eye-opener! Can you say "dysfunctional family"? Why did David tell Tamar to go to Amnon in the first place when you know they had plenty of servants? Was he REALLY that naive or was he just to distracted to think? And when this horrendous act was committed against his daughter, why did HE not do something about it so that Absalom would not feel that he had to be responsible for defending the honor of his sister? See what can happen when parents don't take their God-given responsibility seriously? Remember as you read through the Bible that all of these "Heroes of Faith" were, and are, simply human beings with weaknesses just like you! Isn't is amazing that God uses us and allows us to be a part of the work that He is doing in the Earth right now, even though we all have a tendency to miss it now and then? Glory to God!
Shalom in Him!
