Shalom,


The instructions in Psalm 95 are just as vital and appropriate today as they were the day they were first written! First of all is the instruction to praise the One, True, Most high, Living, Almighty God of the Bible. Verses 1-2:


1 O COME let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!


Then we are told to bow before Him in worship. Verse 6:


6 O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.


Why should we do this? Verses 3-5 & 7:


3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights and strength of the hills are His also. 5 The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land. 7 For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. 


We should continually be aware of His presence inside of us and continually be in an attitude of praise, thanksgiving, and worship. This keeps us focused on Him and more sensitive to hear His voice as He leads, guides, and directs us each day. We are SO blessed to have such an awesome God! AMEN!


Luke 16 deals with the right and wrong attitudes towards riches. I found this interesting in the Bible Exposition Commentary:

The Wall Street Journal quoted an anonymous wit who defined money as "an article which may be used as a universal passport to everywhere except heaven, and as a universal provider for everything except happiness." The writer might have added that money is also a provoker of covetousness and competition, a wonderful servant but a terrible master. The love of money is still "a root of all kinds of evil" (1 Tim 6:10, NKJV) and has helped fill our world with corruption and lust (1 Peter 1:4).


When you read our Lord's sermons and parables, you are struck with the fact that He had a great deal to say about material wealth. He ministered to people who, for the most part, were poor and who thought that acquiring more wealth was the solution to all their problems. Jesus was not blind to the needs of the poor, and by His example and teaching, He encouraged His followers to share what they had with others. 

Verse 10:

10 He who is faithful in  very little [thing] is faithful also in much, and he who is dishonest and unjust in a very little [thing] is dishonest and unjust also in much.

Prove to yourself and to God that you can be trusted, and begin to do it today!

Habakkuk 2:4 is quoted 3 times in the new Testament: Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38. 

4 Look at the proud; his soul is not straight or right within him, but the [rigidly] just and the [uncompromisingly] righteous man shall live by his faith and in his faithfulness.

Where do we get the faith to live by? Romans 10:17:

17 So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

Make the Word of God final authority in your life and you will be a mighty "man" (female or male) of faith! It is easier today than ever before in the history of the Church of Jesus of Nazareth to walk in faith and trust and confidence! How can I say that? Because faith comes by hearing God's Word (knowledge) and Habakkuk 2:14 tells us this:

14 But [the time is coming when] the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

WE are living in THIS time! There is no shortage of Bibles in this country! Get into yours, and get IT into YOU! Faith will come and grow and grow and grow. The more you exercise that faith by using it (acting on the Word of God) the more confidence you will have that the Word of God spoken out of YOUR mouth will reap the same results that it did for Jesus Himself! THAT is God's plan for the Church! Jump in!

Shalom in Him!