God Is My… ,

 ~ God Is My Rock, 5 ~

Introduction  ~  Previously from July 16, 2017 through January 6, 2019 ALN posted a series of 60 posts of “Jesus is…,” and now we look exclusively at who “God is…” from the Book of Psalms.  While not a complete list these posts occur are in the same order they are in the Psalms. 

Passage  ~  “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.  He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved.  In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God” (Psalm 62:5-7).   

Prior Passage  ~   “I will say to God my Rock, ‘Why have You forgotten me?  Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?’  As with a breaking of my bones, my enemies reproach me, while they say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’” (Psalm 42:9-10).   

“I will love You, O Lord, my strength.  The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.  I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies” (Psalm 18:1-3).    

“In You, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be ashamed; deliver me in Your righteousness.  Bow down Your ear to me, deliver me speedily; be my rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me.” (Psalm 31:1-2).    

“For You are my rock and my fortress; therefore, for Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me.  Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, for You are my strength.  Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth” (Psalm 31:3-5).  

Significance  ~  A rock implies permanence and stability.  In the Gospels we hear Christ teaching about the significance of a solid foundation.  “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall” (Matthew 7:24-27). 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

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Myth, 82

 ~ As a Christian Your Life Will Be Easier ~

Popular Myth  ~  Some televangelist teach a wealth and health Gospel which is not Biblical.  Unfortunately, it propagates and reinforces this error. 

Scripture  ~  Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10-12).  “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’  If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20-21a).

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.  We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed — always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.  For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:7-12a).

Quote  ~  “Those who say, ‘If you become a Christian your troubles will be over,’ have no clue what a Christian is – for that’s when the war really begins.”  –Burk Parsons

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

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Fear God, 206

 ~ Who Denies The Need to Fear God? ~

God does not want His children living in fear.  “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:2-3).  However, God does want His children to have a proper respect and reverence for Him.  We are told in many places in Scripture to “fear God.”  

Who Denies God?  ~ The quick answer is Satan and his followers, which unfortunately includes many churches today which consider themselves Christian churches. 

The Beginning  ~  Denying God and His sovereignty began at the beginning.  Adam and Eve disobeyed God (the essence of not fearing God).  What was a key reason behind their failure?

“Now the serpent [Satan’s disguise] was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.  And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden”?’  And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.”’  Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.  For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’” (Genesis 3:1-5). 

Explanation  ~  Jesus said this about Satan, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44-45).

Fearing God Results in Salvation  ~  “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).  “A wise person fears and departs from evil, but a fool rages and is self-confident” (Proverbs 14:16).  This does not mean the Christian is to live a fearful life—but a life which reverences God and seeks to do His will. 

Fearing God Results in Fearlessness  ~  “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1).  The answer is: only God.  With the gift of salvation comes responsibility.

Fearing God Results in Witnessing  ~  “Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul” (Psalm 66:16). 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

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