Dan’s Bible Fellowship Class

I love the end of the month because I always get to the last few books of Proverbs.  I especially love Proverbs 31 and am thankful that I have been given a Proverbs 31 woman.  Of course Proverbs is a book of wisdom.  I’ve been reading in my quiet time for over 6 years.  This morning as I read Proverbs 27 several verses just jumped off the page.

 Proverbs 27:1  “Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth.”  I couldn’t even count the number of times I’ve repeated this verse over my life.   It’s a reminder that I am to live the very best day that I can TODAY.  I usually repeat the verse to myself or to others when something really bad happens.  I repeat it as a reminder that I am not guaranteed tomorrow.  I’m a big dreamer and goal setter.  Today I was again reminded that there is only one who knows tomorrow; and it’s not me!  So does this mean I should never plan for tomorrow, next week or next year?  Heavens no!  Scripture is clear that I am to make preparations for the future.  This verse just cautions me to not be boasting about what I will do for my circumstances could change in an instant.  Today’s economic climate and the struggles many businesses are experiencing create a perfect illustration of the point.

 Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”  This verse came to my attention at the very first Promise Keepers event I attended.  I’m not saying I hadn’t read it before, just that the verse was raised in my mind.  It’s a reminder to me that I need to have close male friends that have the same world view as I do and that will hold me accountable for the life I lead.  One of my greatest regrets (not the greatest, but one of them) is that I have set by the wayside when several of my male friends have been fooling around on their wives.  I knew it was going on.  You could tell from the comments made and the activities they were involved in.  Yet, I did not have the internal courage to say, “Stop; what you are doing is wrong for you and for your family.”  It’s no comfort to me that most men are just like me: silent.  This idea of an accountability partner extends to all areas of my life including my daily quiet time.  This is one good thing that’s arisen out of the movement to small groups.  Close personal relationships where it’s ok to say, “Wait a minute; what are you thinking.”

 There’s plenty more in Chapter 27.  These are just two biggies for me.

 Thank you Lord for teaching my pastor the value of reading one book of Proverbs every day.  He taught me.  It is making a huge difference in my life.

As I began reading Colossians this morning, I was struck by the fervor of Paul in writing to this church.  He writes words of encouragement, but does so in a very strong, emphatic tone.  He writes in such strong voice because he’s very concerned for the church that it not fall into deceptive teaching.  I understand that there was a report of  teaching that Jesus was not God Himself, that He was just one of many emanations from God, and that there was a secret higher that Scripture which must be understood for enlightenment and salvation.

 What struck me this morning is the “call to arms” Paul gave.

 He calls the church to not accept less than the pure truth that they were given.  He calls the church to live in a way that honors God.  Of course this would necessarily include rejection of any teaching or belief that diminishes the deity of Christ.

Then in chapter 2, God spoke to me, as I read, “As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.”  Colossians 2:6.

Perhaps Paul has stirred up my spirit into a furor.  Perhaps I just needed a bright line to go against, to define my day.  Verse 6 gives it to me; “so walk in Him.” 

I recall vividly the day I received Jesus Christ as my Savior, my Lord.  All anxiety was taken from me, as if I now had a power that was beyond me.  I remember how confident I was in the promises I’d read in God’s Word.  I remember how excited I was that I was redeemed.

 When Paul tells me to “walk” in the same way as I “received Christ Jesus the Lord,” he is reminding me that I can no longer settle for walking in my strength.  I can no longer wallow in defeat just because I’m in the midst of struggles.  I am called to, and I’m entitled to, walk in the way in which I “received Christ Jesus the Lord.”

 Great words:  what do they mean?

• My joy comes from knowing Christ and trusting in His power and might, not mine
• My strength emanates from my reliance on His righteousness
• My view of the challenges of the day, must be against the backdrop of the promises given to me in the Scripture
• My days can be filled with joy
• My view of the world is based upon the truth contained in the Word, not on another’s teachings or preaching
• My Lord is acting as an intercessor for me every moment
• My daily life will glorify Christ if I keep my eyes on Him, rather than on illusory goals or milestones

 Today, as I face the challenges of the day, I will continually remember this challenge that I should “so walk in Him.”

I laughed to myself this morning as I read Psalm 42-43 because these verses reminded me of my lament to God and to my sometimes “to and fro” confidence in God’s provision.

From a purely theological standpoint, I’m confident that God will provide for every need that I have.  He will provide for my family according to His Plan, not according to mine.  To the extent that I can become so close to Him, that His will supplants mine, then His Plan becomes my plan.  Not real deep, but it’s true.

The Psalmist (not likely David) begins with a statement of complete confidence and desire for God.  “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the Living God.  When shall I come and appear before God?”  Psalm 42:1-2.  

Although he (like me) desires for God’s heart and is confident that God desires to commune with him, he still blames God for his travails and troubles.    He places the responsibility on God for his troubles in verse 7 where he writes, “Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All Your waves and billows have gone over me.”  Although he seeks God’s heart like a deer seeks water, he asserts that his troubles arise because God allow the waves of life (waves created by God and referred to as “Your waves”) to buffet him.

As I struggle in many businesses, I hear myself praying, “God, I’ve been trusting you.  What gives here?”  I want my God, my Jehovah Jirah, to provide for me (AND DO IT NOW)!    I was reflecting on these similarities and laughing a little at myself.  As I moved to Proverbs 23, I read this verse:  “My son give me your heart and let your eyes observe my face.”  Proverbs 23:26.

 I was stopped in my tracks.  God wants me to look into His eyes, and trust Him.  I need to be so close to the Father that I can look into His eyes and “observe” His face.  If I’m that close to Him, my time of lament would be over.  The times of trouble may continue, but my lament would not.

So I’m turning now .   .   . looking into his eyes.

It is the desire of my heart to be used of God according to His purpose.

I’ve repeated that statement to myself over and over and over.  It is a reaffirmation of sorts that helps me (at least in my mind) keep focused in my activities.

This morning as I ready Proverbs 21:2  God reminded me that He is the one of a pure heart and x-ray vision.  He says it this way, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the hearts.”

I can deceive my wife (not that I will admit to doing so).  I can deceive my staff, my friends, even my co-workers.  But God is not deceived in any measure.

He is weighing not only my actions, but also my inner-most thoughts and motivations.  I think this is why He gave us the Holy Spirit.  Not just as a monitor, but instead more like a gyroscope.  I don’t know much about gyroscopes, but I understand that they are designed to keep you focused on the horizon.  They are to keep you upright, even when your mind is telling you to turn over 180 degrees.

The Holy Spirit of God is living inside my very being, designed to keep me properly focused.  My focus must be on my purpose:  “.  .  .  to be used of God according to His purpose.”

So this is why I’ve got to continually seek wisdom directly from Him through the primary way He speaks:  His Word.  He uses His Word to speak to my spirit.

Thank you Lord for listening to my cry, and for speaking to me from Your Word.

God just shows me over and over that He is God and I’m not!

2 Corinthians 1:15-22 contains an affirmation to the church in Corinth that neither he, nor God are “two-faced” (my term) but instead that they are both constant.  Paul has not come to Corinth even though he planned to because of some of the events on-going there.  Yet he reaffirms a truth about himself, and then a truth about God.  He says it this way:

“And in this confidence I intended to come to you before, that you might have a second benefit– to pass by way of you to Macedonia, to come again from Macedonia to you, and be helped by you on my way to Judea.  Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there should be Yes, Yes, and No, No?  But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No.  For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us–by me, Silvanus, and Timothy–was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes.  For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.  Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God,  who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”

I’m so excited that God is a Yes, Yes, Yes God.  Because He is a Yes God, I’m confident that:
1.  He said yes to my surrender to Him.  I’m completely righteous because He said I would be and He doesn’t go back on His Word.

2.  He told me that He was the way, the truth and the life.  He is my way forward, my path, my guide.  I can trust following Him in my every step.  By the same token, if I don’t follow His path (or His direction) I shouldn’t be heard to complain.

3.  I have been anointed as a child of the King (with all that that entails).

4.  I have been sealed (and firmly rooted) by Him (not by me).

5.  The Holy Spirit living in my heart is the evidence of the Guarantee He has given me that I am His!

Wow!  God is God (and I’m not)!

I don’t read Peter very often.  In fact, the back part of the book, I pretty much don’t get to often except for Revelation.

This morning I read 1 Peter.  Peter is writing to the “strangers” scattered across a number of areas including Asia.

He writes the following praise:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith–the salvation of your souls.   1 Peter 1:3-9 (NKJV)

He says that I have a place reserved in heaven because I am “kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”  I’ve seen little boys and girls walking through the train station this week.  Usually there are two together; way to young to be alone and frankly too young to be just by themselves.  I kept thinking, “Doesn’t your mom or dad want to be here holding your hand?”  I thought about how cognizant I am of where my boys are even now.  I want to hold their hand, keep their path straight, and help them steer clear of the icebergs of life.  In short, I want to “keep them” by the power of my hand.

This morning God confirmed to me through this passage that HE holds me, even when I can’t feel the clasp of His hand, HE holds me.  Yikes!  What a thought; what a reality; what a truth!!!

Jesus is preparing His disciples for the day when he shall no longer be with them physically.  He’s giving them the nuggets of wisdom that they will need to face the very difficult days ahead.

He tells them that He is going to prepare a place for them in His Father’s mansion.  John 14:2.  He tells them that where He is going, they will know the way.  But Thomas, probably speaking for them all, says, “But how will we know the way?”  14:5. Jesus then makes a claim that is complete lunacy, a lie, or absolute truth.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.”  John 14:6

Jesus here states as a FACT that He is the only way to heaven.  Without Jesus, there is no way.  Without Jesus, there is no Truth.  Without Jesus there is no Life.

How many times have I read this verse?  How many times have I quoted it?  This morning, God said to me, “Do you really believe this?”  I sat back and thought for a few moments.  Where did that come from?  It’s obvious I believe it or I wouldn’t be here in Japan.  As I reflected on this question that was seemingly interposed from outside of me, I kept wondering “why ask me do I believe it?”  What’s the point?

I stopped; I prayed; I prayed some more.  Then I read some more.  I read until I got to John 14:15:  “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

If I am confident that Jesus’ claim that He is the Only Way is true, then my actions are obvious.  Even if the hill is tall, even if there is a drought, IF I love Him, I WILL keep His commandments.  One of the greatest of these we call the Great Commission.  Take the Gospel to the World!!!

“If you love me, keep my commandments.”

We’ve been in Tokyo five days now.  Every day, all day, we go to schools and universities to take the gospel to the students and into the household.  Although the middle school and high school students are polite, the acceptance rate is extremely low.  They will not take this gift that is freely given.  The universities are a sea of sullen faces, a reflection of ambivalence to nearly every passerby.  Less than one in ten will accept a New Testament.  This is truly rocky ground.

It’s easy to become discouraged when the long hours do not appear to be very fruitful.  Having been in Africa, South & Central America where the distributions were so very welcomed, I began to question the huge expenditure of labor and money to come here.

This morning, during my quiet time, I read the account of Jesus teaching in the tabernacle in Capernaum.  Obviously teaching to Jews, He was using images that they were very familiar with.  He reminded them of the manna that was given by God when they the Israelites traveled in the wilderness.  Then He said, “I am that bread of life.”  John 6:48.   But that wasn’t what grabbed my spirit this morning.

Again, as He was trying to get them to understand that He was the Messiah that the prophets wrote about, He said, “This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die.”  John 6:50.

Then to drill His point home, so no one would miss it, He said what I needed to hear this morning, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.  Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”  John 6:53-54.

I needed to hear this certainty pronounce directly by Christ this morning.  If we penetrate 10% of these young people, if we penetrate 1%, or even if we penetrate less, it is time well spent and a good allocation of resources.  No one else pushed us aside while we were here saying, “Let me tell them about Jesus.”  No one said, “We gave them the Gospel last week.”  We take the Gospel to these because it is the only way that they will have life for eternity.  Many of these boys and girls could be my children.  I don’t want them to miss heaven.  They won’t miss it on account of me.

Thank you Lord for knowing my spirit.
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Special Note:  I’ve not posted for several days, but don’t misunderstand my failure to post to be an indication that I’m not having my quiet time. This experience is pretty intense.  God is teaching many things which I may share with you at the appropriate time.

Long trip yesterday (Thursday 11:00 a.m. till Friday afternoon 5:30 p.m. Japan time). I was truly beat down by the time we got to Tokyo. The Business Class would have sure been nice!

As I was reading this morning, I was called to Psalm 89. Sometimes I feel like David felt (I think). I know God has called me to do something really special, but I’m confident that it is not within me, but instead must be placed on me by His Holy Spirit.

In Psalm 88 David cried to God. “Lord, why castes thou off my soul? Why hidest thou face from me?” But then, seemingly reinvigorated by the Holy Spirit, David writes, “Then thou speakest in vision to thy holy one, and sadist, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted on chosen out of the people. I have found David my servant; with My holy oil have I anointed him; with whom My hand shall be established; mine arm also shall strengthen him.’ I want some of that “anointing” God is speaking about here for David.
Quiet Time; On International Scripture Blitz, Tokyo, Japan

As we go to the schools, I want God to anoint me in such a way that His holy name is glorified. Only 1% of the population is Christian here. In the schools, I’m told that many will not take the Scripture. There is really nothing I can do about that. However, the God of Abraham, Issac and Jabob, the Great I Am, CAN!!! He may choose to do it through a little guy from Tennessee. Now that’s exciting!!!

Please pray that God will be glorified in all that we do.