المحتوى المقدم من Colin Smith. يتم تحميل جميع محتويات البودكاست بما في ذلك الحلقات والرسومات وأوصاف البودكاست وتقديمها مباشرة بواسطة Colin Smith أو شريك منصة البودكاست الخاص بهم. إذا كنت تعتقد أن شخصًا ما يستخدم عملك المحمي بحقوق الطبع والنشر دون إذنك، فيمكنك اتباع العملية الموضحة هنا https://ar.player.fm/legal.
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This is Higgle: The B2B Sales Club Podcast, where we bring you actionable insights about sales RFPs, Sales Negotiations and difficult Procurement discussions. It’s all about helping you win more deals, and hitting your sales quota. We talk to sales leaders, brand leaders and procurement leaders about lessons learnt on their journey to win more sales deals and get better negotiated outcomes. The podcast is hosted by Mike Lander, an ex procurement director and entrepreneur, talking to guests about their experiences - the good, the bad and the ugly. Please subscribe to get updates when new episodes are released.
المحتوى المقدم من Colin Smith. يتم تحميل جميع محتويات البودكاست بما في ذلك الحلقات والرسومات وأوصاف البودكاست وتقديمها مباشرة بواسطة Colin Smith أو شريك منصة البودكاست الخاص بهم. إذا كنت تعتقد أن شخصًا ما يستخدم عملك المحمي بحقوق الطبع والنشر دون إذنك، فيمكنك اتباع العملية الموضحة هنا https://ar.player.fm/legal.
3 minute daily Bible reflections from Open the Bible UK, authored by Colin Smith, read by Sue McLeish.
المحتوى المقدم من Colin Smith. يتم تحميل جميع محتويات البودكاست بما في ذلك الحلقات والرسومات وأوصاف البودكاست وتقديمها مباشرة بواسطة Colin Smith أو شريك منصة البودكاست الخاص بهم. إذا كنت تعتقد أن شخصًا ما يستخدم عملك المحمي بحقوق الطبع والنشر دون إذنك، فيمكنك اتباع العملية الموضحة هنا https://ar.player.fm/legal.
3 minute daily Bible reflections from Open the Bible UK, authored by Colin Smith, read by Sue McLeish.
I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 1 Corinthians 15:10 Where did Paul get the energy to do the work he was called to do? Paul tells us what he endured as an apostle. He was beaten, stoned, lashed, and shipwrecked. He lists days without food, nights without sleep, and exposure to danger and cold. And then he says, “There is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches” (2 Cor. 11:28). These are good verses to reach for when you are tempted to feel sorry for yourself. You read them and you wonder, Where did he get the staying power to keep going? And right here, he gives us the answer: I worked as I did because of “the grace of God that is with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). God’s presence with me and His kindness toward me kept me going. You may be facing an overwhelming challenge. God has given you a task that feels beyond you. You find yourself saying, “I don’t think I can do this.” Oh, yes you can! The grace of the risen Lord Jesus Christ is with you. His presence and power will sustain you, and He will enable you to do all that He has called you to do. What overwhelming task are you facing? Like Paul, commit to completing your work by the grace of God that is with you.…
By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:10 When we think of what we were, we can use it as a lens through which to view what Jesus has done in our lives. Our sins, horrible as they were, are what He has redeemed us from. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ has brought a change in our lives. We are no longer the person we were. The answer to our shame and regrets from the past is more than, “It’s ok, because I’m forgiven.” The answer is to say, “By God’s grace I have changed. I am not the person I was. By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain.” Paul never claimed or thought he was all that God called him to be. Instead, he said, “I’m a long way from being perfect. But Jesus Christ has made me His own and I am pursuing the purpose for which He laid hold of me” (Phil. 3:10–13). By God’s grace you, too, will be able to say, “I am not what I should be. I am not what I want to be. I am not what I one day will be. But I am not what I used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.” When you are troubled by past sins, use it as an opportunity to remind yourself of what the grace of God has done in you.…
I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 The word grace is used three times in these verses. This whole chapter is about how the grace of Jesus changes the future for all who believe. But Paul begins with the effect of grace on past sins. Paul tells us we have redemption from our past sins: “I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God” (15:9). People who walk most closely with God often struggle with things they regret. How do you live with things in the past that now make you deeply ashamed? The voice of conscience reminds you of things you wish you had never said, or things you wish you had never viewed. You sometimes wonder, How could I have been such a fool? Paul knew what this was like. He remembered that he had a foul mouth and a raging temper. He had committed violence against the people he now loved: “I persecuted the church of God” (Gal. 1:13). That was the reality Paul lived with. He never forgot it. How could he? Or perhaps your regret is not over what you did but what you failed to do. Paul tells us that the risen Christ appeared to him “last of all” (15:8). You may think, “If only I had come to faith in Christ sooner. If only I had exercised more faith. If only I had walked more closely with God.” Every thoughtful person knows what it is to live with regrets, shameful sins, missed opportunities, and wasted years. Where do you feel deep regret in your own life? How does Paul’s experience encourage you?…
I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ... was raised on the third day. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Jesus dying for our sins would not have been good news if He had not been raised from the dead. If Jesus had not been raised, hope, for us, would have died and been buried with Him. But Christ was raised on the third day, and this is of “first importance.” The Bible records twelve occasions when the risen Lord appeared to His disciples, and Paul lists six of them here in 1 Corinthians 15. “He appeared to Cephas [Peter]” (15:5). He appeared... to the twelve” (15:5). “He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time” (15:6). “He appeared to James” (15:7). “He appeared... to all the apostles” (15:7). “Last of all... he appeared also to me” (15:8). Other people that Jesus appeared to, but who are not mentioned here in 1 Corinthians 15, include Mary Magdalene, two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and the apostles on multiple occasions. Hope is found not in something but in someone. Our hope is in Jesus who died and rose—not in an ethic, not in a more disciplined way of life, not even in a creed, but in a person, a saviour to whom you can come, a person in whom you will find hope. And, in this chapter, Paul talks about the hope that Jesus brings. There is hope in Jesus because He died and rose again. How does it strengthen your confidence in the resurrection knowing how many people encountered the risen Lord?…
Christ died for our sins. 1 Corinthians 15:3 Here are five things God says about sin in the Bible. 1. Our sins are offences against God. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Sin is not an occasional lapse in standards we set for ourselves. It is our consistent falling short of the life to which God calls us. 2. Our sins alienate us from God. “They are… alienated from the life of God” (Eph. 4:18). This is the reason why the default human experience is that God seems far away. 3. Sin makes us antagonistic toward God. “The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law” (Rom. 8:7). The more a person sins, the more resentful and resistant toward God he or she will become. 4. Sin makes us unfit for the presence of God. “Strive for… the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). Sin will keep us out of heaven unless it is removed. 5. Sin makes us liable to the judgement of God. “The wrath of God is revealed… against all ungodliness” (Rom. 1:18). Sin is not something in us that is “slightly off.” It is a complete breakdown in our relationship with God, to whom we must all give account. Sin’s consequences are catastrophic. And nothing in us can rectify the problem. This is why Jesus died for our sins. All that was due to us on account of our sins was laid on Him so that all that was due to Him on account of His perfect life should be freely given to us. Which of these 5 things have you, personally, experienced?…
I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins... that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15:3 What Paul presents here, he says, is of “first importance” (15:3). Don’t lose sight of what matters most: “Christ died for our sins... he was buried... [and] he was raised on the third day” (15:3–4). Notice, when Paul talks about what matters most, one thing he includes is that “Christ died for our sins” (15:3). If this is of “first importance,” then that must mean our sins really matter. However, in our times, sin seems to matter very little. Millions of people have stopped believing in God and started believing in themselves. They have stopped believing in “original sin” and started believing in “inherent goodness.” Few would claim to be perfect, but most, it seems, now claim to be good. If people think about sin at all, it is as our occasional and understandable lapses in which we don’t live up to our own high standards. But why would Jesus need to die for the occasional lapses of fundamentally good people? That makes no sense at all. If anything ever becomes more interesting or more compelling to you than what Jesus accomplished in His death and resurrection, you can take it as a sure sign that your spiritual life is in trouble. “Here,” says the apostle, “is what matters most. Make sure it matters most to you.” On a scale from (1) most important, to (5) least important, how much would you say it matters to you that Jesus died for your sins?…
Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57 1 Corinthians 15 is a marvellous chapter, where the apostle Paul lays out the transforming power of the resurrection. This chapter is very practical and full of hope. Where do you find hope when your body is failing? Where do you find hope when your ministry is discouraging? You have been labouring for the Lord. You are faithful to the gospel, but there doesn’t seem to be much fruit, and sometimes you find yourself saying, Is this it? Where do you find hope when you are grieving the loss of a loved one? There’s an empty chair at the table. You look at her photograph, but you no longer hear her voice. She is gone, and you cannot get her back. You miss her. Failing bodies. Discouragement in ministry. A loved one we have lost. These are the realities of life, and all of them are directly addressed in this marvellous chapter that is full of hope. Here’s the message in a sentence: There is hope in Jesus because He died and rose and through the grace He brings, for all who receive and continue in the gospel. Where do you need hope today? Do you believe that you can find hope in Jesus?…
But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge. Psalm 73:28 Asaph began Psalm 73 saying, “Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart” (73:1). What does it mean to say that “God is good to Israel?” The ancient philosophers —Plato, Socrates, etc.—used to debate what was the highest good in life. They used an old Latin phrase —the summum bonum—which is the highest good. What is the highest good? Asaph says to us: “It is good to be near to God” (73:28). In other words, “I’ll tell you what the summum bonum is. For me, it is good to be near God. He opened my eyes in the sanctuary when I thought about the ultimate end of the wicked. Those who are far from Him will perish, but God is good to Israel because Israel has been brought near to God.” Asaph would say, “I see now that if everything in my life was as I wanted it to be, but I was far from God, I would be in a desperate position. If nothing in my life was as I wanted it to be, but I was near to God, then I would still be supremely blessed. For me, the summum bonum is to be near God.” There is nothing greater in all of life than this. That’s what Asaph learned. The blessing of the gospel is that Jesus came into the world and gave His life on the cross so that you could come near to God now and near to God for all eternity. “You who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13). You get near to God through the blood of Jesus Christ. He is our peace. He came to preach peace to you who are far away and to those who are near. Why would you remain at a distance from God when you know that Jesus Christ has come to bring you near?.…
I [will] tell of all your works. Psalm 73:28 This shows how far Asaph has come. In verse 15, the best thing Asaph could do for God’s people was to keep his thoughts to himself: “If I had said, ‘I will speak thus,’ I would have betrayed… your children.” Now he has something to say, a story of God’s grace to share that will bring strength to other believers. Every Christian has a story of God’s grace. Your story is still being written. Every time you go through an Asaph experience another chapter is added. Every experience in your life can add to your testimony of God’s grace. Psalm 73 describes the worst time in Asaph’s life. Yet here we are 3,000 years later, feeding on the story of God’s grace to him, drawing strength and encouragement from his testimony. What God gives to you is also for the good of others. Your testimony to God’s grace contributes to the strength of the whole body. Paul says, “Death is at work in us, but life [is at work] in you” (2 Cor. 4:12). When you persevere through discouragement, it brings strength to other members of the body of Christ. Your testimony will be a means of God’s grace to other believers. Who could you share your story of God’s grace with?…
I [will] tell of all your works. Psalm 73:28 If you have been wounded by a version of Christianity that makes the gospel seem like an endless list of demands and expectations, you need to take in the grace of God from Psalm 73. Asaph wrote out his story under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit and it has been preserved for our encouragement in the Scriptures. God has given us this psalm because Asaph is not the only one on this journey. When you go through an Asaph experience you may find it helpful to write out your story using the main points of Psalm 73 as a grid. My feet almost slipped because… Then write down your struggle. Write it as honestly as Asaph did. Write it out before the Lord. God taught me that… If you can’t fill this in yet, ask God to turn on the light in your mind. Keep coming to the place of worship. Keep reading God’s Word. Stay in the company of Christian people. Share what you have written with a friend. God will draw near, and He will help you. I have confessed… Write down what God has shown you about yourself. And when you confess, you also need to believe God’s promise of forgiveness and thank Him for it. I believe… Write what you know from the gospel. It will do your soul good. There are many things that you don’t know. Never allow what you don’t know to hold you back. Use what you do know to help you move forward. Take 10-15 minutes and write out your story so far.…
Behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works. Psalm 73:27-28 Psalm 73 ends with Asaph making a clear commitment to live near to the Lord, and to tell his story of what God has done. Some folks think Christianity is about commitment. If you’re disciplined about your commitment, then you’re the real deal. Their focus is entirely on personal effort, discipline, and behaviour—doing certain things in the hope that it will make you a real Christian. It never works. Faith is never the fruit of commitment. It is always the gift of God (Eph. 2:8). Faith is a gift that comes down, not an effort that is worked up. How does the gift come to us? Asaph tells us that it was not the result of his own effort. “When I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task” (Psa. 73:16). “Faith was restored when I came into the sanctuary,” he says. “When I remembered God’s truth, He turned on the light for me.” “Salvation belongs to the Lord” (Jon. 2:9). God turns on the light in your mind so that you see your sin and confess your need. God brings you to faith and restores your soul. This is what David grasped in Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul” (23:1-3). If you are broken today, you need to know that the Lord will restore your soul. If your feet have almost slipped, you need to know that the Lord will hold you by your right hand. Are you pursuing Christian faith as though it were something to earn by your own effort or as something to receive from God as a gift?…
There is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. Psalm 73:25 Asaph is not saying that there are no other legitimate desires on earth. He is simply saying that, besides the Lord Himself, all other desires are secondary. This is the same thing the apostle Paul said: “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil. 3:8). Knowing Jesus is what really matters to Paul. This is the driving ambition of his life. He did not say, “I want to be a great preacher.” He didn’t say, “I want to see thousands converted.” Or “I want to plant ten churches.” These are all good desires, but even good desires can become idols. Let’s go back to the story of Tom and Mary and see how things are going on their wedding day. During the wedding ceremony, they look into each other’s eyes and take their vows: I, Tom, take you, Mary, to be my wife. To have and to hold, from this day forward. For better, for worse; for richer, for poorer; In sickness, and in health. Think about what they are saying. Tom is saying: “If being with you means I’m richer, then I’m with you. If being with you means I’m poorer, then I’m with you. What matters to me is not better/worse, richer/poorer, or sickness/health. What matters to me is you! Being with you is all I want. So, bring it on! I’m with you, come what may.” That’s how a real Christian feels about Jesus. That’s why the New Testament uses the picture of marriage to describe the relationship between Jesus and His people. We bond to Him for better, for worse; for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health. Have you made a commitment like this to Jesus? If not, are you ready to commit yourself to Him, come what may?…
Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. Psalm 73:25 Imagine Tom and Mary, a young couple engaged and about to be married. The wedding is just five days away, and Tom takes Mary out for a candlelight dinner. “Five days to go,” Tom says, “I can hardly wait for Saturday to come.” Mary smiles as she looks into his eyes across the candles, “Tell me why you’re so excited about Saturday.” Now, all Tom has to say is, “Because on Saturday, I get to marry you!” But Tom’s a bit slow, and so he says, “Because my great uncle Jack is coming in from Boston. I haven’t seen him for years. And my university friends are all coming into town, and we’re all going out on Friday night. And the reception is in the ballroom at the Grand Hotel, and I just love the food at that place.” All these things may be wonderfully true, but by making them his focus, Tom has completely missed the point. If your life on earth is about people, pleasures, and possessions, that will probably be your idea of heaven as well. There is no room for Jesus in some people’s view of heaven, and that’s because there is no room for Him in their life on earth. But there is only one heaven, and Jesus Christ is at the centre of everything that goes on there. Surveys show that 43 percent of people in the UK believe in heaven. A good question to ask is: “Why would you want to go there?” How would you answer this question?…
Whom have I in heaven but you? Psalm 73:25 The first thing you need to know about heaven is that it is God-centred. When the Apostle John was given a vision of heaven, he saw that the Lamb of God (Jesus Christ) was at the centre (Rev. 5:6; 7:17). God wants you to know that He is the centre of all things in heaven, and that is why a person who lives wisely will make Him the centre of all things on earth. Who do you have in heaven? Some have a grandmother and a grandfather in heaven, whom they were very close to and look forward to seeing. Some have a pastor whose ministry shaped their life as a teenager but is now in heaven. Surely if that is the case for you, you would have loved to share your life with him. Perhaps you have a husband or wife in heaven. Some have a child in heaven. Sometimes you think about seeing them and wonder what that will be like. There are people in heaven, and one of our joys will be to see them again. There are also pleasures in heaven. “At your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psa. 16:11). We are not told much about these pleasures. Paul says that our minds cannot conceive what God has prepared for those who love him (1 Cor. 2:9). We would not be able to imagine it, even if God told us. There are possessions in heaven. Certain things will be given to you that you do not have now. Crowns! Rewards! Many songs have been written about the “things” that will be ours in heaven. It is surely significant that the Bible says very little about the people, the pleasures, and the possessions of heaven. The one thing that is unmistakably clear is that we will be in the presence of Jesus. Ultimately, heaven is to be with Christ. Have you made Jesus the centre of all things on earth for you?…
When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:21-26 Notice how Asaph moves from the misery of preoccupation with himself to the joyful freedom of confident faith in God. Biblical faith is utterly God-centred. It’s not about some capacity for believing that may or may not lie within you. If faith was about our ability to trust, then some of us would have an advantage. Your ability to trust has to do with your past experiences. So, if faith is about our ability to trust, some of us would find that easy, while others would find it very hard. But Christian faith is not about your ability to trust. It is about the trustworthiness of God. There is a God in heaven who can be trusted, no matter who else has let you down. Your faith will grow as you get your eyes off yourself and onto Him. That’s what happened to Asaph when he came into the sanctuary. Do you need to get your eyes off yourself and onto God? Ask God to help you.…
When I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task. Psalm 73:16 In the first half of Psalm 73 (verses 1-14), Asaph was completely absorbed with himself. “Why are things going wrong in my life? Why is God blessing other people more than me? What’s the point in pursuing a godly life?” Asaph was convinced that his problem was with God. He thought his biggest problem was the unhappiness he was experiencing. But when he came into the presence of God, Asaph saw that the real problem was himself: “My heart was grieved. My spirit bitter. I was brutish and ignorant. I was a beast before you” (73:21-22). Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “Self is… our most constant enemy. It is the most prolific cause of all our unhappiness.” What’s the biggest cause of your unhappiness right now? Lloyd-Jones continues: “As a result of the fall of Adam we are self-centred. We are sensitive about ourselves. We are always selfish, always protecting ourselves, always ready to imagine offences, always ready to say we have been wronged and dealt with unfairly.” Lloyd-Jones says, “I am speaking from experience. May God have mercy on us. It is the truth about us all.” If self is the problem, how can we be delivered from ourselves? The answer is that God can deliver us from self. Asaph came to realise that, and we must do the same. Do you think your primary problem today is with God? If so, why?…
Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. Psalm 73:23 What would you expect the outcome of Asaph’s confession to be? “My spirit was bitter, my heart ruled my head, and I was acting on impulse… Therefore, I am a total failure”? Or “Therefore, God has no place for me”? No! Look at the outcome of Asaph’s confession: “Nevertheless, I am continually with you” (73:23). True confession never leads to despair. It always opens the door of hope. My soul was bitter, my heart ruled my head, and I was acting on impulse, nevertheless I am continually with you! We often think about the Lord walking with us on our path. But a better way to think about the Christian life is that you are walking with Christ on His path. “Despite everything that has happened, and all the junk that has been going on in my life, I’m still here, Lord. And the reason I’m still here is that You hold me by my right hand.” Asaph says that his feet almost slipped. Why didn’t they slip? God held him up! Asaph was drowning in confusion until he came to the sanctuary. Why did he come to the sanctuary? God brought him there. If sustaining the Christian life depended on us, we would have given up long ago. But thank God we can say with Asaph: “You hold my right hand, and that, Lord, is why I am here in your presence today.” The presence of God is the one place where you need have no fear of being exposed. This God knows the worst about you already. While we were still sinners Christ died for us. Will you test God in this? Bring your worst sins before Him today and see if His grace isn’t sufficient for you.…
When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Psalm 73:21-22 “My soul was bitter. My heart ruled my head. I was acting on impulse.” This is a serious confession of sin. Asaph’s confession goes beyond anything that he said or did. It uncovers the hidden movements of his heart. There really is an appropriate sense of shame here. “My spirit was bitter. I let my heart rule my head. And You saw the chaos that followed. I was acting on impulse, and You saw what I did, Lord. You saw me acting on impulse when I went to that website. You heard me speaking on impulse at that breakfast. I was sinning against you.” This is not a man who needs counselling. This is a man who needs cleansing. He needs to bring out the dirt of his inner life in the presence of God. He needs to confess. If God gives you an awareness of your own sin today, it is a sure sign that He is at work in your life. He is turning you around so that you can move in a new direction. You are never closer to Jesus than when you are most aware of your own sin. Are you ready to find cleansing from your sin? Bring out the dirt of your inner life in the presence of God in prayer.…
I was like a beast toward you. Psalm 73:22 The point about the beast is that animals act on impulse. One of the great gifts God has given to men and women is the gift of reason, logic, reflection, and analysis. This gift was not given to the animals. Animals act on impulse. Asaph says, “That’s what I was doing! When my heart was grieved, I was being pushed around by the impulses of bitterness, unbelief, and despair. No wonder my feet almost slipped!” We are living in a culture where people love the idea of acting on impulse: “If it feels good—do it!” If you listen to radio or television shows where people call in with their problems, you will hear one theme over and over again—“Listen to your heart. Follow your heart.” The assumption behind this advice seems to be that your heart is a reliable indicator of what is right. The problem with this is that it completely ignores the doctrine of sin. The problem with following one’s heart is that there are too many impulses within the heart that would lead us into sin if we followed them—impulses to pride, greed, self-justification, and a whole lot of other things too. Following your heart is a dangerous business. The impulses of the heart will always be mixed, even in godly men and women. Sometimes your instincts will be enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and sometimes your instincts will be guided by the flesh. That is why we have to submit the impulses of our hearts to the Word of God. And when we do, we find that we need to fight our impulses as much as follow them. Are you fighting your impulses or simply following them? Can you think of one example of each from this last week?…
I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Psalm 73:22 “Ignorant” is a word that describes the mind, so Asaph was saying, “When my heart was grieved, everything I knew and believed about God seemed to fly out of the window.” In other words, Asaph was talking to his friends in gloomy terms, as if there was no God, no help, no hope, and no future. He was senseless and ignorant. His heart ruled his head. Maybe you have seen the film Home Alone. It’s the story of a young boy who is accidentally left at home while the rest of his family goes on a Christmas holiday. He defends the house from burglars by pouring tar in the basement, swinging pots of paint from the staircase, pulling shelves off the wall, and smashing Christmas tree decorations on the floor. It is complete chaos. Letting your heart rule your head is like letting children run your home. The children bring life and joy to the home. It wouldn’t be the wonderful place that it is if they weren’t there. But if you let children take over, it won’t be long until there is chaos! Your heart is like the child. Your head is like the parent. The heart brings you great joy. But it is the head that brings order to your life. When the heart is grieved, it comes to the head and says, “I’d like to run things for a while.” If the head says, “That’s fine,” and hands over control of the house, it won’t be long before chaos reigns. This is what happened to Asaph. His heart was grieved, and he allowed his heart to rule his head. He allowed his emotions to take over. No wonder chaos reigned in his life. Does your life seem chaotic? Are you letting your heart rule your head?…
When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart… Psalm 73:21 These verses open up what was going on in Asaph’s heart before he came to the sanctuary. These things were hidden from Asaph himself. He didn’t understand what was going on. But when God met with him, the light went on. He saw clearly and so he was able to make this confession. There are particular sins to which you may be especially prone when you are grieved, upset, or disappointed. When things don’t go your way, the sins of Asaph are crouching at your door. Notice the sins Asaph confesses here, so that you can be on your guard against them, especially at times when your heart is grieved. It may be that “my soul was embittered” and “I was pricked in heart” are two ways of saying the same thing. That is often the pattern in Hebrew poetry. But you can have a pricked heart without a bitter soul. So it seems that the first sin Asaph confesses here is a bitter soul. There were things in Asaph’s life that made no sense, and he became bitter toward God. He also became bitter toward other people as he saw how God was blessing them. It’s easy to become bitter when your heart is grieved. It can happen far more easily and far more quickly than you might think, and Asaph’s confession reminds us that this can happen to the most godly person. “I was bitter,” he says. “There was a souring of my spirit. I didn’t see that before, but I see it now, and Lord, I need to confess this to you.” Do you see any traces of a bitter spirit in your own life?…
When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant. Psalm 73:21-22 Confession has always had a central place in Christian worship. Catholics confessed their sins to a priest. Protestants confessed their sinfulness to God. But it seems that confessing our sins is disappearing from worship altogether. We celebrate God, and we celebrate ourselves, but if we do not confess our sins, we will not change. A Christianity that neglects confession of sin is not New Testament Christianity. The point of the gospel is that it changes a person. It doesn’t leave you as you were. That’s why Paul says to Christian believers, “Examine yourselves… Test yourselves” (2 Cor. 13:5). And it was Socrates who said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” He was right. This is what Asaph did. When Asaph’s mind was straightened out by the truth, he was able to see what had been going on in his soul, and that led him to make this confession to God. Confession is not a sign of dysfunction in the Christian life. It is a sign of health. When the light goes on, you begin to see yourself more clearly, not less. Do you want to grow and change? Ask the Lord to help you see yourself more clearly, so that confession becomes a more regular part of your walk with God.…
I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Psalm 73:22 This is a godly man’s confession of sin, and confession is a normal part of a healthy Christian life. The Apostle John says: “If we confess our sins, he [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). If you cannot see anything in your life that you might appropriately confess as sin to God, then you are deceived: “If we say we have not sinned, we make him [God] a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:10). You are simply not seeing clearly. You are not in touch with reality. But how exactly we are to confess our sins has been a matter of debate in church history. Maybe you were taught to confess your sins to a priest. There may be some value in that, but there is no place in the Bible where God says that you must confess your sins to a priest. John Calvin, a wise pastor in the sixteenth century, said that we are to confess our sins to God, but that confessing a particular sin to another person could be helpful, especially if having confessed it to God, you were still struggling to find peace in your heart about it. In that situation you can go to a pastor and tell him, or you can go to any other mature Christian and tell them. God has made every Christian believer a priest: “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever” (Rev. 1:5-6). That means you can go to any priest, including the one sitting next to you at church. Are you struggling to find peace over a particular sin?…
When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Psalm 73:21-22 This is Asaph confessing his sins to God. He is admitting to things that are wrong in his life. As soon as Asaph gets his thinking straight, he begins to pray. Prayer flows out where truth flows in. We hear the truth every Sunday as we listen to the Word of God preached, and we read the truth every time we open the Bible. One way to measure your grasp of the truth is to take a look at your prayer life. It is possible to affirm your church’s statement of faith, but then to have very little confidence that God is able to help you in what you are facing now. It is possible to believe 'We are all sinners,' but then to have very little awareness of sin in your own life. That’s where Asaph was. But God met him in the sanctuary, and the evidence of it is in the way he prayed afterwards. This psalm is brutally honest. It is the kind of honesty that leads to a changed life. "When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you" (73:21-22).This is a confession of sin from a godly man. Reflect on your prayer life. Are you failing to apply your faith to the things you are facing now? When was the last time you were brutally honest with God about yourself and about your sins?…
I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Psalm 73:22 Asaph’s story tells us how God brought this man through a crisis of faith by taking him through a number of turns. The first thing Asaph discovered was that he needed to STOP. “If I had gone where my thoughts were leading me at that time, I would have let everybody down” (see Psa. 73:15). He made a decision to stop. He refused to follow where his discouraged mind was leading him. The first step to turning your life around is not finding an answer but making a decision. The second thing Asaph had to do was to THINK. Asaph says, “When I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end” (73:16-17). I went to the sanctuary. I remembered God’s truth. I met with God’s people. And I considered the ultimate outcome of the wicked and the righteous. That turned me around. It gave me a whole new perspective. God straightens out our confused thinking as we worship Him, remember His truth, meet with His people, and consider the ultimate outcome of life. The next step was for Asaph to CONFESS. “I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you” (73:22). Our friend, Asaph, was confessing to his own foolishness. He was admitting to God the things that were wrong in his life. Think about the steps that God led Asaph through in order to turn him around and put him on the right path again. If you are struggling through a crisis yourself, can you identify where you think you might be in these steps?…
My feet had almost stumbled. Psalm 73:2 Asaph was a godly man. He was a spiritual leader. This is the kind of man we would all look up to with great respect. Asaph didn’t just read the Scriptures, he was chosen to write some of the Scriptures under the direct inspiration of the Spirit of God. Perhaps there is not a deeper experience of the Spirit than that. This was a man who walked with God. But in Psalm 73, Asaph tells us that there was a time in his life when he almost lost it: “I looked at what was happening in the world, and I could make no sense of it. I looked at what was happening in my life, and that made no sense either. I could no longer see the point in pursuing a godly life. I almost gave up!” All of us go through times like this. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been a Christian, or how mature you are in your faith. Circumstances will arise in your life that will take you by surprise. Suddenly you may find yourself where Asaph was, struggling with thoughts you never imagined you would be thinking. Maybe you have been plunged into an Asaph experience this week. The good news is that God knows how to bring you through an Asaph experience. That’s why we have Psalm 73. Asaph tells us how God brought him through the crisis. Have you been plunged into an Asaph experience? If so, aren’t you glad that God knows how to bring you through it?…
Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms. Psalm 73:20 Asaph uses a second picture here, waking up from a dream, to show us what he discovered in the sanctuary about the ultimate outcome of the wicked. Imagine a beggar who has a dream. And in his dream, he wins fifty million pounds in the lottery! He dreams about the home he will buy and the car he will drive. He dreams about the motorboats and motorcycles he will have in his expansive garage. In his dream, he sees himself flying first class, cruising the Caribbean, and enjoying fine dining. But then he wakes up and realises that it was only a dream. He is still a beggar. This is the destiny of the wicked. Thinking that they have everything, they wake up only to find that they have nothing. The outcome for the wicked is that one day they will fall over and be ruined. They will wake up and be disappointed. That’s what Asaph saw when he came into the sanctuary. He remembered God’s truth and he met with God’s people, and it changed his whole perspective. If that’s the end of the wicked, why in all the world was I envying them? Is there an ungodly person you are tempted to envy? Talk with the Lord now about why you might not want to trade places with him or her.…
Surely you set them in slippery places. Psalm 73:18 When Asaph came to worship, he remembered God’s truth, and he met with God’s people. That was where God straightened out this man’s thinking. Remember, Asaph’s problem began when he wondered why the wicked prosper (73:3). So how did God straighten out Asaph’s thinking? He reminded Asaph of the ultimate outcome of the wicked. Here Asaph uses the picture of walking on ice to describe their end: “Surely you set them in slippery places” (73:18). How has God set the wicked on slippery ground? The answer is: by prospering them. Prosperity is a great blessing, but it is also slippery ground. The problem is that prosperity often makes a person blind to reality. Money can make a man think that he is something special. It makes him feel secure. That’s a very slippery place. Remember Jesus’ words about the man who acquired great wealth, built big barns, and had all kinds of plans for his own future? God said, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you” (Luke 12:20). If prosperity is a slippery place for the wicked, it will be a slippery place for the righteous too. If God has given you money, you should be thankful. You should also be careful. It’s like walking on ice. Pride can easily come in, and pride comes before a fall (Prov. 16:18). That’s why Paul says to Timothy: “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17). Do you think God intends to warn you or encourage you by this today?…
When I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God. Psalm 73:16-17 You see what Asaph is saying: “Here I am struggling with my problems. But my questions and struggles are part of something much bigger.” It’s a great thing to have personal faith, but behind your faith there is the faith. Behind your little struggle to believe, there stands a great company of men and women through the ages who have faced the same questions and the same struggles, and God has brought them through. That’s what Asaph saw when he went into the sanctuary. This is one of the great blessings of being part of the body of Christ, the church, which has been around for 2,000 years. There is nothing in your life that God’s people have not faced before. There are no questions in your mind that have not been asked before. People have lived and died on God’s promises for more than two millennia! “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful” (1 Cor. 10:13). You never know what ministry you may have to others simply by the fact that you have endured so much and you didn’t give up. Don’t underestimate the importance of staying the course. You are showing the rest of us what it means to persevere. The encouragement of God’s people is one of the means that God uses to strengthen us when we feel like giving up. That’s why you should never withdraw from God’s people when you are discouraged. Is there a member of your church who has encouraged you in recent days? What if you chose to go to church, in the middle of your struggles, for the benefit of others?…
When I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task. Psalm 73:16 Asaph was saying, “When I looked at the problems in my life and at the problems in the world, I kept asking, “Why is this happening?” My mind went around and around, trying to figure it all out, but I couldn’t. It was oppressive to me. I couldn’t stop thinking about it! It is a terrible thing when your mind is confused. The second step in Asaph’s recovery was to straighten out the confused thinking that had reigned in his mind. Now how does this happen? Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones points out that some Christians have one simple answer for everything: “Just pray about it.” But it’s not easy to pray when your mind is confused. If you can’t think straight, you can’t pray either. So, what can you do when you aren’t able to think straight or pray? Asaph tells us: “When I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God.” Asaph lived at the time of David. The sanctuary was the place of worship. The temple wasn’t built until later, during the time of Solomon. The sanctuary was where David had placed the ark of the covenant. The ark was a large wooden box that was carried on poles, and by the time of David, it was nearly five hundred years old. The ark’s significance was that it was the place where God had said He would meet with His people. Now the ark was kept behind a curtain, so when Asaph went into the sanctuary, he couldn’t see it, but he knew it was there. The ark behind the curtain was God’s way of teaching us that even though we cannot see Him, He is with us. Have you stopped meeting regularly with the people of God? Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matthew 18:20)…
I would have betrayed… your children. Psalm 73:15 Asaph knew that if he were to give up, he would betray God’s children, and that stopped him in his tracks. Now, there is more to climbing out of a black hole than that, but this is where it begins—with a decision, a commitment: Lord, I will not betray your children. On the night when He was betrayed, John tells us that Jesus prayed. He was about to endure the agony of the cross. But the focus of His prayer was on His disciples and what God would do in their lives. Jesus said, “For their sake I consecrate myself” (John 17:19). To consecrate yourself means to give yourself to some special purpose or calling. In this case, Jesus’ calling was to endure the cross. Nobody wants to endure a cross. But Jesus said, “I’ll do it for them.” If you are dealing with a crisis today, your crisis is bigger than yourself. You belong to the body of Christ, and you are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses—men, women, children, and angels too. If you are a Christian, you bear His name. God has called you to run a race that has been marked out for you. So, take up your cross and follow Him. Asaph lived a long time before Jesus, but this was exactly what he did. He looked back on his life and he said, There was a time when I almost gave up. I couldn’t make sense of what God was doing in the world or in my life. If I’d followed the inclinations of my heart, I would have given up. But I’m so glad I didn’t. I’m here to tell you that God turned me around and brought me through. It started when I made the decision not to betray the Lord or His children. Who are some of the people in your life that you’re willing to endure a crisis for? How would those people be impacted if you chose to give up?…
If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed… your children. Psalm 73:15 You would think that the turning point of his life would begin when he gets some answers. But that’s not Asaph’s story. Asaph wants us to know that the first step to turning our lives around is not finding an answer but making a decision. His mind is driving down this dark road of despair, so he makes a decision. “I am not going any further down this road. I will not go where these despairing thoughts are leading me.” This is where Asaph’s turn begins. We say, “Give me an answer!” But God says, “Give me a commitment.” We say, “I need to understand.” But God says, “I want you to follow.” When Jesus went to the garden of Gethsemane, He was struggling with what God the Father was doing. He wanted to know if there was a way to avoid the suffering of the cross. “If it is possible, let this cup be taken from me.” Jesus went into the garden with a question: “Can this cup be taken away?” But He came out of the garden with a decision: “Your will be done.” Maybe you are facing a crisis in your life right now. You’re confused. If you follow the thoughts that are running in your mind, you will break up your marriage. If you follow the inclinations of your heart, you will no longer be useful in ministry. Don’t go there! Make a decision to stop that way of thinking. Make a decision to stop that way of acting. You want to turn your life around, but you’ve been waiting for an answer from God. Will you take the first step today, by making a decision?…
If I had said, ‘I will speak thus,’ I would have betrayed… your children. Psalm 73:15 Asaph was saying, “If I had followed where my confused thoughts were taking me, I would have let everybody down. I would have become the Judas of the Old Testament. I would have betrayed your children.” Asaph doesn’t want to go there, and so he takes himself in hand. Imagine spending a few days away, and the place where you are staying is off the main road. So you arrive in the evening, and it is pitch dark. You know how this goes: “Isn’t it up there on the right?” “No, I think this is it. Turn here.” “I’m pretty sure it’s a little bit further.” Well, now you are a mile down the road, and it’s become clear that there are no more places to turn around. Then somebody says, “You know, I think it was back there.” “Yes, I know. I’m just looking for a place to turn around.” But the road is narrow, and with no houses or driveways, it’s pretty hard to do. There are some situations in life when turning around isn’t easy. You’ve been looking for a nice opening where you can swing your life around, but you can’t find one. That’s how it was for Asaph. “My feet had almost slipped,” he says. He needed to turn his life around. Think of a time when you had to stop the direction you were heading spiritually and turn around. What made it so hard for you to do?…
All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. Psalm 73:13 Maybe you have coworkers who have very little integrity, and yet they seem to be thriving. You, on the other hand, have tried to do business in a way that honours the Lord, but instead of thriving, you are facing all kinds of trouble. It leaves you saying, “What’s the point?!?” One of your coworkers, who was fooling around with someone in the office, just got a promotion. But you were faithful to your spouse, and now you lost your job. It leaves you wondering, “Lord, did you bless the wrong person?” This was Asaph’s problem, and he tells us honestly, “My feet had almost slipped. I was nearly gone. I almost gave up.” If a godly man like Asaph could be tempted like that, we shouldn’t be surprised when it happens to us. Peter tells us that Christian believers have an enemy—Satan, who is like a roaring lion, prowling around looking to see who he can devour (1 Pet. 5:8). The more useful you are to Christ, the more the enemy will want to devour you. That’s what was happening here. Satan wanted to spoil Asaph’s testimony, end his ministry, and destroy him. There will be times of special testing in your life, and your future usefulness to Christ will depend in large measure on how you handle yourself when they come. The apostle Paul said, “Take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm” (Eph. 6:13). That’s what Asaph did, and God brought him through. Have you ever felt like giving up on your pursuit of a godly life?…
I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Psalm 73:3 You can hear Asaph’s distress in his words, “I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” The wicked act as if no one can touch them, and God does nothing about it. But here I am trying to serve the Lord in ministry, and all I see is the agenda of those who hate God and despise His Word moving forward. Why does God allow it? It makes no sense to me. You can understand Asaph’s problem. Can you make sense of the way God rules the world? Asaph couldn’t, but the real problem lay deeper. Asaph couldn’t make sense of what God was doing in his own life. “All the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning” (73:14). He poured out all this frustration about how God rules the world, but the real problem is that things were going wrong in his own life. Remember that this is the confession of a godly man. Asaph is in full-time ministry. He is a spiritual leader. Other people look to him for leadership. This man has been reading his Bible and saying his prayers. He tithes his money. He has poured great energy into pursuing a holy life. He has made sacrifices for the advance of God’s kingdom. But sometimes, underneath the bigger questions that we have about the world, there are deeper, more personal questions about what God is doing in our lives. You ask, “Why do the wicked prosper?” But the real question is: “Why hasn’t God prospered me?” You ask, “Why does God allow suffering?” But the real question is: “Why is there so much pain in my life?” You ask, “Does God really control the universe?” But the real question is: “Why is my life falling apart?” Are you struggling to make sense of what God is doing in your life?…
Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. Psalm 73:1 This psalm begins with a statement of faith. It was like a creedal statement, the sort of thing you would recite every week at worship. It is rather like us confessing “Jesus is Lord” when we meet for worship. “Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.” Asaph was saying, “This is what I’ve always believed. This is what I built my life on. But I have to tell you, ‘As for me, my feet had almost stumbled’” (73:2). So, if Asaph were a New Testament believer, his story would have gone something like this: “Jesus is Lord! But you need to know—I almost lost it. My feet almost slipped. I nearly lost my faith. I almost gave up my ministry. I nearly lost my foothold. I was almost gone. And I want to tell you my story of how God turned me around.” Every Sunday, as Christians confess faith in Christ together, there are some folks who are right where Asaph was. You don’t find it easy to sing. You struggle to focus on the Word. You hear the faith confessed, but your mind is pounding with questions—“Yes, but… and what about…?” Your faith that was once strong now seems to hang by a slender thread. What is wonderfully real for other people seems strangely distant from you. You say to yourself, “You know, I could just walk away from all this.” If that’s where you are today, Asaph was right there too. On a scale of 1 (I have no idea what this is like) to 10 (I’m right where he was), how do you relate to Asaph’s experience?…
As for me, my feet had almost stumbled. Psalm 73:2 Psalm 73 is the personal testimony of a man who came through a great crisis in his life. He tells us how he nearly lost his faith, but God helped him, and he found his way through the crisis and into a stronger faith than he had before. If you look at the heading of Psalm 73, you will see that it was written by a man called Asaph. Asaph was one of the men that King David put in charge of music in the house of the Lord (1 Chr. 6:39; see also 6:31). He was in the procession when David brought the ark to Jerusalem. After that, the Bible says that David “appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the LORD, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel. Asaph was the chief” (1 Chr. 16:4, 5). Asaph was in full-time ministry. He was a mature believer. He was a godly man, and God had put him in a position of great responsibility. But he came to a point in his life where he almost lost his faith. It is helpful to know that even mature believers sometimes experience times of great crisis when it seems as if everything is falling apart. Over the centuries, God has used this psalm to bring comfort to His people in the midst of their doubts and pain. Introducing Asaph is like introducing an old friend. Can you recall a time when you almost lost your faith? What gave you stability?…
"I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you… I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." Ezekiel 36:26-27 When you come to faith in Jesus Christ, God puts His Spirit within you. That’s His promise. The first evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence in your life will be that you have a deep desire to please God and to serve Him by being a channel of His love into the lives of others. This will be the greatest struggle of your life, and so before you set out on this journey, you need to know if it’s possible. The Heidelberg Catechism faces this issue head-on: Q: Can those converted to God obey these commands perfectly? A: No. In this life, even the holiest have only a small beginning of this obedience. Nevertheless, with all seriousness of purpose, they do begin to live according to all, not only some, of God’s commandments. No Christian is everything that God calls him or her to be. The finest Christian you have ever met has only a small beginning of obedience. But there is a beginning of true holiness in every believer. No Christian is completely pure, but there is the beginning of purity in every Christian. No Christian is completely content, but there is the beginning of contentment in every Christian. What we have now is a beginning of truth, of peace, of integrity, of rest, and of worship. We truly begin to live according to all, not only some of God’s commandments. Every day of your Christian life offers opportunities for the new life that God has begun in you to grow stronger. And when you stand in the presence of Jesus, what He has begun in you will be complete. Are you living in the power of a new life?Or are you simply trying hard, in your own strength, to do what God commands?…
If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more. Philippians 3:4 You see what the apostle Paul is saying: “I saw myself as a morally upright person.” But then Paul says, “All that changed,” and he tells us what led him to a complete reevaluation of his position: “If it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin” (Rom. 7:7). This religious man had concluded that he was morally upright. But now he is telling us the commandments showed him that he is a sinner. What happened? He ran into the tenth commandment! “I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet’” (Rom. 7:7). Here he was with his moral checklist: He doesn’t steal. He doesn’t kill. Then one day he comes face-to-face with the tenth commandment. That’s the language he uses: “The commandment came…” (7:9). He’s talking about personal experience. “It suddenly came to me – God is not just looking at my outward actions, He is measuring my heart.” The tenth commandment is an absolute killer for morally upright people, because once you see the meaning of it, you will conclude that you’re a long way from keeping the other nine. Many of us are just like Paul—good people, hard workers, upright, trustworthy, and generous. We have good works and good values, and we see our religion as something that we offer to God. But if this is true of you, your biggest problem may be that your moral uprightness is the very thing that keeps you from seeing your need for a Saviour. This tenth commandment is for you. You need the killer commandment to show you that morally upright people need a Saviour too. Have you come face-to-face with the tenth commandment?…
"You shall not covet." Exodus 20:17 Coveting happens in the secret places of your heart. It is known only to you and to God. Your neighbour would know if you stole his car, but he would never know if you coveted his car. Nobody knows the secret desires of your heart. Nobody knows your secret fantasies. The tenth commandment is the key to understanding the other nine. All the other commandments are about specific actions. Murder, adultery, stealing, and perjury are all behaviours that can be seen, but the tenth commandment deals with what happens in your heart. People have the idea that in the Old Testament God was only concerned with our actions, but that it was Jesus who put a new spin on the commandments: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mat. 5:27-28). The tenth commandment makes it clear that this was the original intent of Almighty God when He gave the commandments to Moses. The reason Jesus taught as He did is that this is precisely the teaching of the Old Testament. The tenth commandment makes it clear that God calls us to more than upright behaviour. He calls us to purity of heart. It’s not just that you should do right but that you should be right. Have you been aiming primarily at the target of right behaviour, or at right behaviour and purity of heart?…
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29 The essence of lying is saying what will achieve the desired result, irrespective of whether it is the truth. Gossip: This involves passing on news about another person that may or may not be true. Someone has likened gossip to ripping open a feather pillow on a windy day. The feathers fly in the wind, and once they’re out, there is no way you can ever gather them back in. Flattery: This is saying to someone’s face what you would never say behind their back. You want them to like you, so you tell them how wonderful they are, even though it bears little relation to reality. Exaggeration: You want to impress, and so you overstate what you said or did, taking credit that belongs to someone else. Or, you’re looking for sympathy, so you overstate the wrong that was done to you, because you want the other person to feel sorry for you. Lying is saying whatever will achieve the desired result, irrespective of whether it is the truth. Instead of using harmful words, God calls us to use our words in love to build others up. Which of these forms of unwholesome talk are you most prone to? Number them from 1 (most prone) to 3 (least prone).…
"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." Exodus 20:16 It’s good to remember that each of the Ten Commandments reflects the character of God. The Bible tells us that God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), and that He always keeps His promises. When we come into a relationship with God, He calls us to reflect His character in the way that we live our lives, and that means we seek to be characterised by truth in everything that we say and do. Now, strictly speaking, the ninth commandment addresses the issue of perjury, which is standing up in court and making accusations that you know are not true: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” And this is precisely what happened when Jesus was arrested and brought to trial. False witnesses said many things against Him. They wanted to have Him crucified, and they were prepared to say whatever was necessary to achieve that desired result. Now, you may be thinking, “I have never committed perjury in court,” but remember, each of these commandments addresses not just one sin, but a whole category of sins. We’ve used the picture of each of these commands being like a railroad track with many stations down the line. The ninth commandment is about the issue of lying. Perjury in a court of law is down at the end of the track. You likely have never made a stop at that station, but everyone has been somewhere along the line. What are some of the stops you’ve made along the line of lying?…
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy." John 10:10 Satan is the great taker of what does not belong to him. He is always trying to get as much as possible, while giving as little as possible. He pays terrible wages—“the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). If you do his work, you will be terribly disappointed when you get your paycheck. But Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Satan is the great taker of what does not belong to him, but Jesus Christ is the great giver of what He already owns. Jesus did not grasp what belonged to Him, but He took the form of a servant and He poured out His life for us (Phil. 2:6-7). The gospel is more than good advice; it is good news. It is not a set of instructions on how to change; it is a new life, a new heart, the Spirit of Jesus living in you to make you different. Through the gospel, Christ changes takers into givers. Pour your life out for Him and you will have no regrets. And when you receive your reward in heaven, you will not be disappointed. You will not look around heaven and say, “Was it really worth it?” You will stand before Him in awe and wonder why you found it all so difficult. Those who trust in Him will never be put to shame (Psa. 25:3). What is one thing that makes it tempting for you to work for Satan instead of Christ?…
"You shall not steal." Exodus 20:15 There’s a story about a thief who was serving time in prison. Stealing had become his lifestyle, and eventually the long arm of the law caught up with him. But while he was in prison, he heard the good news of Jesus Christ and was wonderfully converted. When the day came for his release, he knew he was in for a difficult time. Most of his friends were criminals, and it wouldn’t be easy to break old patterns. So on the first Sunday of his new freedom, he slipped into a church building and sat in the back. Up front he saw the words of the Ten Commandments inscribed on two plaques, and his eyes were drawn to these words: “You shall not steal.” That’s the last thing that I need, he thought to himself. I know my weakness. I know my failure, and I know the battle I’m going to have. But as he kept looking at the plaque, the words seemed to take on a new meaning. He had always read these words in the tone of a command: “You shall not steal!” But now it seemed God was speaking these words to him as a promise: “You shall not steal.” He was a new person in Christ, and God was promising that the Holy Spirit would make it possible for him to overcome the habit of stealing: “You shall not steal, and the reason is that I’ve put my Spirit in you, and I’ll move you to follow my decrees and to keep my laws” (see Ezek. 36:27). The Christian life is a struggle, but the Holy Spirit is with you for the climb. What tone do you hear in God’s commands?Why do you think that is?…
"You shall not steal." Exodus 20:15 Here is a definition of stealing that will get you thinking about the struggle of the eighth commandment: Stealing is trying to get as much as possible, while giving as little as possible. Remember, each of these commands speak not to one sin, but to a whole category of sins. We know this from Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. We also see this in the Old Testament, where the rest of the law is an exposition of the Ten Commandments, showing how they apply to particular situations. It’s helpful to think of each command as being like a train track, with many stations down the line. If you were to go to the station at the end of the line, you would see what the thief does, for example, when he breaks into a home. He is attempting to take everything and contribute nothing. You may never have gone to this particular station at the end of the line, but all of us have travelled somewhere along the track. It may be that you’ve stopped at the station of taking advantage of other people, or the station of using others, or the station of being a taker without becoming a giver. If stealing is about trying to get as much as possible while giving as little as possible, then there is a lot of stealing that goes on in marriages, families, churches, and communities. Every attempt to have much and give little is addressed by the eighth commandment. This definition also shows two root problems behind all forms of stealing: (1) greed—the desire to get as much as possible, and (2) laziness—the desire to contribute as little as possible. What do you find most surprising/helpful about this definition of stealing?…
Put to death… what is earthly in you. Colossians 3:5 When it comes to your battle with temptation, God does not say, “Pray about it.” He says, “Act against it.” The problem with praying about a temptation is that you end up focusing more attention on it, and that can have the effect of making the problem worse. Temptation is not an issue to passively turn over to God; it’s an issue to actively fight. This is always the language of Scripture when it comes to our struggle with temptation. Paul says to the church in Rome, “Put to death the deeds of the body” (Rom. 8:13). And in his letter to Titus, Paul says, “The grace of God… train[s] us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions” (Titus 2:11-12). If you have the opportunity to enjoy a meal outside during the summer, it’s a real treat, unless some wasps get a whiff of your food and start flying around. What do you do when a wasp keeps bothering you? You swat it! That’s exactly the language of the New Testament: “Put to death the deeds of the body.” You find a thought buzzing in your mind about that person in the office, or the internet site that was advertised on your computer. What are you to do? Treat that thought exactly like the wasp: “Put to death the deeds of the body.” The most important thing to know is that you have the power to do this, so don’t listen to the enemy when he tells you that you can’t! Is there a temptation you’ve been passively praying about, as though God were going to take care of it. If so, you need to start taking action?…
“How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” Genesis 39:9 The place to start in dealing with temptation is by recognising sin for what it is. The best example of this in the Bible is Joseph when he was tempted by Potiphar’s wife. Here was this young guy in a foreign country and a powerful woman was trying to entice him. Instead of giving in, he called the temptation great wickedness, and he saw the wound that it would bring to the heart of God. If you’re going to overcome the power of temptation, the first step is to see the connection between your sin and the cross of Jesus. You’ve been redeemed (from sin) by the blood of Jesus. How then can you do this to Him? That was Joseph’s secret. He made it a spiritual issue. It was not just something between him and Potiphar’s wife. It was a sin against God. The great British preacher Jonathan Edwards used to talk about “the expulsive power of a new affection.” This phrase is helpful. A new love can be stronger than an old habit, and if you are going to overcome the power of temptation you need to cultivate your love for Christ. Once you begin to see what your sin did to Him, you’ll think differently about it. That’s why Paul says, “Be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Rom. 12:2). That’s where change begins. As long as you’re still saying, “It’s no big deal!” you will never change. But once you come to the place of saying, “This matters to God and so it matters to me,” victory is within sight! Is there a sin in your life that you need to name?…
"You shall not commit adultery." Exodus 20:14 Jesus described the times in which He lived as an “adulterous generation” (Mat. 12:39). That means it was a generation in which many people had become confused in their attitudes and disordered in their behaviours when it came to the whole matter of sex. There is no doubt that we too live in an adulterous generation. Over 14 million internet users in the United Kingdom reported accessing pornographic content online in May 2023. We live in a setting where it is extremely difficult to be pure in mind, heart, and deeds. We’ve been talking about the ten greatest struggles of our lives using the analogy of struggling to climb a rock face. When you are climbing on the rock and you feel you’re going to fall, you don’t need someone shouting at you. What you need is someone who can show you where to put your feet so that you can keep moving upward. What we need, more than anything else when we are struggling, is a word of encouragement, and for someone to show us a doorway to hope. On a scale of 1 (no hope) to 10 (very hopeful), how would you describe your own struggle for purity? Have you experienced someone shouting at you along the way?…
“Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court.” Matthew 5:25 Jesus makes this application from the sixth commandment: Settle your disputes as quickly as you can. If there’s a way to settle with integrity, pursue it. Paul says the same thing: “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Rom. 12:18). Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He is able to bring peace into the deepest wounds of your life. In different ways we have all broken this commandment. We need mercy and forgiveness, and God offers that to us in Jesus Christ. The whole Bible story is pointing forward to a day when the line of conflict will be replaced by the path of peace. Under the reign of Christ, you will be at peace with yourself. You will experience community with God’s people. Nation will speak to nation. The implements of war will become obsolete, and nations will no longer study war. Then, in a new heaven and earth, the whole creation will be released from its groaning under the curse. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. The line of conflict will be gone, as God makes everything new. Can you imagine what it will be like when this command becomes a reality? Who do you need to take the initiative with to make peace today?…
"You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment." Matthew 5:21-22 The scope of this commandment goes far beyond acts of murder. Jesus made this clear when He said that the sixth commandment searches out the thoughts, attitudes, and intentions of the heart. Think about a train moving down a track. Murder is the name of the station at the far end of the track on the line of conflict. Most of us will never go anywhere near that station, but all of us have travelled somewhere along the line. The commandments are like warning signs along the road, telling us what to avoid. But they are also like directional signs, showing us where to turn and what to pursue. The sixth command points us, firstly, to embrace life. Your life is a precious gift from God and keeping the sixth commandment means embracing the life that God gives you to the full. Ask God to give you a vision of what your life can be. Seize every opportunity to develop yourself. Look for ways in which you can be a good steward of all the gifts that God has given to you. And look for ways in which you can bring God’s blessing into the lives of others. There is no greater way to embrace life than to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ, who said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Jesus is the Life-giver. He gave His life so that you may have life. How could you push further into keeping this command today?…
"You shall not murder." Exodus 20:13 Here are four examples of taking the life of another person that are clearly forbidden in the sixth commandment. Murder—Taking the life of your neighbour. One day you may come to the unimaginable conclusion that murder is not beyond you. An injury can be so great, and the desire for revenge so strong, that you feel you have the right to exercise justice and take another life. But God says, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay” (Rom. 12:19). Abortion—Taking the life of an unborn neighbour. God has an active relationship with the developing life of an unborn child in the womb. In the Psalms, David says, “My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret… Your eyes saw my unformed substance” (139:15-16). An unborn child is not a potential life; it is a life with all kinds of potential. Euthanasia—Taking the life of an elderly neighbour. There is a huge difference between sustaining a life that has been taken by God and taking a life that is being sustained by God. Discerning that line can be horribly difficult. But knowing that there is a line is crucially important. We are not to sustain a life God has taken, nor take a life God is sustaining. You are in no position to say that a life God gives is not worth living. Suicide—Taking your own life. You may feel very low today. The thought of taking your own life has crossed your mind. But this life is not yours to take. It is the gift of God and He has given it to you as a steward. You are a trustee, not an owner. You may feel that even those who love you would be better off without you. It’s not true. God has given you life. God wants you here. Which of these is hardest for you to accept? Why?…
"You shall not murder." Exodus 20:13 The Ten Commandments show us what it means to live a life of love. The first four lay out what it means to love God, and the last six spell out what it means to love your neighbour. Here are six sacred areas of life marked with special value by God: (1) Family (honour your father and your mother); (2) Life (you shall not murder); (3) Marriage (you shall not commit adultery); (4) Property (you shall not steal); (5) Truth (you shall not bear false witness); and (6) Heart (you shall not covet). This is what love looks like. This is what it means to love your neighbour as yourself. The reason for the command “You shall not murder” is that human life is uniquely created in the image of God. “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27). Every human life has unique dignity and value. Think of an image or a photograph of a loved one. If someone analysed your photo scientifically, they could tell you it has no inherent value. It’s only a wooden frame, filled with particles of pigment, in assorted colours, varying in density. If the picture of your loved one got lost and 100 years later it was found, the person who found it might dust off the cobwebs and say, “I wonder who she was?” and then throw it into the waste bin. But you could never throw away this picture, because it bears the image of someone you love. The reason that human life is so valuable is that it bears the image of God. If you love God, you will value His image. Taking a human life involves tearing the image of God. What does it mean to you to know that every human life bears the image of God?…
He does not deal with us according to our sins. Psalm 103:10 Some parents are not worthy of honour. Think of Saul and the mood swings, fits of rage, and irrational behaviour. Saul even threw a javelin at his son, Jonathan (1 Sam. 20:33). What kind of father throws a spear at his son? You may wonder if God knows about the pain of your experience. God knows. The Bible recognises the pain of bad parenting, and God never asks you to pretend that a bad parent is good, or that a neglectful parent is honourable. How should you respond if you are still under their authority? Ask God to give you compassion for them. Ask God to give them what they lack. That’s the Spirit of Jesus. He does not treat us as our sins deserve. He has compassion, and compassion keeps the door to repentance open. Healing begins when you look away from the failings of others and up into the face of God. If you’ve suffered because of authority abused, you may fear that this is what God is like. But God hears the cries of His people and comes down to deliver them. Look into the face of Jesus. The final authority in the universe belongs to the One who knows how to use it. That’s good news. He is altogether wise. He is completely self-sufficient. And His very nature is love. You can rejoice because the Lord is King! Do you need to look away from the failings of others to find healing in the face of God today?…
“Honor your father and your mother.” Exodus 20:12 The word honour literally means “give weight to.” The commandment is telling us: “Give weight to your father and your mother.” When your father or mother says something, don’t take it lightly. Give weight to their words, to their advice. Don’t brush it off. Take it seriously. Give weight to what they say, to what they think, and to what they desire. What this looks like will change as you grow up. For children, honouring your father and mother means doing what they say: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right” (Eph. 6:1). Jesus Himself is our example. The Bible tells us that as a child He was obedient to His parents (Luke 2:51). If you are a child, do what your mum and dad tell you. Try your best to do it cheerfully. Watch out for ways that you can show your mum and dad that you love them. Tell them that you love them. Then, as you get older, honour your father and mother. Give weight to their words. As an adult you are no longer obligated to obey your parents, but God still calls you to honour them. Your mum and dad aren’t always right, but they know you, and they’ve seen more of life than you have. In the big decisions, listen to what they have to say. Think deeply about it. Don’t say, “That’s just Mum and Dad’s opinion.” Say, “This is the opinion of my mother and father.” When parents reach old age, we honour them by caring for them, by giving weight to their needs. It is easy to become so busy with other things that we neglect our parents. Visiting them and talking to them are important parts of honouring them. The apostle Paul says, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:8). How are you doing at honouring your father and mother?…
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12 Your parents are the first authority figures God put in your life, and your first experience of authority tends to shape your reaction to other authority figures. If you’ve seen authority used well, you will tend to respect it, otherwise you will tend to be suspicious of it. You will want to resist authority and establish your independence from it. The reason family life is so important to the good of a nation is that respect for authority is learned in the home. If it breaks down there, it will be a growing strain on the fabric of national life. The command says, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land.” A culture cannot thrive when respect for authority breaks down. Our experiences of family life can vary greatly. Perhaps you enjoyed the blessing of being raised in a stable and loving home, or perhaps the opposite is true. Maybe you are already squirming inside, because the whole subject of your mum or dad is so painful that even the mention of it has your defenses up. You may be afraid that the Word of God is going to wound you today. Why do you think that? Because your parents hurt you, and they were the first authority figures in your life. You assume God is like them and He’s going to do the same. The God of the Bible is good, and He wants to do you good. Don’t let the warped authority of your parents blind you to God’s loving authority. What was your first experience of authority like?…
“Come to me… and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 Once you see everything that God has called you to do in the Ten Commandments, you may say, “But I haven’t finished!” We struggle to embrace God unconditionally. We struggle to worship God as He is. We have not honoured Him in all things. We have not finished the work of keeping God’s commands, and the longer we live the more obvious it becomes that we’ll never finish this work. So how are we going to enter God’s rest? That’s the great question. When Jesus says, “Come to me… and I will give you rest” (11:28), He takes us to the heart of the gospel. Our work is never finished, but His work is complete! When Jesus died on the cross, He took on Himself all our unfinished business. He bore in His body all of our falling short of the law of God. Then He cried out in a loud voice: “It is finished!” (Mat. 27:50; John 19:30). Jesus says, “You have not finished what God has called you to do, but I have. I can give you a rest that you can never achieve by your own works. I will give you rest for your soul.” Christians worship on the first day of the week to remind us that we begin our work from a position of enjoying peace with God through the finished work of Christ. As you go into another week, God has work for you to do, but you don’t do that work to earn salvation. You don’t do it to work your way into heaven. You do it as an offering of love and gratitude to the Lord who has already completed the work. Are you resting in the finished work of Christ?…
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8 The fourth commandment is one of life’s greatest struggles and one of the most frequently misunderstood commands. Some Christians imagine they’re honouring God by making Sunday the dullest day of the week, a day marked by long lists of things you cannot do. Some of us need to begin by clearing away the blockages that might hinder us from hearing the Word of God today. Some of us come from a legalistic background, where the day of rest was a day of misery. Maybe when you look at the Ten Commandments, you see a list of forbidding rules that load you down with guilt and kill your fun. What kind of a God would do that? Not the God of the Bible. This is one of the fundamental convictions of the Christian faith. If we really believe that God is good, then we have to start from the conviction that these commands frame the good life that He wants us to enjoy. Here are some convictions that will help you come to the fourth commandment in the right way: God is speaking to one of the greatest struggles of our lives. What He says is good, and it is for our good. Following what He says will lead us into blessing. These three convictions will help you begin to see the Sabbath as a day of delight rather than a day to endure. How strong are your convictions (on a scale from 1 to 10), that God’s commands are good, for your good, and following them will lead you to blessing?…
“Continually all the day my name is despised.” Isaiah 52:5 Isaiah the prophet was given an insight into the heart of God when he heard God’s anguished cry over the abuse of His name. That’s the tragedy of our world. But God has an answer: “Therefore my people shall know my name” (52:6). Those who know and love the Lord are the guardians of His reputation on earth. Honouring the Lord’s name is our highest calling. Christ will be honoured when the world sees a community of people who show awe and reverence for Him. That means growing in humility. We cannot draw attention to the greatness of God and to our own gifts or achievements at the same time. Our calling is not to pretend that we have all the answers to life’s mysteries. We don’t. The secret things belong to the Lord; only the revealed things belong to us (Deut. 29:29). So, let’s not discredit the gospel by claiming more than God has promised or by declaring less than He has revealed. Our calling is to share what God has given us in Christ and to invite people to the Scriptures, where they can consider the claims and the evidence of Jesus. In this world, where God’s name is blasphemed every day, God is gathering communities of believers who love and worship the name of Jesus. As you grasp His love for you more deeply, you will grow in your love for Him. That will shape the way that you speak about Him, and people will begin to see that He is so much more than a name to you. Can you think of a time when you heard a Christian speak about Jesus in a special way that intrigued or surprised you?…
"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain." Exodus 20:7 The first thing that typically comes to mind when we hear the third commandment is the issue of swearing. The way you use a person’s name says a great deal about what you think of them. And if you look up the name Jesus in your Concise Oxford English Dictionary, there are two definitions. Notice the order: Jesus: (vulg.) excl. expr. surprise, impatience, etc. [name of founder of Christian religion d. c. A.D. 30] The dictionary tells us that the name Jesus is a vulgarity. It is an exclamation expressing surprise, impatience, etc. That, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is its most common use. But the name Jesus can also be used to refer to the founder of Christianity. It shouldn’t surprise us that those who don’t know the Lord commonly use the name of God or Jesus as an expletive. But the same pattern of speech is too often found among believers. If you happen to be in school or at work, listen to how the name of God is used by your friends or coworkers this week. It will astonish you. Don’t copy that habit. It comes naturally for people who don’t know God. But not for you. Reflect on how you are using God’s name. Have you spoken about Jesus in ways that dishonoured Him? How about in ways that honoured Him?…
He is the image of the invisible God. Colossians 1:15 The reason God places such importance on not making idols is that He is jealous to guard against all images of Himself. Why? Because He wants nothing and no one to detract from the one true image of God by which He has made Himself known—Jesus Christ. The New Testament says (about God) that Jesus is “the exact imprint of his nature” (Heb. 1:3). That is why Jesus could make this stunning statement: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). The reason idols are so offensive to God is that the one and only invisible and incomparable God has taken on human flesh and entered into the world. God has made Himself known in the person of Jesus Christ. That’s why you won’t find your way to God through an idol or through endless spiritual experiences. These are a labyrinth through which you will find no exit. But you can come to God through Jesus Christ. This one true, living, eternal God reaches out to you in Jesus Christ. And if you will embrace Him in Christ, He will embrace you. This is where eternal life begins. Have you tried to find your way to God through some idol or through some spiritual experiences (other than through Jesus Christ)? What happened?…
مرحبًا بك في مشغل أف ام!
يقوم برنامج مشغل أف أم بمسح الويب للحصول على بودكاست عالية الجودة لتستمتع بها الآن. إنه أفضل تطبيق بودكاست ويعمل على أجهزة اندرويد والأيفون والويب. قم بالتسجيل لمزامنة الاشتراكات عبر الأجهزة.