pickledilly

Next-of-kin bore the important responsibilities of redemption and restoration in three main ways. (1) When land given to the tribes of Israel by God had to be mortgaged off (because of something like crop failures leading to financial ruin), it would be returned to its original owner in the Year of Jubilee, which occurred every 50 years, OR it could be bought back by a relative and restored to the family. (2) If a man became so destitute that he couldn't even feed his family, he could sell himself into servitude. This would be revoked in the Year of Jubilee, OR a kinsman could pay off the price of his relative's slavery and restore this man to freedom. (3) There was also a responsibility for redemption and restoration of widows, who were especially vulnerable because they lost absolutely everything with the death of a husband. In this case, the nearest of kin was obliged to offer protection and rescue by offering to marry the widow. All of these responsibilities were to keep the family/nation intact and preserve the inheritance promised to them. The role and responsibilities of a kinsman-redeemer give us a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ. He took on human flesh to enter the world of humanity in order to bring redemption and restoration as our "nearest of kin". (1) He died to redeem this earth, His corrupted creation. Man had "sold off" this possession to Satan through Adam's forfeiture when he disobeyed God. Only a kinsman could redeem it, which Christ did as the Son of man. (2) Jesus died to redeem His object of love, mankind, from slavery. That original act of sin created the consequence of man's bondage to the new "owner" with no natural way to pay the debt. His own holy blood was the only thing that could pay the high cost of our freedom. (3) And Jesus died to redeem His Bride, His cherished beloved. His desire was to rescue us from the abject poverty and need of our loss that we had no means or position to rectify. He intended to have intimate union with those who return His love, to protect and provide for our eternal life with Him. The divine Kinsman-Redeemer acted to satisfy a debt we had no means to pay in order give us restoration to Himself and freedom to be all that He originally designed us to be. As Dr. J. Vernon McGee comments, "Salvation by redemption is a love story." God didn't have to redeem wretched, lost sinners. He would still be a just and holy God. But to put it simply, He loved us. Love that would go to such lengths to restore our relationship to Him and preserve His promised inheritance to us is evidence of how much He values us. The price He was willing to pay was His own life's blood - the ultimate cost. We should be humbled by our great worth to Him, and yet be so profoundly grateful that we cannot help but love Him back with the all of our existence.

First of all, it is by God's powerful and precious grace that my family has been redeemed to everlasting life! And through His grace, we have experienced strength and hope and miraculous peace to endure through deaths, job changes, critical illness, marital problems

The LORD is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). In the Exodus passage we started this lesson with, He is described as merciful, compassionate, forgiving, and abounding in steadfast love. At the very onset of sin by Adam and Eve, Yahweh gave the loving promise of Messiah. The very idea of a plan to save us from sin was born out of His great love. Neither His love nor His promise changed at all through the centuries that passed before the beloved Son of God physically came into the world to redeem humanity from that sin. God was faithful to His loving character as He was at work in everything that happened from Adam to Christ. In John 3:16, the glorious promise of everlasting life that overcomes the death resulting from sin was fulfilled because of His steadfast, unchanging, sacrificial love. His love is what secures our salvation and our eternity with Him. Love so amazing, so divine demands my soul, my life, my all!

A person cannot be considered trustworthy and reliable to his/her word without the core characteristic of faithfulness. The Hebrew concepts give new depth of meaning to this word. It combines being firm, secure, solid, dependable, steady, and true. I think you must have beliefs and convictions that you will not compromise on, that you stand firm on, that anchor you in your thoughts and decisions and interactions with others. Anybody is capable of being faithful to what they believe. But in the higher spiritual sense, faithfulness must be founded on what is TRUE, and the only source of truth is Yahweh and His Word. Our character as believers should be rock-solid faithful to the character of Christ. Unfortunately, the way we live out our lives in the "real world" when we leave our churches on Sunday is often far from faithful. We compromise truth in so many ways, little and big. We watch the same trashy stuff as the world; we talk and walk like the trashy world; we let our children wear and do the same trashy stuff as the world; we waste so much of our time and focus and resources pursuing the same empty, vain, trashy stuff as the world. We so often back off from what is true, honest, just, pure, and lovely when we face uncomfortable challenges from this trashy world. And every time you and I do these things, we are unfaithful to our spiritual character and to the promises we've made to the LORD. A Christian who habitually lives this way, usually with no grief about it or true desire to change, is the ultimate carnal hypocrite who loses credibility in representing Christ to the world and in serving Him in the Church. Faithful God inspires deep gratitude in me. I am so thankful that He is solid Truth to the core. That means that every Word He speaks, every promise He makes, every command He gives, every direction He leads is unequivocally dependable and trustworthy. I don't have to wonder or worry about what He says or what He's doing because I know His character is faithful. It is also a call for me to imitate my Father's character and maintain faithful integrity that would never embarrass Him or misrepresent Him to others, no matter what the circumstance or temptation or difficulty may be.

The willingness of Yahweh to forgive was essential to Israel's survival in the wilderness because Israel repeatedly kept rebelliously turning away from Him. The wilderness experience itself was a result of the people's lack of faith and their disobedience. During those years, they complained and openly rebelled against God's chosen leaders, they complained and longed for the very things they had been delivered from, they complained and blamed God and other people for the problems brought about by their own disobedience, they complained about their needs rather than trust God to keep His promises to provide for them, and they complained and sought after idols instead of seeking God to protect and guide them. But because the LORD had a plan and purposes that ultimately superseded Israel's wickedness and because Israel had a faithful intercessor in Moses who confessed their sins and trusted Yahweh to act according to His character of mercy, the people were sustained by forgiveness. They suffered many setbacks and consequences and great loss because of their own choices, but the nation would never have made it through that wilderness if not for the grace and mercy of God. After the LORD renewed His covenant promises, graciously gave His commandments to Moses for the second time, and instructed Moses for 40 days and nights about holy feasts and construction of His earthly dwelling place, the rest of the book of Exodus records how the people responded in obedience and generous giving to construct the tabernacle and furnish it as God designed. But I really don't see anything that describes their heart condition. Were they responding out of awe and duty, or were their hearts broken by their iniquity and moved by the graciousness and splendor of Yahweh? One thing is certain; they turned away from God many times after that, just as we repeatedly do in our lives today. That the LORD loves us so deeply, and continues to forgive and restore us, is truly grace that amazes! Such forgiveness is only because of his mercy because we certainly don't deserve it.

If we remove the metaphor of the Father-Son relationship from our understanding of God, I believe we miss a great deal. Without it, I think this aspect of our deeply intimate and personal relationship with Yahweh would be diminished to our understanding. The O.T. saints didn't have the fuller revelation that we have of who/what Father is and wants to be to us. As the Son, Jesus Christ revealed the "sensitive side" of God as our Abba. We can see "Daddy's" tender heart toward us as His children, not just a strong authoritarian and provider. Jesus showed us what the love-relationship of parent and child should look like and how it should operate. He faultlessly demonstrated obedience to the Father's will and leadership because of love, not just duty or fear. We learn of Father as One who is approachable in a compassionate way, whose love is never hurtful or conditional or impaired. And in this, we learn of a new dimension of responsibility for earthly fathers toward their children. Many people have a difficult time with the concept of God the Father as a good thing because of the failed representation of fatherhood by human fathers. We are all to blame for this as a society, as a culture, and as the Body. And human fathers are, well, human - which means even at their best, they still will be flawed. Yahweh chose to reveal a portion of His character in the father role. But there is more of Him to know. The feminine metaphor of God in the sense of "mother" is equally important, although not as preeminent. There are several ways we could approach this. I'll just choose one direction. The tender nurturing heart of a mother is different from the generally pragmatic outlook of a dad. (The two are mean to complement each other and work together to create balance for children.) The cry of her baby sets off a host of emotional and physical responses that immediately draw a mother to her child. She is fiercely protective of her offspring. I've always said that I'll put up with a lot of insult or injury, but if you go messin' with my children you're really asking for trouble! In the feminine sense, we see how God desires to shelter, encourage, and comfort us in our emotional hurts when life bruises and wounds us, as well as provide that overall leadership and protection.

The covenant vows of marriage, the way Yahweh intended it to be, are very similar to the covenant relationship he established with Israel. He established a covenant promise with that nation of people to love, protect, and provide for the love of His life, a promise to lead her with wisdom and righteousness, a promise to be completely faithful to her. He rejoices over her with delight and anticipation of absolute union with her. The N.T. extension is Christ as the bridegroom and the Church as the bride. He laid down His life in sacrifice to redeem us, purify us, and make us holy and spotless so that we can be fully united with Him when the Father calls for us. As the Church, we are being adorned with faith and obedient good works to make us stunningly beautiful before our presentation to the Groom. A great wedding feast and unparalleled celebration is planned for the Bridegroom and His radiant bride. His covenant vows to the Church are the very same as those of God to Israel. (Just as a side-note opinion, I believe that with the increasing demands for acceptance of homosexual "marriage", the Deceiver is attempting to pervert and destroy not just human marriage of one man with one woman as the LORD designed it, but ultimately the holy marriage picture of Christ to His Bride.) God is jealous for His love and over His love. He is jealous for her devotion and affection; jealous for her undivided love and commitment to Him alone; jealous for her faithful respect of His leadership and provision. And He is jealous over anything that threatens to harm or deceive His love; jealous over anything that would turn her eyes from Him to another; jealous over anything that would damage His relationship with her. He has made it clear that any such threat will be avenged!

Jesus and Father are one in the sense that they are two of the three persons of triune Yahweh - the one true and living God. They have different roles and personalities, yet they are the very same essence of divinity, perfect holiness, and love. Jesus clearly identified that He obeys the Father's will, reflects the Father's glory, came to earth clothed in flesh to restore fallen man to the Father. 1 Cor.8:6 says there is only one Supreme Divinity, the Father, and that there is only one Supreme Master Owner, Jesus Christ. Yet it says that through each of them came all things and through each of them we live. They have to be the same God. Jesus said they are one. I don't know if this is "correct", but I think of it this way. Father designed the plan of creation and redemption according to His will, Jesus Christ the Son obediently executed that plan and revealed the Father to humanity, and the Spirit implements the plan of His will throughout creation and within the hearts and lives of humanity. I AM WHO I AM, the Self-Existent One, exists as pure perfection. If any one of the three persons of the divine Trinity were missing, God would not be perfect! Jesus is identified by that name in prophecy (fulfilled and future) and by His own testimony. He is Yahweh, equally as much as Father and the Spirit.

The O.T. and Jewish understanding of Yahweh saw Him as more of a stern, formal figure. Israel was called His child nationally, but we now have an intimate, personal father-child relationship that I don't think they could have understood. They had the promise of adoption, but that promise was fulfilled, delivered, and realized through Jesus Christ. He is the one who demonstrated and taught us who Father is and how we can/should now relate to Him. He showed us what that should look like and how important it is. And that is now our inheritance. On the grace side of the cross, we have the benefit of literally being adopted into the Father's family as sons and daughters. We shouldn't lose any of the proper respect and submission due to Yahweh. But Christ gives us the marvellous and incredible privilege of each having a personal intimate relationship of love and tenderness that couldn't be imagined before restoration to the Father was accomplished through the Savior. I have been longing for greater understanding of how much I am loved by God for a long time now. It's so hard to get a real grasp on such an amazing thing in the practical terms of how I think and live every single day! This revelation of God as Abba makes that love-relationship even more precious.

From the context of the O.T. Scriptures, I see "father" to be one who is due utmost respect. In the human sense, the father of a family was the central authority, the one to whom all would answer in all matters. He was to be honored and highly esteemed. His decisions were to be followed without question. His word was final. The father was also the one who was responsible for the leadership, protection, and provision for his family. I don't get the sense of having an intimate personal relationship with this type of father because of the formality. These two human roles of authority and responsibility are patterned after such roles of the Heavenly Father. Human fathers were meant to reflect the nature of the Father. But one difference in humanity and divinity is the perfect way Yahweh carries out His authority role balanced with love and mercy, a perfect balance that human fathers simply are not able to achieve. People have the imperfect, unbalanced tendency to weigh heavy on one side of scale or the other - either being too hard on a strict authority side or too soft on a mushy love side. As His child, I should have an attitude of respect and reverence and great esteem for my Father. I must answer to Him in all matters. Ultimately, His word is final, and I should obey His decisions with the comforting confidence that He will always act in my best interest. Knowing that He has assumed the responsibility for my provisions should calm evey fear or concern that my needs will be met.

The blessing and provision of God is abundant, always fresh, constantly resupplied, vibrantly in motion, flowing powerfully. Conversely, the provision of God is NOT stingy, stale, insufficient, stagnant, or ineffective. If I am His and He is mine, then it is available to me. All of Yahweh is for all of me! Another wonderful Chris Tomlin/Louis Giglio song speaks beautifully of this concept. Check out "Enough". (Yes, I think I'm a groupie! Tomlin music is great.) I'm reminded of one of my most favorite Scriptures, Isaiah 43:18-19: "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." We learn from what has gone before, but we can't park our lives in past - with its failures or victories. The supply for yesterday is not the supply for today! What I need for this moment is springing up right now in this moment. Just as my physical thirst recurs over and over, my spiritual thirst does the same. The process of sanctification in my life makes me thirsty, in need of supply for all that I realize I do not yet possess. If I am not aware of the true nature of that thirst, I'll go looking for satisfaction in all the wrong ways and places. The Spring of Living Water is the only source of supply that has the ability to meet my need. He will make a way for me and sustain me through whatever I face. I don't have to worry about running out, running dry, going stagnant, or losing power - ever.

Pride. We think we are self-sufficient and don't need any help. We don't want to be indebted to anyone. Doubt. We don't believe God will really make a difference in whatever situation we're personally facing. Ignorance. We don't have personal knowledge of what God is able to do as Helper and Shepherd. If God is to be my Helper and Shepherd, I must have a submissive and humble heart. I'll use the context of the four main responsibilities of a shepherd that Pastor Ralph described earlier. I cannot be led unless I am willing to follow. I cannot be protected unless I am willing to be defended and stop trying to cover myself. I cannot be healed unless I am willing to yield to the prescribed therapy. I cannot be rescued and helped unless I am willing to recognize my need and lack of ability to provide for it, and then accept assistance. I have to train myself to look first to the LORD instead of making Him my last option when I've exhausted all my own efforts and made a total mess of things. I like the thought in Psalm 118:7 that because "the LORD is on my side as my Helper, I shall look in triumph…" If I am being helped by Yahweh, then I should be operating in faith and expectation of victory!

The Lord has certainly cared for me as a Shepherd, to lead, protect, heal, and rescue me when my heart goes wandering off. My 32-year marriage has been hurtful and difficult, almost from the start. It constantly amazes me how my Shepherd Father comforts, inspires, and renews hope when it seems that I can't take another day. (Things have improved in recent years, Hallelujah!) The Lord carefully led me through a lengthy process of leaving the church I grew up in to set me free from legalism and spiritual deadness just a few years ago. My Shepherd has provided a new church home that is vibrantly Spirit-led and He restored to me everything that I had been required to leave behind. Right now, I am facing the recurrence of my daughter's battle with a serious auto-immune disease that was diagnosed in 1999 at age 20. She is struggling physically, emotionally, and spiritually. There is nothing much more devastating to a mother's heart than watching her child suffer through something like this. I know that Yahweh-Rapha dwells within, and His presence is healing to her every malfunction, hurt, and need. She is His precious lamb, and He will lead, protect, heal, and rescue her according to His faultless will and merciful lovingkindness. He will hold me together and help me to walk with her through this once again in perfect peace. Thank you, my Shepherd.

I think Abraham totally expected God to provide a lamb for the sacrifice. I think he spoke in faith when he told his servants "We will be back". I don't think he was trying to convince himself or be dishonest to Isaac when he assured his son that God would provide the lamb for sacrifice. Yahweh had repeatedly confirmed His promise of an heir, Abraham's own son that would lead to a great nation of people. Abraham bore the marks of the covenant God made with him on his own body, as he had been circumcised and set apart for God. The child Isaac was a miracle in itself, and I think Abraham knew deep within that Yahweh would protect His covenant promise somehow in a miraculous way. He believed in God's provision. But in the moment of truth, when it didn't look as though the LORD was going to come through, Abraham was willing to do exactly what he had literally been told to do. He believed in God's authority and ability to bring the covenant promises to pass any way He chose. The main criteria for God to supply my needs is (1) I belong to Him - redeemed and adopted through Christ, (2) I have faith in what the Lord has said about Himself and His promises, (3) I obey what He has instructed me to do through the power of the Spirit as He works to develop the holy character of Christ in me. All of that means I'm in His will. He is responsible for accomplishing His will, so He will provide for my needs to that end. When I desire and go after His righteousness, He has promised rich, abundant provision.

In this list of verses, I see God the Rock as a place of refuge; sure and steady uplifter; salvation; guide; upright; eternal; the only God that exists; the quarry from which all other stones are hewn; stronghold and protection in times of trouble. In the biggest sense, in Palestine a rock was a mountainous place of caves and clefts that offered security and protection, a place to hide and be sheltered from attack, a place of impenetrable defense. I imagine it to be a rather isolated place where there would be plenty of opportunity for introspection and consideration of the deeper things of life. Much of David's spiritual growth and development probably happened in those rocks as he pondered the majesty, power, authority, and mercies of Yahweh.

The most vivid image I have right now of the LORD as my Keeper is in the sense of the gardener. Before He ever planted me, He had worked the soil of my environment to create the optimum growing medium. Then He carefully chose just the right place to plant me, where He knew I would grow best according to His plan and purposes for me with just the right mix of rocky challenges and neighboring obstacles to force my roots to dig down deep instead of spreading broad and shallow. Now He provides the constant nurturing of watering by His Spirit, nutrition from His Word, and energy of the sunshine of His radiant love. He tenderly oversees my growth, employing His "tough love" pruning when it is necessary to remove dead/diseased parts or to stimulate new growth and fruit production. He constantly checks to make sure that pests are not taking up residence and that weeds don't get a foothold in my growing space. He has encircled me with a protective fence to guard me from wild animals that would chew me up or predators that would steal my fruit. What a blessing and assurance to know that I'm not just thrown out here on this earth to fend for myself. As His child, the LORD keeps watch over me in the greatest sense!

A shield is only necessary when you are under attack from forces that can hurt you, even be lethal. Since Yahweh has assumed the role of Shield over His people, it makes it clear that we are vulnerable and in grave danger from some kind of assault. We have a sworn Enemy who has one mission: to steal, kill, and destroy the people of God. This enemy has been described in the Word in many ways including fiery darts, a roaring lion on the hunt, and a great red dragon - all destructive. He is a spiritual force and we humans have no natural defenses. Only the supernatural power and protection of God can shield and defend us. Yahweh has provided the Word and the Spirit to guard and empower us to withstand assault. He uses them to protect the "vital organs" of our soul - our mind, will, and emotions. Psa.91:5 says we don't have to fear any attack that might come by night or day because God is faithful as our Shield. Verse 6 indicates that Yahweh also guards our health and physical well being as well. From previous study of the word "glory", this means to me that the full heft and weight of God's radiant holiness, unmatched power, supreme authority, and blameless righteousness are mine - at work on my behalf! When I am collapsed by exhaustion in the battle or flattened by wounds in the fight or tempted to be paralyzed in fear of the Enemy, Yahweh is the One who lifts me up. I can imagine Him tenderly taking my chin in His hands and lifting my head out of the dust to encourage me to stand back up in His strength. The Lord is my covering of protection, and I have no hope of surviving the Enemy without Him.

One who expects the protection of God is required to: 1) dwell in the secret place of the Most High. Make El Elyon your home. 2) declare the Lord to be your own Refuge, Fortress, and God 3) trust in Him 4) seek Yahweh as your place of safety and El Elyon as your dwelling place This psalm uses many metaphors for God's protection: dwelling place, shadow, deliverer, Refuge, Fortress, a covering like the wings of a bird, Shield and Buckler, salvation After reading the post from EdG that follows, I've come back to add comment. It motivated me to seriously think this through, and maybe someone else needs it too. My heart broke to read of the horrible thing that happened to his family, but I praise God for the protection and safe return of his son. I am humbled to be reminded of how little we American Christians know of severe suffering and persecution compared to other believers in the world, but I can assure you that our lives do not go untouched by pain, grief, loss, and injustice caused by sin in the heart of humanity and the earth's response to it (Rom.8:20-22). Really understanding a word from the LORD like Psalm 91:10 is probably near impossible for us. We must remember to consider any specific verse or passage in light of the entire Scriptures. I don't believe that any maturing student of the Word would want to imply that God's promises of protection mean that bad things will never happen to His people. Many, many times God literally protects us from harm in the most literal sense. Yet He has also said, and demonstrated through Christ, that the innocent will suffer. To me, I must approach the promise that "no evil shall befall you" with the understanding that this most applies in the greatest spiritual sense. Since I am held secure in the hand of God, where nothing can pluck me away from Him (John 10:28), then anything that touches me or my life must come through His fingers by His permission for some good reason in His will. This is an extremely hard truth for us to comprehend because our understanding of suffering is so different from the LORD's. He says that His ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Isa.55:8-9); what looks so bad to our perception can actually be seen for something so great from His perspective. He says that suffering in this earthly life has a spiritual purpose (1 Cor.4:17-18). He says that what others mean for evil, He will purpose for good (Gen.50:20). He says that He can create something good out of anything for His people (Rom.8:28) and gain glory for Himself(ex. John 9:3;11:4). The overall concept for me is that evil can never triumph over His will, His goodness, or His love. Just look at the life of Job, who lost everything including his family, wealth, friends, and health. God gave Satan permission to bring great evil against this man. Job struggled, but finally came to realize that he had no right to question the work of Sovereign God and that - no matter what happened to him - the LORD was unquestionably right to some end for His glory and would ensure Job's eternal security. No evil can fall on me that could ever knock me out of God's hand. Evil will come against me, but it cannot make me fall to destruction as long as I keep believing God and trusting Him. He will do His part according to His promises and His perfect will. My part is to abide in Him, make Him my refuge, and trust Him completely. I am eternally secure when my dwelling place is in the Most High. "The LORD will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen." 2Tim. 4:18 I got a little lengthy, but I am also writing to encourage myself, as my daughter is currently facing a serious evil assault on her physical health and it's been very hard to deal with emotionally. We know that the LORD loves her and she's in His good keeping. He may not deliver her from being touched by evil influence, but He will deliver her from falling into destruction because of it.

As kurios, Jesus the Christ is the Supreme Authority and Sovereign Master. Yahweh revealed those very titles to O.T. patriarchs as His own, so the use of this name for Jesus reveals that He Himself is Yahweh. We cannot overlook or attempt to dilute or eliminate the divinity of Jesus. The truth of His identity is crucial to salvation. Only pure holy God come to earth in human flesh could qualify as the spotless Lamb of sacrifice that could atone for the sins of humanity. He isn't one of many gods; He isn't just a good man or a great prophet; He isn't just a suffering servant of God. Jesus the Christ IS God! According to Romans 10:9, this is necessary for salvation because it must be realized as the truth born of the heart that each person confesses with their own mouth. That is the only salvation and reconciliation of man to God that exists. And in confessing that Jesus is kurios, the Supreme Authority, we also need to realize that He is King. Not only should our eternal souls be saved from the influence and consequences of sin, but also our submitted daily lives here on earth.

All governments and rulers, lawmakers, and judges have a profound responsibility to accurately represent the righteousness and justice of the King of all kings to the nations, for He is the Supreme Ruler and Authority as Creator and Owner of the earth and everything in it. What a fearful thing. If only the leaders of the world understood and believed this truth! I think they'd be shaking in their boots at being accountable to the Living God, rather than so often being self-righteous and arrogant with earthly power. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! (Psalm 33:12) I think Yahweh has made it abundantly clear that His blessing on a nation is directly tied to the allegiances of the people. With the increasing cultural and political pressure to remove God from public life, we are selling ourselves out to many other gods. In doing so, we are cursing ourselves - to death. The King will not be mocked or defied without retribution. He warns, "See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known". (Deut. 11:26-28) In perfect justice, if God rewards obedience, He must also recompense disobedience. I don't think He curses nations or people like some kind of voodoo thing. But He has laid out His plan and given the world a choice. When we reject Him as our King, we have chosen to accept the resulting curse and wrath of God. "Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you." (Deut. 11:16-17) May God have mercy on us.

Jesus Christ is repeatedly identified in the NT as Savior and Lord. He is to be received in two ways, as our humble Redeemer and as our glorious Sovereign. Some people never make a genuine confession of faith in the first place, and so they never submit. Many people take the first step of receiving Him as Savior, but never really move to the second step of submitting to Him as Lord of their lives. In the NT, Paul clearly identifies that you can be a Christian but also still be very carnal. I believe that carnal Christian hasn't fully taken the second step in the relationship with Christ of humbling self to His authority as Lord and King. This brings to mind an encounter recorded in Scripture. I've always been intrigued by the man's plea to Jesus, "I believe, but Lord, would you help my unbelief?" How can you believe and yet not believe? I'm sure there are several lessons in this, but what the Lord showed me was that we believe on different levels. I think most people respond to the conviction of sin and acceptance of salvation on an emotional level, which is fine because God built emotions into us for good reason. As newborn Christians, we begin with a simple faith that's real but somewhat superficial, for lack of a better word. Over time, that faith is expected to grow deeper and deeper until it permeates the mind and will as well - places where we don't just react, but choose how to act. This is a level where we make practical, deliberate decisions to submit to the authority of the King in the thoughts, words, and deeds that comprise the daily moments of our lives. We must come to the point where what we say we believe is outwardly evident in our conduct, attitudes, relationships, choices, behaviors. It can no longer be all about what we think or feel or desire. It must become all about the righteousness, peace, and joy of the King and His Kingdom. When I submit to Him as my Sovereign King and my highest goal is to know Him and serve His kingdom, I put myself in good hands. He has promised to reign over me with perfect wisdom, to do what is right and good for me, to guard and protect and defend me, and to provide for everything I need in the natural and spiritual realms. And my King is true and faithful to His promises! I think when we believe but live in unbelief, when we ignore or defy the Word, when we esteem self more highly than Christ, we are rejecting Him as King. He is to be the Sovereign Authority, not us.

Tithing is an obedient act of submission to the authority of the king. As a citizen of the kingdom, paying the tithe fulfills an obligation to the support of the functions of the government. Tithing was necessary for the support of Yahweh's kingdom work in the OT through the temple and priests. The work of His kingdom suffers when His people do not tithe, whether it be the O.T. nation of Israel or the modern-day Body of believers. And when we rob the LORD, He says we have invited a curse upon ourselves. God's principles never change, regardless of whether He is applying covenant law or covenant grace. Christ didn't come to abolish the precepts and commandments of God; He came to fulfill the law, to fully satisfy its requirements and consequences. Now, we are not held to an outward list of laws. Under the application of grace, His Spirit governs us from within - by those same unchanging principles on tithing that governed OT law. As citizens of His kingdom we are still called to obediently recognize the LORD's position as King and to financially support His work of the kingdom, which He currently accomplishes through His church. But I think we have an even higher reason - we are the King's children! We should be moved to obedience, no longer by respect for a duty, but by love. In tithing, we demonstrate to Him our loving gratitude. And we recognize that everything belongs to God in the first place; we are just stewards of His resources.

These titles of glory are defined as heavy and weighty in His substance. And what is the substance of God Most High? I think it's the perfect balance of dazzling pure holiness and love that includes such attributes as righteousness, peace, joy, wisdom, justice, and goodness. It's His majesty and integrity and might. It's being the source of all creation and supply for every need. I am humbled and yet incredibly empowered. Yahweh's presence in my life is of substance - He is not a lightweight. This should give me courage to face anything and generate constant thanksgiving and praise! God's glory comes to fill our lives as the Spirit works through the Word in our hearts. We behold the glory of God when we study and meditate and obey His Word. Then step by step, "from one degree of glory to another", He uses that truth to transform us into His own image of splendor and glory. Wow.

Every part of this description of the Lord is humbling. I am the complete opposite of Him, in every way. He is High and Lofty; I am lowly and insignificant. He inhabits eternity; I am mortal. He is Holy; I am impure and imperfect. I can only praise Him that, because of Christ in me, He would see fit to lift me high and exalt me, allow me to spend the "rest of eternity" with Him, and make me holy. What incredible and amazing love, indeed!

Because the LORD God is totally supreme, because there is no other God, because He is Creator and owner of all things that exist, there is no one and nothing else that deserves my allegiance and devotion and obedience and praise. There is a lot of emphasis on God as our loving friend, which is a mind-boggling and glorious truth. But it's easy to lose the balance we need to keep of enjoying Yahweh as an ever-present compassionate friend and maintaining appropriate respect and awe of Him as the supreme, all-powerful, righteous Owner and Judge of all creation. I think the average Christian doesn't truly understand and value and revere Him this way in our practical living. We resist submission in the real-time minutes of daily life, but there is nothing in our little worlds that should precede His rightful place of honor and authority. This is probably the best starting point for worship. I've already learned to begin my approach to the Lord with praise. I need to specifically recognize the supremacy of