Do As I Say, Just As I Do

Do As I Say, Just As I Do


Are you familiar with that old saying, ‘Do as I say, not as I do!’? That saying exists because, when someone sets challenging expectations for themselves or others, they often fail, forget or flout the very guidelines(s) they establish. Despite our good intentions, because of the weakness of our flesh (our sinful/fallen human nature), we frequently fall short when it comes to:

• Fulfilling Our Promises
• Finalizing Our Plans
• Forfeiting Our Passions
• Finishing Our Projects

BUT OUR GOD NEVER FALLS SHORT

Jesus understands our weaknesses; He wants us to talk to Him about them.

• Mark 14:38 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Jehovah is Who He claims to be. He does what He says He will do. His Words and Works bear witness to Who He is and who He empowers us to be!

• 1 Peter 1:16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

One of the clearest demonstrations of this truth is His command to love our enemies.

• Matthew 5:43-44 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
• Godly love is about decisions, actions and responsibilities; not feelings, intentions and fantasies (read 1 Corinthians 13).

Scripture is clear, there is no middle ground; you are either with God or against Him. You are either God’s friend or His enemy. 

• Matthew 12:30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.
• James 4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
• Which side are you on?

Every person saved by the blood of Jesus Christ is proof that God has shown Himself worthy to say, ‘Do as I say, just as I do.’ He has shown love for His enemies. He has done good to those who hate Him.

God has taken us:

From Death to Life
When we were dead in our sins, God made us alive!

• Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
• Colossians 2:13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
• Romans 6:13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

From Enemies to Friends
When our wicked ways made us His enemies, Jesus died to make us His friends.

• John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
• Romans 5:8 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
• Colossians 1:21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled

From Foreigners and Strangers to Citizens and Family
When we were estranged from God, His love brought us close.

• Ephesians 2:12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
• Ephesians 2:19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
• 1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

God has told us how to live in His Word. 

 

God has shown us how to live by His Works.

Psalm 33:4 For the word of the Lord is right,

And all His work is done in truth.

Prayer

Father God, Creator of heaven and earth, Lover of the unlovable, Forgiver of the unforgiveable; thank You so much for not just telling us how to live, but for showing us. Praise be to Your holy name for giving me life when I was dead, for forgiving me when I hated You, for saving me when I was lost. Please breathe life into someone reading this devotion. I praise You and I love You. I pray these things in the powerful name of Jesus. Amen.

 

  

How Small A Whisper

How Small A Whisper


What an amazing God we have! When you stop and think about what He has revealed of Himself, He is truly incredible. Look at His creation, read His Word, yield to His Holy Spirit, participate in His church, experience the life He has given you… But for all we know about Him (or think we know about Him), the Bible is very clear, He is beyond our understanding. 

We have merely:

• Heard a whisper of what He has to say
• Witnessed a finite sampling of His infinite work
• Skimmed the surface of His knowledge and wisdom
• Contemplated the rudimentary aspects of His judgments
• Observed a miniscule sampling of His ways
• Job 9:10 He does great things past finding out, Yes, wonders without number.
• Job 26:14 Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, And how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?”
• Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

We actually have an extraordinarily limited understanding of who God is. Yet considering that our cognitive abilities are limited by finite reasoning, through His generosity, we know enough about Him to come to know and love Him as our Lord, Savior and Friend!

Personally, I am glad that our God is past understanding. And I am eternally grateful for what He has revealed of Himself to us. Knowing God is exciting, enriching, empowering and so much more.

The scripture below is just a sampling of what the Bible has to say about Who God Is and What He Does.  Our God is awesome.  Praise Him!!

In Wisdom He Creates

• Proverbs 3:19 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens;
• Psalm 104:24 O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions
• Revelation 4:11 “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”

In Grace He Provides

• Psalm 65:3 Iniquities prevail against me; As for our transgressions, You will provide atonement for them.
• Matthew 5:45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
• 2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

In Mercy He Sustains

• Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.
• 1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In Patience He Waits

• Psalm 86:15 But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
• Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.
• 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

In Love He Redeems

• Psalm 130:7 O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is mercy, And with Him is abundant redemption.
• John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
• 1 Peter 1:18-19 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

In Faithfulness He Forgives

• Lamentations 3:22-23 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
• Matthew 9:2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”
• 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

In Righteousness He Judges

• Psalm 9:7-8 But the Lord shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne for judgment. 8 He shall judge the world in righteousness, And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.
• 2 Timothy 4:8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
• Revelation 16:5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying: “You are righteous, O Lord, The One who is and who was and who is to be, Because You have judged these things.

In Peace He Reigns

• Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
• John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
• Revelation 21:3-4 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

No matter how small the whispers,
Each one fills me with awe and wonder.

 

 

Prayer

Father, fill us with wonder and amazement at who You are and what You do. Forgive us when we arrogantly assume that we have learned all we can about You. Love us as only You can! Help us to hear Your precious whispers. I pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.