God Does Not Tempt, But Gives Good and Perfect Gift (James 1:13-18)

Why are we tempted in so many ways, physically, financially, psychologically, and spiritually? Temptations of greed are poised to threaten to swallow up humanity. So many stories of failures and troubles are echoing the difficulties of handling the mundane temptations. All kinds of lustful desires and greed for money, sex, power, success are hurting and ruining humanity since the fall of man. Apostle James reveals what’s the cause of temptation which threatens to give birth to sin and death. He also gives the fundamental reason not to be deceived by the world any longer. It is that we’ve been born again as the good and perfect gift of the Father of the heavenly lights. We’ve been liberated from the deception of the world and can obey the Lord God and the Son Jesus Christ now and forevermore.

“When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1:13-15)

No one should say that God is tempting them when tempted. It’s because God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. God is truth and light. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is good all the time, which means he never makes any compromise, nor bends the measurement of goodness by any circumstance. He acts truthfully and faithfully forever. He is not like the fallen race who changes the course of action circumstance by circumstance. But the Lord God runs and operates the universe which he created in the beginning according to his truthfulness and justice forever.

There is no evil in God. What is evil? It is rebellion against the Sovereign God. The fallen angel wanted to ascend above the tops of the glory of God and would make himself like the Most High. But he was brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit. The evil is not an independent agent but a creature made by God the Creator.

“How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.” (Isaiah 14:12-15)

God does not tempt anyone either because he is forever love and truth. God cannot lie. Moses says, “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19) But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. This is exactly what happened to the woman in the Garden. The woman was tempted by the serpent, a shining one (morning star). The woman was sinless and yet was tempted by the devil who approached to her in disguise.

The Satan in disguise planted a provoking question to arouse doubt about God, saying “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1) Then she answered him, saying “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” (Genesis 3:2-3) There is nothing wrong gone at this point during the conversation between the devil and the woman. She exactly remembered what the Lord God had said to her and Adam. She could still overcome the evil because she didn’t yet commit any wrongs.

But the serpent told the lie to her, saying “’You will not certainly die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” (Genesis 3:4-5) This is the lie. The devil was a liar and the father of lies, and a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). God is only Person who can tell good and evil. How does he know good and evil? He is forever good, so he cannot experience evil. So, he knows evil by measuring things to his goodness. Whatever complies to the Law of God is good and whatever not is evil.

What the devil said is not completely wrong but half true. When she ate it that’s what exactly happened to her, knowing good and evil. Their eyes were opened and they felt ashamed because of nakedness each other and made coverings for themselves out of fig leaves (Genesis 3:7). What’s wrong was that they were not made to tell good and evil by themselves. Adam was made to know good and evil by relying on the Lord God. When he was naming all the animals, he must have frequently asked the questions to the Lord.  

The woman could still defeat the cunningness of the devil by simply obeying the word of truth given to her and Adam. There is nothing further the devil could do to her. See that the devil disappeared from the scene where the woman left alone, being tempted. But she was enticed by desire to eat the fruit of the tree. The Scripture says, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” (Genesis 3:6)

When she saw that fruit of the tree before she was tempted by the devil, it was a reminder for the word of God. It was the guidance and instruction and light for her and Adam to live true life in full. But when she saw that same tree after she was enticed by the devil the tree looked entirely different from before. It was so good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom. The enticed desire swallowed her up and the tree looked so different from before. She was lost in greed to have the fruit of the tree, being deceived by the devil’s lie. In this way, she became the victim of the devil’s idea that she could know good and evil, being like God. Without further provoking words from the devil, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband and he ate it.

That’s how man fell and got lost in direction. Although it is impossible to tell good and evil by themselves, man continues to try to do it over and over again. How true it is to all mankind! How true it is that every mankind is enticed and tempted to have authority and power over the lives! A popular song goes like “I did it my way,” and a popular poem, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” This is the lie. We’re not God but made by him in his image and his likeness. We cannot run our lives on our own but must depend on him who is liberally and generously giving us whatever we ask. Living on the lie, no one can escape from falling into sin and death.

“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” (James 1:16-18)

Now Apostle James warns the scattered Christians not to be deceived. This is a serious warning that no one can deceive God the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. To what do we not be deceived? It is that we cannot run our lives on our own ever. The world and its leaders say that we can. But it is not true. The world is in darkness and confusion, so the people in the world are being deceived over and over again. When they fail miserably they blame everything on others, especially on an unknown God to them, who is the true God.

As a matter of fact, we cannot live without depending on something else. We can’t breathe without depending on air. We can’t survive without depending on food. We can’t move without depending on various kinds of vehicles. We can’t live without depending on others like parents, families, neighbors, and others. We can’t enjoy music without depending on devices. We can’t walk or see in darkness without depending on electric lights. Every day and all the days of our lives we will continue to depend on someone and something else.

Why then does Apostle James talk about gift, saying “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights?” Here the gift means a new birth in our Lord Jesus Christ through faith. Every believer in Christ has been born again through the blood of him who was crucified and died for the sin and death of the world. We’ve been delivered and liberated from the bondage and iron grip of sin and death under the power of the devil through the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. We’ve been made alive and set free by the grace and mercy of God.

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:4-9)

Having been made alive by grace and mercy, there is nothing we have contributed to be born again. By the gift of faith in his unsearchable riches and marvelous patience, we simply believed in Christ whom God the Father sent. Since we’ve been born again in Christ, we no longer belong to the prince of the world, the devil, but to the God of light and truth. The way has been open to us in Christ not to be deceived by the world anymore because we may be a kind of the firstfruits of all he created through the birth by the blood of Christ Jesus the Lord. This gift of birth is good and perfect. So, it is incomparably rich and powerful to keep us from falling in temptations.

Prayer: Our heavenly Father, thank you once again for teaching the truth that we live by the word of truth, by the gift, and by the mercy and grace in our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you Father for teaching us that you are the same yesterday, today, and forever. In you, there is no change like shifting shadows. Thank you Father for being our eternal Rock and Shelter that we can forever find peace, joy, and love. In Christ’s name. Amen.

June 24, 2016

© 2015-2016 David Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.

Persevere Under Trial by the Power of God (James 1:1-12)

James wrote this epistle to the scattered Christians among the nations in the first century. He was a half-brother of our Lord Jesus Christ and a leader in the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:13). He didn’t believe in Jesus Christ until he was crucified and resurrected from the dead (John 7:5). It was almost impossible to believe his brother as the Son of God. But he was drawn nearer to God who revealed the truth that Jesus was God the Son who came from the Father in heaven via his mother Mary by the power of the Spirit. In this epistle, he encourages and strengthens the scattered believers in Christ to exercise their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for the time is nearer at his coming. The theme of the epistle is to emphasize the living faith in Christ that dares to act, saying “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:17)

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.” (James 1:1)

He introduces himself as a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ not as a brother of Jesus. He deeply marveled at the mystery of God that God the Son incarnated and took the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. He rightly put his title as a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ although humanly speaking he was grown and raised as his brother in every and ordinary way. By the grace and mercy of God he was blessed and humbled to accept Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah of blessed God.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4)

He is saying to the scattered believers among the nations to rejoice in the sufferings. This is not just what James is saying but the whole Scripture says so. What is suffering? It’s pain, grief, sorrow, and uncomfortableness physically, psychologically, and spiritually. Life is full of suffering from birth to death. It includes tribulations and persecutions for the name of Christ Jesus and God the Father like the apostles in the first century and innumerable believers in Christ throughout the centuries. But that’s not all. So many believers have been living in peace and order by the grace and mercy of God. So, life itself is suffering. It comes out of daily routine lives in the families, studies, works, relationships, and travels.

It is so unnatural to consider suffering pure joy or rejoice in the sufferings. It is so natural to complain and murmur all the way possible in the midst of suffering. But the Scripture commands the believers in Christ to rejoice in the sufferings. It doesn’t mean to be masochistic to the pains and troubles. Genuine Christians can rejoice in the sufferings because it produces perseverance which further works out for them to be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

It is impossible for non-believers to rejoice in their sufferings. It is only possible for the redeemed to consider suffering pure joy because they have been made righteous and holy before God the Lord of glory through the blood of Jesus Christ. Why does suffering produce perseverance? It’s because perseverance is possible in Christ Jesus through the power of resurrection. It is not really persevering by grinding teeth and clenching fist. No fruit is produced without the power of the Spirit. The fruit of perseverance is produced through suffering which leads the children of God to come to Christ Jesus who bore the sin of the world through the blood and rose again from the dead on the third day. The Scripture says that Christ has taken his captives from the shackle of the devil by the blood and the power of resurrection (Ephesians 4:8).

“When you ascended on high, you took many captives; you received gifts from people, even from the rebellious—that you, Lord God, might dwell there.” (Psalm 68:18)

Suffering leads us to the bankruptcy point where we come to realize that we can’t do nothing on our own to save ourselves from the bondage and power of sin and death. What can we do at the point of sheer bankruptcy of ourselves? We cannot but depend on our Lord Jesus Christ who has all power and is willing to give to his children wherever and whenever we ask. It is the reason that he shed his blood and died on the cross of Calvary. That’s how we ought to live in Christ, taking everything from God and throwing off everything in us.

“Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:4-6)

The goal of suffering is not being crushed and tortured all due course but being mature and complete, not lacking anything in Christ Jesus. Apostle Paul says that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope (Romans 5:4). And the hope does not put us to shame but to utterly proud and bold because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” (James 1:5-8)

Here wisdom means that suffering produces perseverance and after all the testing of our faith we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. God has equipped every believer in Christ everything, not lacking anything in the heavenly places, so are we holy and blameless before him even before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:3). Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. If anyone doesn’t have wisdom how to view and handle the sufferings in the midst of daily lives, ask the Father who is willing and generous to teach and give whatever we ask. One caution is not to doubt when we ask because no one can expect to receive from the generous and compassionate Father if we doubt.

“Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business. Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:9-12)

Those who are in humble circumstances stand for those who are in the sufferings and the rich stand for those who have passed the testing of their faith by the wisdom of God. It doesn’t mean to the humble or the rich financially but spiritually although the parable is using the poor and the rich physically. Apostle James says those who are in the sufferings ought to take pride in their high position and the rich should take pride in their humiliation. Those who are in the sufferings ought to take pride in their higher position because it is the privilege and opportunity to partake in the sufferings of Christ. We can persevere with the power of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, no sufferings, no opportunities to practice the power of faith in the resurrection of Christ. Those who are the rich should take pride in their humiliation because there is nothing we can boast of overcoming the evil. Christ Jesus who lives within us by means of the Spirit can defeat the devil by the power of resurrection.

Life is fleeting and ephemeral and momentary and full of troubles and sorrows. Moses says in his psalm, “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.” (Psalm 90:10) As life is quickly passing and flying away, so do troubles and sorrows. Sufferings and difficulties never stay but pass, even quickly. This is why Apostle Paul says in the Epistle of Romans that we ought to glory in our sufferings.

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 1:18)

Life is swiftly passing without even realizing the time when the end comes. That’s why the Scriptures frequently and repeatedly say to us, “Be alert and watchful always!” So, blessed is the one who perseveres under trial by the power of God, because having stood still the test, the person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to give to those who love him. That’s what our Lord Jesus says to his disciples that he came to the earth for them to have life and have it to the full (John 10:10). What is life? It is the absence of death. All emptiness, barrenness, meaninglessness, dryness, nothingness have gone away and instead full of expectations, excitement, vigor, vitality have come in the midst of troubles and sorrows. It is all possible in Christ Jesus who is above all and all in all.

Prayer: Our Father in heaven once again thank you for teaching the incomparable riches of truth in Christ Jesus that we’ve been made righteous and holy in the sight of God even before the time began and called on due time to grow to be mature and complete in the midst of sufferings and troubles. Thank you for teaching us the mystery of suffering in Christ Jesus who went to the Father in the highest heaven through the death of cross. May you help us keep coming to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, rejoicing in the sufferings. In Christ’s name. Amen.

June 20, 2016

© 2015-2016 David Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.

Man Does Not Live on Bread Alone (Deuteronomy 8:1-20)

The Lord God promised that he would drive out the nations before them and give them to possess just as he delivered them from the hand of King Pharaoh with the mighty wonders and signs. The Lord chose the nation of Israel not because they were great in numbers or deserved but because they were the least of all nations. The Amorites and Canaanites were greater and stronger than the Israelites but the Lord commanded not to be afraid of them and to remember well what the Lord did to Egypt. We shall not forget that in Christ Jesus we have been liberated from the power of sin and death by the blood of the Lord. Jesus Christ is stronger than the devil and thus is able to keep us falling and stumbling.

"Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you." (Deuteronomy 8:1-5)

The people of God were allowed to live and increase and enter and possess the land only if they obeyed every command the Lord was giving them. Until they stood the east of Jordan to cross they were led and guided to the wilderness forty years by the Lord God. Why did the Lord God lead them into the wilderness? It wasn't intended for them to wonder around the vast and dreadful wilderness at all. They refused to enter the land out of fear and unbelief at Kadesh Barnea when the Lord commanded to enter the land. So, God led them into the dry and barren and waterless land.

“’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

God’s way was to humble and test them to search out what was in their heart, whether or not they would keep his commands. The purpose and goal of the Lord God who led the disobedient people into the wilderness was to bring them into humiliation and disgrace. It sounds a strange purpose! But that’s what the Lord said to them. Why was the Lord God pleased to bring them into humiliation and disgrace? It’s because when they reach the state of nothing, less than nothing, God can work out for his name’s sake. It is very significant to understand this truth which our Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated during his earthly ministry.

“Jesus gave them this answer: ‘Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.’” (John 5:19-20)

Jesus Christ set the example how to handle our lives in the midst of daily struggles and difficulties. Although he was God the Son who received all power from the Father he said he could do nothing by himself. Jesus was always depending on the Father by fixing his eyes on him. He was in the Father and he in him, which indicates the perfect communion between the Father and the Son. The Father loved the Son and the Son obeyed the Father even to the point of death. All the Father’s was the Son’s. All the miracles and signs were done by the Father in heaven through the Son Jesus Christ.

This is how we’re supposed to operate and function in our Lord Jesus Christ. We’re in Christ and he in us in the heavenly places. We have nothing to depend upon other than the Lord Jesus Christ. It is true from the beginning that we’re not supposed to run our lives on our own but in full dependence on the Maker and Designer of humanity. God is forever love. He is pouring out his love forever for those who humble and submit himself before him. That’s what our Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated on the earth some two thousand years before in time and space.

It was the reason God provided manna forty years faithfully without fail. They picked up manna for their daily food except on the sixth day. The Lord God was teaching them to depend on him daily. God marvelously displayed the truth before them that they could not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Physical manna seemed to feed them but it is not so. Behind manna there was the hand of God, faithfully providing whatever amount they needed. So, it wasn’t the manna they sustained life in the wilderness but the word of God which enabled to make manna fall down from heaven. That’s why our Lord Jesus Christ said to his people that he was the living bread of life and everyone who eats his body and drink his blood shall live forever (John 6:51).

It was the loving and long-suffering discipline of God to implant the faith in the Lord only because there is nothing in the world which can keep them from falling other than God himself. It is the act of God's love which proves that he cares his people.

“Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.” (Deuteronomy 8:6-9)

The Lord God commanded his people of Israel to observe all the laws and decrees given through Moses, walking in obedience to him and revering him. It’s because the Lord their God was giving them into a good land. What does the land signify? First of all, the land was full of brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills. In the Scripture, these are the symbols of the word of God as Jesus said to a Samaritan woman that the water he gave them would become a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:14). The land the people were entering to possess was full of truths and life. Second, the land would produce the fruits of all kinds for food abundantly, lacking nothing.

“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” (Genesis 2:2-3)

So, the land signifies the redeemed humanity who bears all kinds of fruits of the Spirit of the Lord. It shows that there is only one way to produce the fruits of life. It is through entering the land God has given to them. Entering the land means taking God’s rest through obedience. On the seventh day of the creation of the world God rested from all his work because he has finished everything. It’s called the Sabbath Day. So, we must enter God’s rest to bear the fruits of the Spirit. Practically, it means we stop working on our own and depend on the Lord God on every matter of lives in our Lord Jesus Christ in completeness and entirety.

“When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.” (Deuteronomy 8:10-11)

We shall never forget the Lord God all the days of life in our Lord Jesus Christ when we’ve been eaten and are satisfied in the land God has brought us. God called us to bear the fruits of love, joy, and peace and blessed abundantly to live in Christ, producing the Spirit’s fruits abundantly. What does it mean to forget the Lord God? It means disobedience and unbelief to the commands of the Lord. What happens if they forget the Lord God?

“Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’” (Deuteronomy 8:12-17)

The enemy of Israel without was the Amorites and Canaanites. But there was also enemy within, the invisible one, which is their inner pride and boast, saying that their power and the strength of their hands produced this abundant wealth for them. This would inevitably happen to them when they forgot the Lord God and did not obey all the laws and decrees. So does it to us too. That’s why it is so important to keep on obeying the laws and decrees of the Lord God. This is the way to remember from where they were delivered and protected by the hand of the Lord. They were exposed to the vast and dreadful wilderness, thirsty and waterless land with its venomous snakes and scorpions. The circumstance and situation was desperately difficult and impossible to survive by themselves.

It indicates the world where wolves are around and roaring lions are lurking behind to devour. Jesus said to his disciples, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.” (Matthew 10:16) Jesus understands exactly where he was sending his disciples. In this world, there are so many falsities and fallacies, practically influencing and blinding the people under darkness and confusion. There are venomous snakes and scorpions around, constantly planting and feeding lies and deceits into the hearts of the people on earth. That’s exactly where we’re living now. However, we’ve been protected and sealed in Christ by the power of God. So, we’ve been made secure and safe in Christ Jesus by his grace and mercy. The Lord God is protecting us from venomous snakes and scorpions now and forevermore.

“But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today. If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 8:18-20)

We shall never forget that the Lord God is giving the ability to produce the fruits of the Holy Spirit. This is the covenant God has made with us on oath in Christ, which he swore to the ancestors of faith. Anyone shall be destroyed if they forget the Lord God and follow other gods like he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah in ancient days. Practically, it means we cannot escape the wrath of God when we do not remember the Lord God, carefully following all the laws and decrees completely. It happens every moment of our lives whenever we misstep from the Law of the Lord God. So, we shall always obey him and can do only in our Lord Jesus Christ for his blood can cleanse and wash away our transgressions and missteps when we confess and repent in a broken and contrite heart.

Prayer: Father in heaven, once again thank you for telling us the truth how to live true and eternal life now and forevermore. It is only through following carefully all the laws and decrees and remembering the Lord our God who brought us out of the bondage of death and sin through the blood of the Son Jesus Christ and made us to be able to bear the fruits of the Spirit in abundance. In Christ’s name. Amen. 

June 12, 2016

© 2015-2016 David Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.