Monthly Archives: September 2023

September 30, 2023

Daily Encouragement

By Jason

As I was reading these psalms together, I kept hearing a lot of the same things but presented differently. By that I mean for example the statements made in Psalm 23 given as what is believed. They declare certain things to be true.

Psalm 23:3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

But notice this…

Psalm 25:4–5 Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 25:6 Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.

I only offer two parallels though there are more to be sure. I’m sure you noticed that Psalm 25 sounds like petitions to the Lord to do and be what David believes to be true of the Lord. Both are necessary. In fact, I’m not sure why you would pray these things if you did not believe them to be certain of God’s nature.

We don’t pray to change his nature but rather we appeal to him to be who he be! So, the exhortation is to believe and pray. Hold confidently these amazing truths about who God is and hold him to be who he says he is.

Maybe to understand this on a more human level let’s think about it this way. Let’s say I’ve neglected to be the father I should be and the kids notice it. Would it not make perfect sense for the kids to ask the father to be who he is supposed to be? Would it not be fitting for the father to hear that and rejoice in the desire of his children to want that to be so of him?

In other words, not asking may indicate that you do not want or have even noticed or need your father or the Lord to be who they are supposed to be. This is a relationship in which we walk with the Lord now albeit in a strange and distant land for which we long to be in his presence forever on that glorious day.

Let us love the Lord now by believing and pleading and longing for this…

Psalm 26:8 O Lord, I love the habitation of your house
and the place where your glory dwells.

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September 28, 2023

Daily Encouragement

By Jason

Psalm 20 has an interesting arrangement. It doesn’t follow the pattern of many psalms. It begins with a series of blessings. Its focus is on the King—the king of Psalm 2 to be sure.

From the promise of Gen 3:15 to 2 Samuel 7:16, the Lord fulfilled his promise for this child who would crush the head of the serpent as God’s Anointed! It seems impossible for those promises to be fulfilled. Each promise seemed to be in jeopardy from the wickedness of Judah to the line of David nearly being snuffed out.

As the psalm seems to acknowledge, troubles came and God answered the pleas and protected the King. All of God’s plans were fulfilled according to verse 4.

This brought about a salvation in which it must be celebrated. The streets are filled with shouts of joy. Like a victory in battle, they parade through the city with banners!

Indeed, it is a battle of sorts. One that cannot be won by mighty horses and iron chariots. They cannot be trusted but it is the Lord we trust.

Psalm 20:7–9

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright.
O Lord, save the king!
May he answer us when we call.

You will have need of calling on the Lord today. He’s worthy and capable to answer.

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September 27, 2023

Daily Encouragement

By Jason

Psalm 10 lays out the scenario of the arrogant and evil doer prospering while the helpless, the fatherless, and poor are taken advantage of by the wicked.

It’s obviously coming from the perspective of the poor and needy. As difficult as it is, he is praying to the Lord. But the wicked say there is no God. The fatherless wonders where God is in all of this.

He says at one point: Psalm 10:10–11 The helpless are crushed, sink down,
and fall by his might.
He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”

In other words, as the psalm began he wants to know why the Lord hides himself in times of trouble.

It can seem to us that God is high above in the heavens and cares not about the troubles of our lives. The problem with that thought is that God simply cannot be that way. He cannot go on vacation or go to some distant galaxy to remove himself from his creation. If he is not sustaining it every second then this world will cease to exist.

The needy man finally comes to his senses and acknowledges this. Psalm 10:14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless commits himself;
you have been the helper of the fatherless.

Like the fatherless, we live in the desert in which we must trust and depend on the Lord everyday. We live here and not in the heavenly city that we might learn to trust the Lord. Life is a test. We have opportunities all day to believe or not.

Some of those troubles will not come to an end until the end. We must trust that the Lord will make everything right in the end. But for now we must trust the Lord to do this while we wait: Psalm 10:17  O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear.

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September 26, 2023

Daily Encouragement

By Jason

This was an observation and a continuation from yesterday’s encouragement.

After Jesus sought his scattered disciples and gave them evidence of his resurrection he gives them even more—understanding of God’s Word.

Luke 24:45-46

[45] Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, [46] and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead.

The resurrection of Christ resulted in the new exodus…the new creation. The result of understanding how all that fit together and what they should do in light of it is further evidence not of just the living Savior but the living Word.

—Repentance and forgiveness was to be proclaimed to all nations.

—The promise of the Holy Spirit was coming.

—They worshipped Jesus (instead of hiding).

—They gladly obeyed as they returned to Jerusalem to wait on the promise.

—And they returned with great joy!

This is what happened when they understood the Word. May the Lord open our eyes to understand his word and resurrection and may it have the same effect on us.

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September 25, 2023

Daily Encouragement

By Jason

The sheep are scattered when Jesus, their Shepherd, was struck. I’m glad they ran for the hills or I might suspect this story to be a fraud. Yet they respond as we all expect but it’s Jesus that does the unexpected.

He being the Good Shepherd goes after the scattered sheep.

Luke 24:36

[36] As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!”

This is one of the more encouraging responses to me. When people abandon me the betrayal is hard for me to overcome. It’s hard to want people who do not want you. But Jesus isn’t like us.

He goes after his disciples. He meets them in their unbelief and gives them evidence beyond measure. He continues to keep them and protect their faith not only for these disciples but for us too.

Your desire to question and touch the real thing—Jesus himself—was done by others so that you might believe in the resurrection. And if the resurrection is true then that changes everything on this side of the grave.

Live with the assurance that if you are united to Christ by faith then eternal joy awaits us when we behold his face!

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September 25, 2023

The Lord’s Day Sermon Manuscript for September 24, 2023

By Jason

Here’s the link to download the manuscript if you are interested:

9e28094hebrews-4.1-5e28094fear-lest-you-dont-enter-gods-rest-blog-Download

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September 23, 2023

Daily Encouragement

By Jason

The faith of the thief on the cross was sufficient to save him. It seems clear there was evidence of faith by his words and actions until he died. It was necessary for him to endure to the end of life as it is for all who believe. That length was short for him yet his reward will be far less.

With that said, those who believe and continue to live are in need of endurance too. Hebrews 12 makes that point very clear as it flows from multiple examples of those who did. The promises of God are conditional and only for those who have faith.

Part of the way we endure is through the discipline of the Lord. If the Lord does not discipline us then we are not a legitimate child of God. This is one of the ways he keeps us believing. There will be a mixture of those who “believe” that are illegitimate children. We can only know that by the fruit of our lives.

Additionally, we ought to lay aside every sin and weight that so easily entangles us. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. There are sins and things that are not necessarily sin that will hinder the race. Let us gladly put them aside knowing what awaits on that glorious day!

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September 22, 2023

Daily Encouragement

By Jason

This passage might not seem encouraging but their choices as pilgrims of this strange land point us to something much, much better to come.

Hebrews 11:35-38

Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment.
They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.

To refuse release is not to say what they were going through wasn’t severely painful. Their release may have demanded some sort of denial of the faith by which they were approved before the Lord. Whatever the case, they saw beyond the suffering of this world to the promise of a better resurrection—a better life. To give up the faith would have been to forfeit the greater for the lesser.

What these people endured in this brief life, show us their faith and the extreme value they had in Christ. The witness they are to us should stir our hearts to press on in faith as Hebrews 12 concludes.

Your life may show others your faith and your value of Christ as you refuse to deny the One who suffered in your place and long for the better resurrection. Jesus is worth it. And that which is coming to us will not only be void of suffering, it will never come to an end.

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September 21, 2023

Mission Trip to Cuba

By Jason

Hey Everyone! I don’t know most of the visitors of this blog. The traffic, frankly, surprises me. But I wanted to throw this out there in case any of you would like to participate and join me in training pastors in Cuba.

This trip will be at the end of January and we are planning some things to raise funds for the trip. The link below will give you the opportunity to give and also see how much is still needed. The Lord will provide.

https://catalystmissions.gomethod.app/!/34012/cuba-january-2024/participants/365694/donate

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September 21, 2023

Daily Exhortation

By Jason

Everyone is prone to hard heartedness. The following proverb gives us the solution to fighting against it.

Proverbs 28:14[14] Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

This is very similar to Hebrews 4:1 where it instructs us to fear unbelief.

Here’s a quote to think about…

Paul Tripp

Proud people are
◦ Defensive
◦ Entitled (they deserve things that other people don’t deserve)
◦ Use people instead of serve people
◦ Pride allows me to convince myself that I can step over God’s boundaries without any consequences
◦ Long before a fall, the proud person has lost his functional fear of God and so he’s not afraid anymore to write his own rules

Pride must be a symptom of a hard heart that no longer fears the Lord or fears where unbelief ends. Let’s watch out for each other in love.

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