January 1 - 7 Daily Meditations in the Psalms
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Daily Meditations
For the biblical text, the old King James Version is used, because
its literary beauty is unsurpassed in this most poetic of all scripture.
The book of Psalms is the Hebrew’s hymn book. It was also a prayer book, because the Hebrew often sang his prayers. Therefore, we can learn much about prayer from the Psalms. Of course, they are inspired writings by holy men of God, writing under the authorship of the Holy Spirit.
The first chapter is an introduction. It describes the worthy reader; that is, one who is drawn to the Word of God to pore long over its pages. He has two qualifying characteristics: He has a thirst for God and he trusts Him. He longs after God and looks to him alone to quench his thirst and to be his shepherd, as the most famous of these songs depict.
We could think of the Psalms as a long trip, filled with experiences, revelations and prayers, for the one who, “walketh not in the counsel of the wicked, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful”. This journey promotes spiritual growth in an individual life, and the chapters end, as our days should, with an overflow of gushing, heartfelt praise.
To each text from the Psalms, short, daily meditations follow, as aids to help the reader pray as Jesus taught us; that is, “according to His will”. The theme of the Psalms is our relationship with God, which is also the basis of our devotional life. They are part of the Hebrew tree, into which every believer in Christ has been grafted, and so they also become his song and prayer book.
A Word to those with Background in Substance Dependency
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Important messages
Let me address specifically those who have backgrounds in drugs, alcohol and other destructive and addictive substances. There came a time in many of your lives, when you awoke from the deep deception that this drug was something to be desired and brought pleasure and thrills into your body. You discovered that you were sinning against yourself and destroying yourself. If no steps were taken, you saw that this path would end in death, therefore you went for help. I think you can recognize that your motives were basically selfish. You wanted out! You wanted to live a normal life.
That is as far as some of you have come and it’s not far enough. You can be free from drugs by calling on God for deliverance, but you cannot be saved from eternal punishment, if that is as far as your revelation has brought you. My friend, you who are involved with drug rehabilitation, is this as far as your work takes you? If so, you are a good humanitarian, but you are actually making people two-fold more the children of hell, and you are useless as far as the Kingdom of God is concerned. You need to be more preoccupied with the principle that brought this person into this condition more than the condition itself. You may be helping someone into a state, in which he will think that he needs God less than he needed Him before. I am convinced that many former drug addicts are precisely in that spiritual condition.
December 25 - 31 Daily Meditations in the Psalms
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Daily Meditations
December 25
Psalms 145
1. I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.
2. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.
3. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
4. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
5. I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
6. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.
7. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.
8. The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
9. The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
10. All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee.
11. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;
12. To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.
13. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
14. The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.
15. The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.
16. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
17. The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
18. The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
19. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.
20. The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.
21. My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.
Seeking the Truth of the Kingdom, chapter three
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Important messages
I would strongly recommend that you read the four paragraphs that I wrote at the head of chapter two before studying this chapter. When I confessed to my prejudices and the difficulty in overcoming them, I wrote also with the intention of calling the reader’s attention to the probability that he also holds some prejudices in biblical interpretation.
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| This chapter is part of the book pictured above |
You will find that many commentators hold to a different interpretation to this parable from the one that I present. Their view was my former view, but when I heard and read teaching by many other Bible teachers who held to the following point-of-view, I was convinced, after a good deal of study on my own, that they were right. It seemed to me that it was much more consistent with Scripture and also history records that this view actually prophesied what actually happened in the church. It became a political and financial power and great numbers of insincere people, who had never been reborn, flocked into it and often controlled it.
3. A TRUE FAITH AND
AN UNWANTED GROWTH
“He presented another parable to them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32)
Seeking the Truth of the Kingdom, chapter two
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Important messages
Notice that the title of this book is “Seeking the Truth of the Kingdom”, not “This is the Truth of the Kingdom”. You can find many commentators, who will disagree with what I have written. I do not claim that these are the absolutely correct interpretations for the parables. Quite the opposite, I am inviting people to examine them, compare them with other interpretations, and try to ascertain, which seems to be the most consistent with the whole tenor of Scripture. That is the way that I have arrived at these conclusions and, in more than one case, I have had to leave former opinions behind.
By the way, none of these interpretations are original with me. It has been a principle in my ministry to discard anything, to which I cannot find a confirmation in the writings of men of God or in the lessons of history throughout the church age. New doctrines and strictly personal “revelations” are false! Truth is ancient; make no mistake about that. However, God has very original and personal ways to help us arrive at the ancient truth that the genuine people of God have always believed.
I intend that this book might be a help to people, as to the way to approach the Scripture. With that purpose in mind, I have specifically chosen the parables, because I think they best illustrate the manner, in which we must do that. They demand that we be Spirit-taught, because they show us the inadequacy of human intellect in that which pertains to God. They also insist that we do a thorough study of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, in order to obtain an understanding of the ways of God. In other words, what God is teaching us in these parables is nothing different than the principles he has taught throughout His Word.
Finally, let me make a personal confession. Some of the most difficult things that I have had to overcome over the years are prejudices concerning things that I had previously been taught or ideas that I had gotten hold of in one way or another. It is much easier to learn the things of God as a new disciple, than to have to have something forced from our hands, to which we have been holding tightly for years. For me, they have been pried free as I have been confronted with truth that I finally found impossible to deny.
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| This chapter is taken from this book |
2. APPARENTLY SIMILAR, ESSENTIALLY DIFFERENT
“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in our field? How then does it have tares?’ And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn”’” (Matthew 13:24-30).
December 18 - 24 Daily Meditations in the Psalms
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Daily Meditations
December 18
Psalms 139:1-18
1. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.
2. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
3. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
4. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
5. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
9. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10. Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
11. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
12. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
13. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
14. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
15. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
17. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
18. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
Nothing on this earth is more satisfying than knowing the sovereign dealings of God in our lives. God only recognizes what He has done, therefore for us to be known of God, means that we must be a product of His creative work. The Lord holds infinite interests in His holdings. He watches over every activity, word and motive. He keeps His hand upon our lives and there is no escape from Him. I am possessed by God! That is an awesome thought and no language can express the wonder of it. The new creation is a miracle that began in the foreknowledge of God. We are incapable of the first move in His direction without His aid. May we fill our soul with the nourishment of this Psalm and let it live in us, thinking these precious thoughts. That is the purpose for which they were written.
Report on Trip to India
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personal testimonies
(click on any photo to enlarge)
India, 2013
India, 2013
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| Daniela & Paul on trip to Orissa |
There was plenty of room in the Airbus 330 as it lifted off the runway in Barcelona and turned southeast to cross Eastern Africa, heading for Doha, Qatar. The night before I shared what has been on my heart from 2 Peter 1:1-4 at the RETO Center and I continued to text the leaders, who promised to pray for my journey. The eight seats in my row were nearly empty and I moved from my seat in the middle section to a window seat. We were approaching the Nile River and the sky was cloudless. Soon we crossed the Red Sea on dry air (as I mentioned in the next text message) and then we were over the arid Sinai Peninsula. The route offered much food for meditation.
From Qatar, a new Boeing 787 took me to Delhi, and then an Air India plane landed me in Patna, where Paul was waiting. Paul came to the Lord in a camp in Romania, when I was speaker years ago and I also know his bride from camps and meetings in Bucharest. I spoke at their wedding earlier this year. They were my hosts, who planned the trip and accompanied me throughout.
December 11 - 17 Meditations in the Psalms
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Daily Meditations
December 11
Psalms 134
1. Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD.
2. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.
3. The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.
Blessing to the Lord should never cease. Blessed are those who have the night shift. He, who never sleeps, should be blessed at all times. The daytime worshippers come at their convenience; the nighttime worshippers come at His.
This Psalm ends the songs of ascents that direct the pilgrims into the house of the Lord for holy worship and service. Lead us, Lord, into it. Let all, who need the Lord and His deliverance, approach, viewing at first the surrounding mountains and the city. Let them then climb Mt. Zion, approach the sanctuary and enter in unity with uplifted hands. It is time to experience the full benefit for their efforts and God ultimately reaps the blessing of His people.
Seeking the Truth of the Kingdom, chapter one
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Important messages
Greetings from Orissa, India. Running water has just been restored after the recent cyclone. Here there was great persecution in 2008.
1. THE
KEY PARABLE
“Behold, the sower went
out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road and the birds came
and ate them up. Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much
soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. But
when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they
withered away. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked
them out. And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a
hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty” (Matthew 13:3-8).
TRUTHS CONCERNING HARVEST
Before
we consider one-by-one the different conditions of the soil, first let’s talk
about some of the basic truths concerning harvest, which we must understand
correctly. The most basic principle of all is that a sower sows in order to
reap. The whole purpose of agriculture points to harvest. If there is no fruit,
then the plan, effort and money invested are in vain. Nothing is worthwhile, if
there is not a satisfactory end, and that which ends well, must begin well. The
success of harvest depends much on the preparation of the soil.
In
the work of evangelism, the ministry of John the Baptist is absolutely
necessary. His work was, precisely, to prepare the soil. “The voice of one
crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight!”
(Mt. 3:3). The great majority of evangelistic efforts ignore this cry
completely. They announce the good news with words such as, “Jesus loves you
and wants to save you”, without taking into account at all the condition of the
soil, which is to say, the condition of the heart of the listener. It was not
that way in New Testament times or at any period in the history of the church
among those that had true success in the harvest of souls.
The
only sowing that is worthwhile is that which falls on soil prepared by God.
What do these words of Jesus mean? “No one can come to Me unless the Father
who sent Me draws him” (Jn. 6:44), “He who practices the truth comes to
the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God” (Jn.
3:21), and “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (Jn. 18:37).
All these verses point to a work of preparation before receiving Christ and
those of us, who proclaim the gospel, have to collaborate with it.
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