God Is Not an Idolater

When he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. (2 Thessalonians 1:10)

Paul says that Christ is coming precisely to be glorified and to be marveled at. That is why he is coming.

People stumble over the teaching that God exalts his own glory and seeks to be praised by his people because the Bible teaches us not to be like that. For example, the Bible says that love “does not seek its own” (1 Corinthians 13:5, NASB).

How can God be loving and yet be utterly devoted to “seeking his own” glory and praise and joy? How can God be for us if he is so utterly for himself?

The answer I propose is this: Because God is unique as an all-glorious, totally self-sufficient Being, he must be for himself if he is to be for us. The rules of humility that belong to a creature cannot apply in the same way to its Creator.

If God should turn away from himself as the Source of infinite joy, he would cease to be God. He would deny the infinite worth of his own glory. He would imply that there is something more valuable outside himself. He would commit idolatry.

This would be no gain for us. For where can we go when our God has become unrighteous? Where will we find a Rock of integrity in the universe when the heart of God has ceased to value supremely the supremely valuable? Where shall we turn with our adoration when God himself has forsaken the claims of infinite worth and beauty?

No, we do not turn God’s self-exaltation into love by demanding that God cease to be God.

Instead, we must come to see that God is love precisely because he relentlessly pursues the praises of his name in the hearts of his people. Our praise for his greatness is the capstone of our joy and his greatness.

John Piper 

August 23

1 One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up

2 and said to him, "Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority."

3 He answered them, "I also will ask you a question. Now tell me,

4 was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?"

5 And they discussed it with one another, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why did you not believe him?'

6 But if we say, 'From man,' all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet."

7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from.

8 And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things." - Luke 20:1-8

9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.

10 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him,

11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

12 When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there.

13 Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing.

14 And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.

15 All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.  - Titus 3:9-15

17 The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; whoever guards his way preserves his life. 

18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. 

19 It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. 

20 Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD. 

21 The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness. 

22 Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the instruction of fools is folly. 

23 The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips. 

24 Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. 

25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. 

26 A worker's appetite works for him; his mouth urges him on. 

27 A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire. 

28 A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends. 

29 A man of violence entices his neighbor and leads him in a way that is not good. 

30 Whoever winks his eyes plans dishonest things; he who purses his lips brings evil to pass. 

31 Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life. 

32 Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. 

33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.  - Proverbs 16:17-33

1 On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace, in front of the king's quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace.

2 And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.

3 And the king said to her, "What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom."

4 And Esther said, "If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I have prepared for the king."

5 Then the king said, "Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther has asked." So the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared.

6 And as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king said to Esther, "What is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled."

7 Then Esther answered, "My wish and my request is:

8 If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my wish and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the feast that I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said."

9 And Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.

10 Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and brought his friends and his wife Zeresh.

11 And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and the servants of the king.

12 Then Haman said, "Even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the king to the feast she prepared. And tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king.

13 Yet all this is worth nothing to me, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate."

14 Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, "Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it. Then go joyfully with the king to the feast." This idea pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made. - Esther 5

1 On that night the king could not sleep. And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king.

2 And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

3 And the king said, "What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?" The king's young men who attended him said, "Nothing has been done for him."

4 And the king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

5 And the king's young men told him, "Haman is there, standing in the court." And the king said, "Let him come in."

6 So Haman came in, and the king said to him, "What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?" And Haman said to himself, "Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?"

7 And Haman said to the king, "For the man whom the king delights to honor,

8 let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set.

9 And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble officials. Let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him: 'Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.'"

10 Then the king said to Haman, "Hurry; take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned."

11 So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he dressed Mordecai and led him through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor."

12 Then Mordecai returned to the king's gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered.

13 And Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him."

14 While they were yet talking with him, the king's eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman to the feast that Esther had prepared. - Esther 6

You Are Not God

BIBLE MEDITATION

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.” Isaiah 55:8

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

God says, “My thoughts and your thoughts are different. My ways and your ways are different.” We need to understand that God works on a different thought level than we do.

I heard of a man criticizing the way the Lord made things. He said, “It doesn’t make sense to me. A great big oak tree only has little acorns on it, but a weak watermelon vine has to bear those heavy watermelons. It would make sense for the watermelons to be on the oak tree, and the acorns on the vine.”

About that time an acorn hit him on the head, and he said, “I’m glad it wasn’t a watermelon.”

ACTION POINT

Have you ever heard someone say, “Well, if I were God, I would…”? Maybe you’ve said it yourself. But how foolish—you don’t know what God knows! When you face something you can’t understand, ask God to help you understand. In the meantime, trust Him for the answer.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Pleased to Praise

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! (Psalm 67:3, 5)

Why does God demand we must praise God?

C.S. Lewis:

Just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: “Isn’t she lovely? Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that magnificent?”

The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about. My whole, more general, difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can’t help doing, about everything else we value.

I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.

There is the answer — the solution to the apparent egomania of God in demanding us to praise him! It is a demand for our greatest happiness. We praise what we enjoy because the delight is incomplete until it is expressed in praise. If we were not allowed to speak of what we value and celebrate what we love and praise what we admire, our joy would not be full.

So, if God loves us enough to make our joy full, he must not only give us himself; he must also win from us the praise of our hearts — not because he needs to shore up some weakness in himself or compensate for some deficiency, but because he loves us and seeks the fullness of our joy that can be found only in knowing and praising him, the most magnificent of all beings.

If he is truly for us, he must be for himself! God is the one Being in all the universe for whom seeking his own praise is the ultimately loving act. For him, self-exaltation is the highest virtue. When he does all things “to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:12, 14), he preserves for us and offers to us the only thing in all the world that can satisfy our longings.

God is for us! And the foundation of this love is that God has been, is now, and always will be for himself.

John Piper 

August 22

39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples."

40 He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."

41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it,

42 saying, "Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side

44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation."

45 And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold,

46 saying to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer,' but you have made it a den of robbers."

47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him,

48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words. - Luke 19:39-48

1 Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,

2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,

5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. - Titus 3:1-8

1 The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. 

2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit. 

3 Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established. 

4 The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. 

5 Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished. 

6 By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil. 

7 When a man's ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. 

8 Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice. 

9 The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. 

10 An oracle is on the lips of a king; his mouth does not sin in judgment. 

11 A just balance and scales are the LORD's; all the weights in the bag are his work. 

12 It is an abomination to kings to do evil, for the throne is established by righteousness. 

13 Righteous lips are the delight of a king, and he loves him who speaks what is right. 

14 A king's wrath is a messenger of death, and a wise man will appease it. 

15 In the light of a king's face there is life, and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain. 

16 How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.  - Proverbs 16:1-16

1 After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him.

2 And all the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage.

3 Then the king's servants who were at the king's gate said to Mordecai, "Why do you transgress the king's command?"

4 And when they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai's words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew.

5 And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury.

6 But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

7 In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur (that is, they cast lots) before Haman day after day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.

8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws, so that it is not to the king's profit to tolerate them.

9 If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king's business, that they may put it into the king's treasuries."

10 So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews.

11 And the king said to Haman, "The money is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you."

12 Then the king's scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king's satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the officials of all the peoples, to every province in its own script and every people in its own language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's signet ring.

13 Letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.

14 A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by proclamation to all the peoples to be ready for that day.

15 The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion. - Esther 3

1 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.

2 He went up to the entrance of the king's gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king's gate clothed in sackcloth.

3 And in every province, wherever the king's command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.

4 When Esther's young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.

5 Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs, who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was.

6 Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king's gate,

7 and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king's treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.

8 Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people.

9 And Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said.

10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say,

11 "All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law-to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days."

12 And they told Mordecai what Esther had said.

13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, "Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews.

14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai,

16 "Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish."

17 Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him. - Esther 4

The Mind Boggling Matter of Being Married 50 Years

Yes, 50 years to the same man!

The survival of the God ordained institution of marriage between 2 hotheads, one male and one female.

Just being male and female presents obstacles of differences in emotions.

We really can only coexist in a long marriage by the grace of God.

Forgiveness is hard but without it your marriage can't survive.

Just keep in mind that God has forgiven you through the mercy of Christ and His death and resurrection!

Jealousy is a big no no!

That's hard too but jealousy is just another word for being possessive. 

That stifles a marriage! 

Christ first!

Each other second!

Faith in God's ability to hold you two together is what you cling too.

28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her."

29 But Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.

30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:

32 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living." - Matthew 22:28-32

34 And Jesus said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage,

35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage,

36 for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. - Luke 20:34-36

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  - Genesis 1:27

20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.

21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.

22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

23 Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." 

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. - Genesis 2:20-24

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.

24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,

27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,

30 because we are members of his body.

31 "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."

32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. - Ephesians 5:22-33

Lord, forgive us when we fail.  Thank You for mercy. Bless the rest of our days together. Let us share You with the lost. Deliver us from Satan and all his evil schemes, physical and spiritual. We know You alone are able. Give us faith, boldness, and a will to be Your servant. Amen

Are You Investing in Heaven?

BIBLE MEDITATION

“But lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Matthew 6:20

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

In Luke 16:1-9, the Lord Jesus gave one of the strangest parables in the Bible. At the end of the parable, He explained to His disciples how it applies to us. He says, “Don’t let the children of this world be more shrewd than you are wise. Take what God has put into your hands and make friends for God. Win souls to Jesus. And when you die, they’ll welcome you into Heaven. Have some people waiting on you there.”

We often hear people say, “You can’t take it with you.” But I’ll tell you what you can do. You can send it on ahead. And the only way you can send it on ahead is to invest it in something that’s going to Heaven.

The only thing going to Heaven isn’t houses, lands, cars, stocks or bonds, but the souls of men.

ACTION POINT

Take the money you have, make plans for the future, and invest your money in something that is going to Heaven. Then when you die and go to heaven, they’re going to say, “Welcome home. Oh, I’m so glad to see you. I’m here because of your faithfulness.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers