Thou Wilt Shew Me

                                                  When I read Psalm 16:8-11 quoted below, my thoughts go back to when I was a boy, and the last time I saw my Dad before “he shipped out to Korea.”  At this writing, it has been sixty years since my Dad died and was called into eternity.  (I had expected that he would be the one to show me “my way in life.”) 

            My Aunt, Inez Dittman, (who is the last of her generation) is to be laid to rest later this week.  It is hard for me to “realize” that all those who I had counted on to show me “my way” have now been called into eternity.

            When King David wrote this Psalm, he was not considering his personal family.  He was contemplating on God.  At some point in our lives, we must also reach out to God for our direction.  It is a time when we must defer our family authority to Him.   Our authority must first rest with Him, and then through Him, we can re-establish “our” family authority.

            This will be a hard week for me, preparing and speaking at my Aunt’s Memorial Service, but it will be a time of rejoicing, knowing she is no longer in pain, and she is no longer confused.  (I have never preached a Service for a member of my family, and I must allow God to show me the path He wants me to take with this message.)

            It is always wonderful to preach a Service knowing that the person was saved.  It makes the message so much easier, and allows rejoicing for the loved one who has been called home.  

            Once we are set before God, we are with Him in eternity.  (King David knew he would not reside in hell.)  We can rejoice in our salvation too knowing, (as did King David,) we are secure in our Lord, through the blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus the Christ.

            All because, at “one time” in our life we “…set the LORD always before me…” knowing always “he is at my right hand.”  “Have you allowed Him to “shew” you the way?”   “Is He at your right hand, and are you secure in Him?”

Bro. John R. E Chastain

Psalms 16:8-11  I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.  (9)  Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.  (10)  For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.  (11)  Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Mary

                                   

              When I read John 20:15-18 quoted below, I am always amazed at Mary’s reaction when Jesus called out her name.  She immediately recognized Him and was astonished.  “What A Day” that was.  I wish I could have seen the countenance change on her face, (the change from grief over the loss of a loved one to absolute joy of having regained that loss.)

              My Aunt Inez Dittman passed over into Glory just a few hours before I sat down to write this devotional.   Her last few years have been “sickness and confusion.”  Yet, can you imagine her countenance change as she looked upon the eyes of her Saviour, “as He took her by the hand and led her to the Promised Land.” (Her sickness, her pain, her confusion is now gone.)  Think about how her heart was thrilled at hearing her name from the mouth of Jesus.  “What A Day” that was.

              Today, (Easter Day,) I want each of you to search your heart, and consider your reaction to Jesus calling you by your name.  Will it be a moment of elated joy or a time of abject fear?

John 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

              If you believe, you will go to Glory with the Love of God.  It will be a joy to be in the presence of Jesus the Christ, and be there everlastingly.  However, those of you who have not called on the name of Jesus from your mouth and your heart will never see that joy.  You will never see rejoicing.  You will never see joy or love, or warmth of heart.  (You will always be within the abiding wrath of God [hell] for an everlasting eternity.)

              So, will you hear Jesus call your name, calling you home, to join Him in eternity, or will “God’s abiding wrath” be your home?

              One thing God has given all of us is the ability of a free will, (the ability to choose our own destiny.)  We can choose to follow Jesus, or we can choose hell.  The choice is ours.  (It all comes from our heart, and with our mouth, we speak our heart’s desire.)

Romans 10:9-10  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Do you look forward to the time, (with the desire of your heart,) that you will hear Jesus call your name?  Choose you this day, and accept Jesus, and one day He will call out your name.                                      

Bro. John R. E Chastain

John 20:15-18  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.  (16)  Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.  (17)  Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.  (18)  Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.

Even The Death Of The Cross

                                   

              Reading Philippians 2:5-10 quoted below, I consider what Jesus has done for not only me, but also the multitudes that are standing now, and the multitudes that have gone before us.  Then I try to grasp the multitudes to come.  These thoughts are somewhat over whelming.  To think He willingly put himself on that “Old Rugged Cross” to die for the sins of the world, (the multitudes now, before, and to come.)

Revelation 1:8  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

              Yet, consider what He did as a humble, obedient servant, (to serve you and I,) to keep us from a burning, tormenting, everlasting hell bound existence.  He was bruised on that Cross, and tormented with pain beyond our imagination.  He was wracked with the shame, the pain, and the suffering of that Cross, so the worst of the worst of us could avoid hell.

              Jesus the Christ, The Son of God, has been given the name that is above all names, (a name greater than all names.)  You and I, (IF you are a Christian) cannot claim to be “above anything.”  We are sinners saved by the grace of God, God’s “Amazing Grace,” Jesus the Christ.  As sinners, He died for you and me. 

Isaiah 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

He died, so we can live, regardless of what we are, or have been.  In our “reason[ing]” (our repenting,) we must realize our need to change.  When we “sorta” grasp what Jesus has done, it should humble us to the point of falling to our knees in sobbing prayer. 

              This week, before Easter, before the celebration of “life after death,” consider where you stand within YOUR personal Salvation.  “Do you deserve to be called a Christian?”  (None of us do.)  We are all sinners saved by His “Amazing Grace.”  The question really isn’t, “Do you deserve salvation?”  If you know you are saved, then the questions become, “Where are you going with it?  Do other Christians see you as you claim?  What about those in the world who are lost and without Christ’s salvation?  Do they see you as a Christian?”

              These questions may not be easily answered.  Yet, we must always strive to be seen as God made us when we were reborn.  “Is your “strive” in drive, or in park, or has it been stuck in reverse?  You are the driver you make the choice.  Put yourself in “drive,” and strive to be what God wants you to be.”                                                                                                                                         

Bro. John R. E Chastain

Philippians 2:5-10  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  (6)  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  (7)  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  (8)  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  (9)  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:  (10)  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

Yet Shall He Live

              Reading John 11:21-25 quoted below, I began to wonder, “How many readers really understand verse twenty-five.

John 11:25  Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

My thoughts were on the comprehension of “…though he were dead…”  When I first accepted Jesus as my Saviour, I was not aware that prior to my accepting Jesus I was a “dead man walking.”  Sounds like something out of a horror story, yet, spiritually I was dead.  My life, in terms of God, was a blasphemy toward Him and His Son.  (To some I was a good man and yet to others not so good.)  When I was saved, I realized that spiritually I really had been dead.  I worked, I earned a living, yet, by God I was not even seen.

              Jesus tells us in this set of scriptures, “he that believeth in me… yet shall he live.”  The real question isn’t, “Are you dead?”  It is, “Do you believe?”  A person who doesn’t know or acknowledge God doesn’t know about spiritual death.  He lives, he plays and he dies.  That is all that he really knows.  However, a person who has acknowledged God, by attending a Bible Church, reading his (or someone else’s) Bible may understand, but yet not believe and not have spiritual life.  Only those who have accepted Jesus, (from their heart, not their head,) have the spiritual life in which Jesus is speaking. 

              Reader, “Where do you stand in terms of spiritual life and death?”  With spiritual life, we have a promised eternal, everlasting life with Jesus and His Father our God in Heaven.

John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

“So what do we have if we fail to accept Christ Jesus, and have no spiritual life?” 

John 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

To understand the implications, we must know the definition of “abideth.”  The Webster 1828 Dictionary defines it as:  “To continue permanently or in the same state; to be firm and immovable.”  So, when we put it together we can see that God’s wrath abides permanently.  A person who has never accepted Jesus will also live eternally with the wrath of God, Hell, forever and for ever.

              God tells us in John 3:16 that “whosoever believeth in him should not perish.”  Again spiritually, the believer who believes will never perish.  God loves you dearly.  He does not love ANY of your sins.  All He asks of you is that you believe that Jesus is His Son, and He (God) has raised Him, (Jesus) from the grave.

Romans 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Reader, if you haven’t claimed Him, do it now with a sincere heart.  Remove the abiding wrath of God.  Claim Him today and live.          

John 11:21-25  Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.  (22)  But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.  (23)  Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.  (24)  Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.  (25)  Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

Bro. John R. E Chastain