Christian growth Archives - Page 2 of 4

1 Chronicles 15:13 (KJV) We Have to Do Things Right

1 Chronicles 15:13 (KJV)
For because ye did it not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.

There are three characters at play in this passage:

David
By whose authority the ark was carried “not after due order“.

The priests
Who should have carried the ark, but did not. One can only wonder if they had warned David beforehand of his error?

God
Who made the breach upon Israel by striking Uzza down.

A breach is a hole in the defense of a military force. By working hand in hand and side by side, soldiers create a human wall that the enemy cannot penetrate. When a man goes down a hole is created, a weakness the enemy can exploit. The loss of the man opens a door for much greater loss.

The importance then is not that Uzza died, although that is important. The real importance is that, because they did not seek God after due order, a breach was created that could have devastated Israel.

When a congregation turns from the faith and begins seeking God some other way and “not after due order” the danger is not that we have lost that church. The greater danger is that it creates a breach and opens the way for the devastation of all that is the Gospel.

Someone must sound the warning to those stepping out of formation. Their fall has the potential for leading a to a greater fall than any of us can imagine.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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1 Chronicles 15:13 (KJV) We Have to Do Things Right

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1 Chronicles 14:11 (KJV) They Were Not the Doers

1 Chronicles 14:11 (KJV)
So they came up to Baalperazim; and David smote them there. Then David said, God hath broken in upon mine enemies by mine hand like the breaking forth of waters: therefore they called the name of that place Baalperazim.

Acts 3:12 (KJV)
And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?

Peter didn’t quote King David but expressed the same sentiment that, though they were instruments God used, they were not the doers of the blessings.

Here is a difficult balance to keep hold of; God uses men, but the men have themselves done nothing. Perhaps it is why David wrote a lyric about it and Peter so insistently spoke these words. They needed not only to remind the audience (those who, to this day, observe their actions through God’s Word) but also themselves, God did this. Their hands were involved but their result was of God.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

1 Chronicles 14:11 (KJV) They Were Not the Doers

John 11:15 (KJV) The Intent of Christ

John 11:15 (KJV)
And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.

Jesus’ intent was that the believers might believe. The chapter is filled with believers who still needed to believe.

Each of His disciples had questions of faith
Martha certainly had questions of faith even
Mary, who had set at His feet, had questions of faith

They each believed but they each had holes in their belief. The intent of the Lord was to fill in those holes that these believers might believe.

The intent of the Lord is still “that ye might believe“. Sometimes the tests to bring us into believing can be very painful:

A death in the family
A difficulty in circumstances
A dive in economy

Those of us who call Christ Lord can find ourselves wondering:

Why the Lord tarries
Where are the answers to our prayers and
How will He ever deliver us from this trial

We believe in Him but we have questions. We have holes in our faith.

Jesus intends to fill those holes.

To my reader:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

John 11:15 (KJV) The Intent of Christ

John 7:4 (KJV) Developing Faithful Followers

John 7:4 (KJV)
For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world.

The methods and tactics of Christ are foreign and strange to those of the world. Jesus, his brethren believed, was full of self ambition yet He had the perfect opportunity to spread His name worldwide if He did His miracles in Jerusalem during the feast, when Jews from around the world were gathered there.

Jesus did not go with them but He did go. When He arrived He did not do miracles but taught the Word of God.

Men who do not believe become easily frustrated with God because He doesn’t do things as they would.

He doesn’t make a huge show
He doesn’t build crowds with impressive deeds
He doesn’t impress souls with pomp and splendor

Jesus uses simple, quiet consistent methods of teaching preaching and encouraging. These methods do not build the great crowds but they do develop faithful followers.

To my reader:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

John 7:4 (KJV) Developing Faithful Followers

Luke 8:25 (KJV) Christ’s Presence Produces Faith

Luke 8:25 (KJV)
And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.

As the waves of the storm grew worse the disciples, believing they were about to perish, eke Jesus. He calmed the storm but then asked the disciples, “Where is your faith?” This is interesting because they did, in the storm, call on Christ.

I conclude that:

There is a kind of prayer that is not of faith
There is a kind of Christianity that is not lived in faith
There is a way to be identified with Christ but not have faith in Christ

The difference I see between the disciples and the Lord is that He was asleep in the storm while they were sweating out the storm. Faith, it seems to me, would have been able to rest knowing that Christ was present. Faith would not have fretted. Faith would have called on Christ but would not have had to say, “We perish.”

Though they lacked faith and woke Him without faith, Jesus calmed the storm. I believe we can take heart in that. Though we may lack faith being in Christ’s presence tends to produce faith.

I want faith. And I want to stay close to the Lord as I grow faith.

To my reader:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

Luke 8:25 (KJV) Christ’s Presence Produces Faith

1 Kings 22:1-4 (KJV) You Are Asking For It

1 Kings 22:1-4 (KJV)
And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel.
And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.
And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria?
And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramothgilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.

Even though Ahab was an ungodly man, he had been aided of the Lord to defeat Benhadad sufficiently enough to suppress any further war for three years. The only trouble was that Syria still held a city that Ahab thought belonged to him. This little detail had been a burr in his saddle all this time. For three years he had held onto his grudge, looking for the chance to strike at his enemy. He thought he found it through allegiance with Judah.

Jehoshaphat agreed to enter battle on Ahab’s side but he did request that they inquire of the Lord. The Word of the Lord pronounced Ahab’s doom.

His desire for victory over Syria
His carnal heart and
His belief that Judah’s help sealed his conquest

blinded him against the prophet’s warning and led to his death in the field.

It never serves any good purpose to hold on to a grudge, even if it feels like the grudge is justified. The city did belong to Israel but God was more than capable of restoring it to them if He pleased.

The grudge was to Ahab’s undoing and no one else’s.

To my reader:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

1 Kings 22:1-4 (KJV) You Are Asking For It

Mark 16:2-5 (KJV) An Unfounded Concern

Mark 16:2-5 (KJV)
And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.

The women had a major concern. They were coming to anoint the body of Jesus but they didn’t know how they would get in. The stone was too big for them to move. I notice three things:

They went anyway
They had no idea how they would get to the body of Jesus but that did not prevent them from going. Some people would never have started because they assume they can’t finish.

They went early
No procrastination here. They had a purpose and got to that purpose.

Their concern was unfounded.
The Lord had rolled the stone away already.

It is not wrong to identify those hurdles that must be overcome on the path of living for Christ. Identifying them gives us the opportunity to pray about them. It only becomes a problem when we allow potential hurdles to stop us on the track. Find God’s will, rise up quickly and move toward God’s will. He will remove those hurdles that prevent you from accomplishing His will.

To my reader:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

Mark 16:2-5 (KJV) An Unfounded Concern

Mark 10:17 (KJV) Circumstance Manipulation

Mark 10:17 (KJV)
And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

We know three things about this one who came running

He was young
He was rich
He was a ruler

Plug these three elements into the equation and I see a person trying to manipulate the circumstances. He kneels before the Lord but it is not in submission but an attempt to get the favor of the Lord for personal benefit.

Consider:
He approached Jesus after the Lord had already departed.
He stopped Jesus’ personal progress to derive from Jesus His own progress. He was not interested in the plan of God because He was willing to stop God for his own purposes.

He came running
That’s because he was busy with his own agenda. He used every moment for himself he possibly could, coming to seek from Christ only when it was the last moment he could. He couldn’t afford to wait on Christ. He wanted Christ to wait on him.

He left sad
Because he expected to receive without cost. His plan was to get what Jesus offered without sacrificing anything in return

We learn a lot about what not to be when we learn from this rich young ruler.

To my reader:
How often do you become so self centered that you manipulate circumstances to get what you want? I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

Mark 10:17 (KJV) Circumstance Manipulation

Matthew 23:37-39 (KJV) How To Destroy Your House

Matthew 23:37-39 (KJV)
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Jerusalem’s first desolation was in their rejection of Jesus Christ.
They had a blessed house when they had Christ in their presence. They had meat and drink that would never run dry. They had truth that was undeniable. Jerusalem with Christ was Jerusalem with hope and opportunity and the kingdom of heaven nigh. By rejecting Christ they swept their own house clean of blessings.

Jerusalem’s second desolation was the destruction of the city in seventy A.D..
The process between these two was a long one in which the Jews, having turned against their own Christ, then turned against themselves.

Jerusalem’s desolation continues still today
in that, while they are once again a nation, they are for the most part a nation without faith. Jewish nationalism is far different than Jewish faith.

The very same steps happens in the lives of individuals as they:

First reject Jesus
Second find their lives coming unraveled
Third continue to experience desolation in their children and grandchildren

It is foolhardy and devastating to ignore, reject or dismiss Christ in your life.

To my reader:
What steps are you taking to draw closer to Jesus? I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

Matthew 23:37-39 (KJV) How To Destroy Your House

Matthew 22:34 (KJV) How To Silence a Sadducee

Matthew 22:34 (KJV)
But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.

Jesus put the Sadducees to silence but He did not convince them of the truth. We have mistaken our calling if we have come to believe that our duty is to convince everyone we speak to of the truth of the Gospel. Though we would like to see it, though we must preach with the passion to affect it, the reality is that:

Jesus didn’t see it
The world has never wholeheartedly accepted Christ and
To expect it can skew our methods of ministry

We stop their words with one tool; refusal to budge on the Bible.

To my reader:
We often become disappointed in the results of our work because we misunderstand the purpose of our work. Our job is not to convert the world but be witnesses to the world. Steadfastness to the truths of the Bible; that is our calling. I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.