Archives for 2016

Good morning,

This week we will be studying Proverbs 3. The Scripture song comes from verses 5 and 6. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.⁶ In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

The book of Proverbs is a teaching on wisdom. Proverbs 3:13-26 tells us the benefits of wisdom, the Lord by wisdom…, to keep wisdom and discretion, and the result of wisdom is God’s safety.

Please meditate on the benefits, work of God, keeping sound wisdom, and the fact that we are safe when we have God’s wisdom.

WISDOM (13-26)

Benefits of Wisdom (13-18)

¹³ Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.¹⁴ For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.¹⁵ She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.¹⁶ Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.¹⁷ Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.¹⁸ She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

The Lord by Wisdom… (19-20)

¹⁹ The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.²⁰ By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.

Keep sound Wisdom and Discretion (21-22)

²¹ My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: ²² So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.

Wisdom results in God’s Safety (23-26)

²³ Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.²⁴ When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.²⁵ Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.²⁶ For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.

Thank God today that He gave us the Bible that has all the wisdom that we need to live successfully in this world.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

This week we will be studying Proverbs 3. The Scripture song comes from verses 5 and 6. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.⁶ In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Proverbs 3:1-12 describe how to live the Christian life. God lists seven things that will make us successful in our walk with the Lord.

As God speaks to us may we be sensitive to the moving of God’s Spirit.

SUCCESSFUL LIVING (1-12)

The Law (1-2)                                                                                      

My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: ² For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.

Mercy and Truth (3-4)

³ Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:⁴ So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

Trust in the Lord (5-6)

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.⁶ In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Fear the Lord (7-8)

⁷ Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.⁸ It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

Honour the Lord with your Substance (9-10)

⁹ Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase:¹⁰ So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

Chastening of the Lord (11-12)

¹¹ My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction:¹² For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

Did you notice that the odd numbered verses were God’s commands, while the even numbered verses were the promises that will result if we obey the command. All God is looking for is obedience in His children. When we do, He pours out His blessings!

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

Today’s devotional is helpful because it reminds us that to live successfully in this life we must yield control to Christ. Although many of us have tried living the Christian life on our own, we have eventually found that we have failed. Then we turn it over to Jesus and He helps repair what we damaged.

Go to Him in your emptiness, and receive daily out of His fullness!

(Ashton Oxenden, “The Christian Life” 1882)

“As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord–so walk in Him!” Colossians 2:6

We are apt to think that all we need is to look to Christ as our Sin-bearer; and that, having once gone to Him in faith, and obtained forgiveness, the work is done. But the believer now needs the same Savior who pardoned him–to be ever with him, to help him on his way, and to keep his soul alive. He must ever run his Christian race, ‘looking unto Jesus.’ He must ‘come out of the wilderness, leaning on his Beloved.’ In himself, the believer is powerless. Christ is both the Life and Strength of the renewed soul.

The believer needs daily strength. He cannot fight by his own power. He cannot even walk alone. If he hopes to resist temptation, and to lead a holy life of service to his heavenly Master–if he wants boldly to come out from the world, and to stand forth as a decided follower of Christ–he must look to Jesus for daily grace to strengthen him.

It is living upon Christ, which alone can make us growing, thriving, vigorous Christians!

To be ever looking to Christ for grace, to be constantly stretching out the hand and heart to Christ for help, to be daily feeding upon Him–this is the secret of all our spiritual life, and of all our spiritual well-being.

Never suppose that you can become strong enough to do without Christ. Never imagine that you can reach such a point, that you are anything more than a poor, helpless being. As you humbled yourself beneath His cross at the first–so continue to feel your place to be in the dust before Him, your righteousness to be as filthy rags, your strength as utter weakness!

Go to Him in your emptiness, and receive daily out of His fullness!

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

Believers in Christ are looking forward to spending eternity in heaven. What will heaven be like? Today’s devotion may give us a small glimpse.

Mr, James uses a two words not commonly used today, felicitous and felicity. Felicitous means very well suited or expressed, pleasant, delightful. Felicity means great happiness. Both words ultimately derive from the Latin adjective felix, meaning “fruitful” or “happy”.

What a Heaven!

(J. A. James, “The Practical Believer Delineated”)

Heaven will consist of . . .
  the moral perfection of the soul,
perfect knowledge,
perfect holiness,
perfect love,
perfect likeness to Christ,
perfection of the body in . . .
incorruptibility,
immortality,
      glory, and
spirituality;
the presence of God in the full manifestation of His glory,
the beatific vision of Christ,
the fellowship of angels and all the redeemed,
the joint worship of the heavenly multitudes,
the perfect service of Christ, without . . .
interruption,
      imperfection, or
cessation,
complete freedom from . . .
pain,
toil,
hunger,
thirst,
anxiety,
fear,
sorrow,
death!

Such is the substance of heavenly felicity. Take
any one of them by itself–and each is a Heaven!
Add them altogether–and what a Heaven!

How pure! How elevated! How felicitous!

What a blessing that is in store for us. Encourage yourself and share this with others.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

God sees everything. Do we believe that? If so, why is it that we allow ourselves to sin. Why do we disobey God’s written word? Do we believe there are consequences to our sin?

Today’s devotional should make us think and determine to obey God.

My Father’s eye!

(James Smith, “The Pastor’s Evening Visit”)

“Your Father who sees in secret.” Matthew 6:6

Can anyone hide himself from the Lord in secret places?

Can I, under any circumstances, escape His notice?

Impossible!

The eye of God has been fixed upon me every second of this day; it is now at this moment fixed fully upon me. But it is my Father’s eye! My Father sees in secret!

He sees my needs–and my woes.

He sees every secret working of my foes–and will save me from them.
He sees every secret influence which is likely to injure me–and will prevent it.

He sees . . .
the secret workings of my heart,
my hidden thoughts,
my unuttered desires,
my soul conflicts,
my private temptations.

But He sees also my secret sins!
Every evil thought,
every unfitting word,
every improper action–
passes under His eye!

Solemn consideration this!

May it make me cautious. May it preserve me . . .
from yielding to temptation,
from nourishing sinful thoughts, and
from acting inconsistent with my profession.

My heavenly Father sees me!

He sees me at this moment!

He sees me every moment!

He sees my most secret motives, thoughts, and purposes!

He who thus sees me–hates every sin with an infinite hatred!

“There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do!” Hebrews 4:13

What will God see in our lives today?

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

Why must we endure trials? Why can’t life be completely smooth sailing? Today we will find out.

But why?

(Don Fortner)

“Behold, we count them blessed who endure.” James 5:11

Faith counts them blessed who patiently endure trials, as Job, the saints, and prophets of old did.

But why? Upon what grounds do we count them blessed?

Enduring their trials, God’s saints find themselves compelled to cling tightly to their Savior—and that brings them into closer, sweeter communion with Him. And that is our happiness! We are blessed, indeed, when . . .
we are admitted into the inner chambers of Him whom our souls love,
our sorrows more fully reveal to us the Man of Sorrows,
our grief’s cast us upon the heart of our God,
our troubles take us to the Throne of Grace.

Little chicks in the sunshine run all over the yard, pecking and gathering whatever they find. But if a hawk appears in the sky, the mother hen calls them with a sharp alarm. Immediately, they perceive the danger and run under her wings for safety.

God’s saints are like those chicks. He was a much afflicted man who wrote, “He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings shall you trust.” Psalm 91:4

One of the most delicious of sensations outside of Heaven, is to fall helplessly into the arms of Christ! There we find . . .
strength in helplessness,
joy in submission,
rest in resignation,
and peace in surrender!
Anything which . . .
gives new life to prayer,
brings us to the Throne of Grace,
and renews communion with our God–
is so great a gift that, “we count them blessed who endure.”

There is no place in all our pilgrim journey more needful for our souls than the Valley of Humiliation. The tops of the Delectable Mountains are wonderful, exhilarating spots, from which we sometimes see the Golden City. But those are heights too steep for our trembling feet to stand firmly upon them. The valley suits us better, though flesh and blood finds it hard to go downhill. Here our dear Savior manifests Himself to His chosen as He does not to the world. Therefore “we count them blessed who endure.”

Once more, “we count them blessed who endure,” because “our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory!” 2 Corinthians 4:17. Oh, what glory awaits us on the other side! And that glory awaiting us is made all the more glorious by “the trial of our faith!”

That’s why.

When we are afflicted, we draw closer to God. When we are confused, troubled, and don’t know what to do, He draws closer to us. What a blessing.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

We see trials as bad. God use them to make us holy. None of us likes the trial, but the result many times brings us closer to God.

He will not spare the pruning knife if He sees that we need it!

“Every branch that bears fruit, He prunes so that it may bear more fruit.” John 15:2

We learn from this verse, that God will often increase the holiness of true Christians by His providential dealings with them. The meaning of this language is clear and plain. Just as the gardener prunes and cuts back the branches of a fruitful vine, in order to make them more fruitful–so does God purify and sanctify believers by the circumstances of life in which He places them.

Trial, to speak plainly, is the instrument by which our heavenly Father makes Christians more holy. By trial, He calls out their passive graces, and proves whether they can suffer His will as well as do it. By trial, He . . .
weans them from the world,
draws them to Christ,
drives them to the Bible and prayer,
shows them their own hearts,
and makes them humble.
This is the process by which He “prunes” them, and makes them more fruitful.

The lives of the saints in every age are the best and truest commentary on the text. Never, hardly, do we find an eminent saint, either in the Old Testament or the New, who was not purified by suffering, and, like His Master, a “man of sorrows.”

Let us learn to be patient in the days of darkness, if we know anything of vital union with Christ. Let us remember the doctrine of the passage before us, and not murmur and complain because of trials. Our trials are not meant to do us harm, but good. God chastens us “for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.” Hebrews 12:10

Fruit is the thing that our Master desires to see in us–and He will not spare the pruning knife if He sees that we need it!

In the last day, we shall see that all was well done.

What an encouragement! God cares so much about us and about us spiritually that He chastens us. Who better than our Maker to do the job?

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

This week our Scripture verse is Isaiah 40:31. “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40 transitions from judgment to the restoration and comfort for Israel.

So who is God? Verses 25-29 tell us. He is holy, creator, great, mighty, powerful, judge, everlasting, faints not, and increaseth strength to those who have no might.  Knowing these things, Israel can wait on the Lord, see God renew their strength, and function in the power and sufficiency of God.

Isaiah 40 is a prophecy of God’s comfort to the nation of Israel. It clearly demonstrates that God is not finished with Israel.

GOD IS… (40:25-29)

  To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.²⁷ Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? ²⁸ Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. ²⁹ He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

THEREFORE, ISRAEL COULD WAIT UPON THE LORD (40:30-31)

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:³¹ But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 40 has challenged us to:

• KNOW GOD
• KNOW HIS WORD
• PROCLAIM GOD’S WORD
• WAIT ON THE LORD FOR HIS STRENGTH

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

 

Good morning,

This week our Scripture verse is Isaiah 40:31. “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40 transitions from judgment to the restoration and comfort for Israel.

God is not a created being. He is not beholden to anyone for His creative acts, His wisdom, His power, or His understanding. He reigns over all His creation, His people, and governments. The following verses substantiate this.

GOD ASKS RHETORICAL QUESTIONS (40:12-14)

“Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? ¹³ Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor hath taught him? ¹⁴ With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?”

ANSWER: No one

ALL NATIONS BEFORE HIM ARE AS NOTHING… (40:15-17)

“Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.¹⁶ And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.¹⁷ All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.”

God created the nations and reigns over them.

WHO IS LIKE GOD? (40:18-22)

“To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? ¹⁹ The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.²⁰ He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.²¹ Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?²² It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:”

God created all things. We should bow down and worship God rather than idols.

GOD HAS POWER OVER LEADERS (40:23-24)

“That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.²⁴ Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.”

God sets up and takes down leaders. We mere mortals must remember that there are not political parties in Heaven. God is in charge.

This whole section leads up to the final verses which reveal Who God Is. Check back tomorrow for the answer.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

 

Good morning,

This week our Scripture verse is Isaiah 40:31. “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40 transitions from judgment to the restoration and comfort for Israel.

Yesterday we looked at God proclaiming comfort toward Israel. So how does God comfort Israel? He sent them the Messiah, Yeshua, Jesus Christ.

JOHN THE BAPTIST PROPHESIED (40:3-5)

“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.⁴ Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: ⁵ And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

How was Israel to know the Lord?

THE WORD OF GOD SHALL STAND FOREVER (40:6-8)

“The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: ⁷ The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.⁸ The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”

So what does God want Israel to do with God’s word?

BEHOLD YOUR GOD (40:9-11)

^“O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!¹⁰ Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.¹¹ He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.”

God wants Israel to proclaim the “good tidings” He is bringing.

Tomorrow God begins asking several rhetorical questions. The answer to the questions is the same. Tomorrow we will discover what it is.

Since God has sent Jesus to die for our sins, redeem us from our devilish ways, and prepares for us a home in heaven, what should our response be? Lift up your voice with strength and be not afraid as you proclaim God’s word to others.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001