Eternally Minded

Exodus 34:14: You shall worship no other god, for the L ORD , whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Something that has become increasingly obvious to me in the passed few months is the importance of God's attributes. Once you separate God from even one of them, there is a great likelihood that we're no longer talking about the same God. Commonly, people shy away from talking about His divine jealousy, wrath, omnipotence [all powerful], and omnipresence [everywhere at all times]. Truthfully, God is all these things, equally and righteously so. God is holy and cannot sin. We are unholy with a sin nature. When our finite minds consider jealousy, we immediately associate it with sin, because, apart from God, it is almost always sin. You might ask how God can be jealous without sinning. In the Old Testament, God's jealousy is often focused on when talking about idolatry. "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in h...

Proverbs 10:29: The way of the L ORD is a strong hold to the blameless, but destruction to evildoers. It struck me when I was reading this verse in my devotions, that, indeed, this verse is so true. As Christians, the Christ who saved us is the same Christ who will punish the wicked and doom them to an eternity in Hell. But why? The truth is, God is holy [perfect/separate: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory! Isaiah 6:3 ].  Omnipotent [all powerful: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes... Romans 1:16 ]. Omniscient [all knowing: Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God ! Romans 11:33 ] Just [judge: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just? Genesis 18:25 ] He truly is all those things; He hates sin. He can't be near sin, He is separate from it. Because we are sinners, He can't be near us. And sin must be punished. Something has becom...

"Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the councilors of peace is joy." Proverbs 12:20 Deceit is in the heart: You can never trust your heart. It is deceitful above every other device and it is desperately wicked. Who is able to understand it (Jeremiah 17:9)? We possess something so corrupt, and even more fearfully, we don't even realize it. We all have deceptive hearts, motives, priorities, affections, passions, and values. No one is excluded (Romans 3:10-12). A forward heart is an abomination to the Lord (Proverbs 11:20). God, who searches our hearts, will judge us one day soon (Jeremiah 17:10). of them that imagine evil: We all have deceptive hearts, therefore we all imagine evil. If something doesn't come to mind of the evil you have thought over the past week, you are being deceived. According to 1 Corinthians 13:5, to love is not to think evil towards someone. Are our thoughts towards others revengeful, jealous, critical, judgm...

Proverbs 4:25 - Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. I recently read The Hiding Place  by Corrie Ten Boom. I must confess, going into it I didn't want to read it. I was only doing it because I told my friend I would. (It was a huge encouragement and is now at the top of my recommendations list.) Something from it that stood out to me was Betsie Ten Boom and her resolute faith. In one instance, when she had been beaten in the prison camp, Corrie was trying to help her. But she joyfully pushed her away and said, "Don't look at [my wounds], Corrie. Look only at Jesus."  Let me tell you, that rocked my world. I got to thinking, "How many of my troubles are a reality because I've taken my focus off Jesus and have been distracted with myself?" The answer hurt. Too many.  Throughout scripture, the idea is given that we must look to Christ to be delivered. In the Old Testament, because the People of Israel spoke again...