Many Dangers, Toils & Snares

Posted on 2013/11/06 by Shawn Thomas

As we see from this insightful segment of Richard Baxter’s The Saints’ Everlasting Rest, every single state we may find ourselves in here on earth places us in the danger of one temptation or another, due to our own wicked hearts:

“Oh the hourly dangers that we here walk in! Every sense and member is a snare; every creature, every mercy, and every duty, is a snare to us:

We can scarcely open our eyes, but we are in danger of envying those above us; or despising those below us; of coveting the honours and riches of some, or beholding the rags and beggary of others with pride and unmercifulness.

If we see beauty, it is a bait to lust; if deformity, to loathing and disdain.

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Fool Me Twice …

Posted on 2013/11/06 by Shawn Thomas

I Samuel 24:22 says: “But David and his men went up to the stronghold.”

At the end of this chapter, Saul had again “repented” of his sin of needlessly persecuting David. He went as far as to admit David’s good intentions — and even that David would surely one day be king. He sought peace with David, and asked him to swear not to destroy his descendants. All “seemed” to be well. Saul went back to his home, and one MIGHT think that David would go back with him to Israel, but he didn’t: “But David and his men went up to the stronghold.”

Why did he do this? Wasn’t all well between him and Saul? Had there not been a “reconciliation”?

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“The Little Condo on the Prairie” (11-05-13)

Posted on 2013/11/05 by Shawn Thomas

CHECK THAT:
We were watching football Saturday and I went to the kitchen to get some of our favorite chili that Cheryl had made with the Rabideaux’s deer sausage that Jacki Hunter had graciously brought us from Louisiana. We had the Texas/TCU game with the sound up on one tv, and the Missouri/South Carolina game on silent on another. Cheryl hollered in from the other room: “TCU just scored!”
“Really?” I questioned. I could hear the game that was on and it didn’t sound like what was happening.
“No, wait …”, Cheryl said, “It was Missouri on the other tv.”
And then she added: “Oh wait … and that was a replay!”

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Loyalty in Deed

Posted on 2013/11/05 by Shawn Thomas

In I Samuel 24, Saul was pursuing David, whom he accused of treason against him. But when David had an opportunity to kill Saul in a cave, he did not, and in :8-11 he called out to Saul, “‘Why do you listen to the words of men, saying, ‘Behold, David seeks to harm you? … Now, my father, see! Indeed, see the edge of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the edge of the robe and did not kill you, know and perceive that there is no evil or rebellion in my hands …”. It is one thing for a person proclaim his loyalty to the king; it is another to prove it with his deeds, like David did here, by not taking Saul’s life.

Proverbs 20:6 raises the challenging question: “Many a man proclaims his own loyalty, but who can find a trustworthy man?”

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Book Review: Father, Son & Holy Spirit by Bruce Ware

Posted on 2013/11/04 by Shawn Thomas

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Many books, sermons — or even individual Christians themselves — may be labeled as either precise in theology, or strong in their application, but it can be hard to find in any of these a balanced pairing of both. Bruce Ware’s book, Father, Son & Holy Spirit has just that elusive combination. Arising from five, one-hour teaching sessions on the Doctrine of the Trinity at a pastors conference, this is a brief book (only 163 pages) but it marries theology and practice in a concise and exemplary way.

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We Are An Offering

Posted on 2013/11/04 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 110:3 says: “Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power …”. In Hebrew, that literally reads: “Your people WILL BE freewill offerings” — that is, they will offer themselves freely as a sacrifice and offering to God. It is not that His people will offer “sacrifices”; it is that they will give themselves.

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Hallelu-Yah!

Posted on 2013/11/03 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 113 is a Psalm of praise for the people of God. It begins and ends with the expression: “Hallelu-Yah”! (literally “Praise Yahweh!” In most Bibles, when you see the word “LORD” in all capitals in the Old Testament, it means that in the original Hebrew text, it is not the Hebrew word “Adonai” or “Lord” which is used, but the personal, covenant name of God, “Yahweh”, the great “I AM”, which He gave to describe Himself to Moses in Exodus 3.)

It is remarkable how much the first part of the Psalm focuses on the name Yahweh. It is used seven times in the first five verses. Of course the number seven is significant; indicating perfection.

These verses tell us:

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Our Final Court of Appeal

Posted on 2013/11/02 by Shawn Thomas

In I Samuel 24:12 David cries out to Saul: “May YHWH judge between you and me …”. David had tried and tried to convince Saul that he was not “out to get him”, but to no avail. Despite many “reconciliations”, Saul continued to turn on him, and would always renew his persecutions. David’s final appeal, then, was to the Lord: “May Yahweh judge between you and me.”

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Circumstances Aren’t Everything

Posted on 2013/11/01 by Shawn Thomas

I Samuel 24:3-4 reminds us that although God uses circumstances for His purposes (as we saw at the end of the last chapter), circumstances themselves are not the only factor in godly decisions. Chapter 24 says that when Saul was pursuing David in the wilderness of Engedi, he (Saul) “came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave.” The circumstance was not lost on David’s men. In :4 they said, “Behold, this is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I am about to give your enemy into your hand …'”. Circumstances appeared to have given Saul to David to do with as he pleased. But David knew that circumstances were not everything.

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Waiting For Our King

Posted on 2013/10/31 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 110:1 opens: “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.'”
As Jesus makes clear in the New Testament (Matthew 22:41-46) this is a Messianic Psalm — “my Lord” here is Jesus Himself. This verse is rich with truths about Him: Continue reading →

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