Faith or Fail

Faith or Fail

by Pastor Curt

Judges 1:19 (KJV)   And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

Was the Lord still with Judah? Was the Lord able to defeat the Canaanites and their chariots? Judah had a great start, but lacked the determination to finish strong.  They became worried about the chariots of their enemies.

The Canaanite chariots had three people in them.  One was a driver, another was the shield bearer, and the other was the spear man.  The chariot’s axles had knives in them to cut down the soldiers as they passed by them.

If the Lord was with them what difference would this make? Why would failure be their only option? Peter experience a similar failure when he stepped out of the boat to walk on the water.  He had early success, but ultimately sank as he took his eyes off of the Lord.

Matthew 14:24-31 (KJV)  But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.²⁵  And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. ²⁶  And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. ²⁷  But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.²⁸  And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. ²⁹  And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.³⁰  But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.³¹  And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

Judah failed for the same reason. They took their eyes off of the Lord. When faith is replaced with doubt or fear, failure follows.

We, as children of God, need each day to walk in faith.  We need to be guided by the promises of God remembering that God is with us!

Right as Determined by Me!

Right as Determined by Me!

by Pastor Curt on September 16, 2013

Proverbs 16:2 (KJV) ²  All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.

 The world bases right or wrong on its own conscience or the opinion of the majority.  If soceity says it is right, then it is right or if I do not violate my own conscience than it is OK.

However, behavior not in line with the Word of God or behavior not done being led by the Spirit of God is wrong.  Our final authority is God’s Word.

God’s Word gives an example of a people group who forsook God’s law for their own ideas.  It was Israel.  From Othniel to Samuel, the period of the judges was 41/2 centuries long, and they spent over 111 of those years in captivity to such as the Mesopotamians, the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Amalekites, the Canaanites, the Midianites, and the Philistines.

The last 5 chapters of the book of Judges paint a picture of a land filled with moral depravity, spiritual wickedness, religious apostasy and political confusion.  Judges 21:25 summarizes this era.  In those days there was no King in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. 
Does this not in some ways describe our country today, every man doing that which is right in his own eyes?  We have a deceived soceity that calls a mother murdering the unborn child in her womb a woman’s right and same sex relationships and marriage an alternative lifestyle. 

As a country we can call evil good and good evil, but it is the LORD that determines what is right and what is wrong.  He determines the consequences of our actions.

Psalm 1:6: The Ungodly Man

Psalm 1:6 (KJV) ⁶ For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
D.  He is Damned (6)

For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous:  

...the LORD:  Jehovah

...the way:    Course of action.

...the righteous:     just.  justified by the blood of Jesus. 

There are only two ways.  There is the way of the cross, and there is the way of the curse. Jesus said it clearly:

John 14:6 (KJV) ⁶ Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
There is only one way to eternal life in Heaven, and that is through the blood shed on Calvary's cross by God's Son, Jesus Christ.

1 John 5:12 (KJV) ¹² He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
All individuals can be classified into two categories; believers and unbelievers, or saved and lost, or righteous and ungodly.

...but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

...ungodly:   Morally wrong.  Condemned guilty.

...perish:      To be destroyed.  To come to nothing.

The closing word of the first Hebrew hymn is sobering.  It is perish.  God's Word is clear in this matter.  All who die without personal faith in Jesus Christ perish for all eternity. 

Mark 16:16 (KJV) ¹⁶ He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

John 3:36 (KJV) 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.
John 3:16-18 (KJV) 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. ¹⁷ For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. ¹⁸ He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
If you are reading this today, I urge you to turn to Jesus Christ.  I beseech you to believe in Him.  There is only one way to be saved and that is through the blood of Jesus.  Trust Him today!

Psalm 1:5: The Ungodly Man

The Ungodly Man: Psalm 1:5 Defined and Dissected

Psalm 1:5 (KJV) ⁵ Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

C.  He is Condemned (5)

...ungodly:   Morally wrong.  Condemned guilty.

...stand in the judgment:     The sinner will not be able to stand in the judgment.  He will be called to the great white throne of judgment only to find that the heaven, the earth, and all that he had or did is gone. Everything he had done and every investment of his time and talent will be gone.  He has no where to stand.  He has nothing that will stand.  He has built his house on the sinking sand.

Revelation 20:11-15 (KJV) ¹¹ And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. ¹³ And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. ¹⁴ And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. ¹⁵ And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
...nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous:    The righteous are those whose sins have been washed by the blood of Jesus! Sinners are those who do not know Jesus.  They are responsible for their sins, as His blood has not been applied to their account.

In eternity, sinners will not be where the righteous are.  Frankly, let us be honest about this, Heaven would not be Heaven, if sin is present.  One of the attributes of Heaven that all the blood washed believers eagerly await is the absence of sin. 

Oh my friend, if you do not know Jesus as your Savior, repent and be saved.  If your sins are washed in His precious blood, rejoice!  He is ours, and we are His'. Someday we will walk the streets of glory and be with the one who loved us enough to die on Calvary's cross for our sins!

Psalm 1:4 The Ungodly Man

II.  The Ungodly Man

The ungodly man stands in stark contrast to the godly man whom has received God's blessing. 

A.  He is Different (4)

The godly man is blessed.  He is firmly rooted by the Lord and the Lord provides his needs.  He fills his life with purpose and prospers him.  He preserves him through the trials and storms of life.

• The ungodly are not so:  In the Hebrew this reads: Not so the ungodly, not so: It is a double negative and is used to emphasize the great difference between the godly man who has God's blessing and the ungodly man who does not.

B.  He is Wasting his Life.

• ...but are like the chaff:  the light waste product left over from harvesting grain.  In Scriptural terms it refers to those who do evil. The chaff was usually burned so it could not be carried by the wind back into the grain.

Isaiah 5:24 (KJV) ²⁴  Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
Matthew 3:12 (KJV) ¹²  Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

The ungodly are living a life that has no eternal value. 

• ...which the wind driveth away

Their life is without worth spiritually and they like the chaff will be burned with fire.  Death shall carry them into a fiery eternity. 

Revelation 21:8 - But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Matthew 10:28 - And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Revelation 20:14 - And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Revelation 20:15 - And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Matthew 25:46 - And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Psalm 1:3 The Blessed Man

Psalm 1:3 The Blessed Man

Dissected and Defined.

Please see the previous posts concerning The Blessed Man.



Psalm 1:3 (KJV) ³ And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
C.  The Results of Living Psalm 1:1-2

In verse 3 the results of living life seperated from the world, and living life delighting and meditating on God's Word are given.

     1.  The blessed man shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.

...like a tree:  Is a symbol of blessing. It indicates beauty, majesty, and strength.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 (KJV) ⁷ Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. ⁸ For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

...planted:   Not one growing wild, but carefully planted. This tree is one carefully planted and secured from the last terrible uprooting. Matthew 15:13 (KJV) ¹³ But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.

It indicates ownership.  The tree was bought and planted.

...the rivers of water:   Note it is multiple rivers, if one river dries up there are others. This is a reference to the Eastern method of irrigation.  Rivers of water are made to flow between the rows of trees and thus the trees receive a constant supply of water.

Spurgeon said; the rivers of pardon and the rivers of grace, the rivers of the promise and the rivers of communion with Christ, are never-failing sources of supply.

2.  The blessed man is fruitful.

...bringeth forth his fruit in his season:   The promise of God is that the separated man who delights and meditates in God's Word will produce fruit. 

John 15:4-5 (KJV) ⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

The blessed man brings forth patience in the time of suffering, faith in the day of trial, and joy in the hour of prosperity.  Fruitfulness is the characteristic of the blessed man and his fruitfulness will be seasonable.

3.  The blessed man is consistent.

...his leaf also shall not wither:  There are two kinds of trees.  Decidious trees that annually loose their leaves and evergreen trees that have needles that remain green all year long. 

The blessed man is not affected by the season or the circumstances of life.  He is consistent, like the tree whose leaves do not wither. 

His faintest words shall be everlasting; his little deeds of love shall be had in rememberance.  Not simply shall his fruit be preserved, but his leaf also.  He shall neither lose his beauty nor his fruitfulness.  CH Spurgeon.

4.  The blessed man prospers.

...and whatsover he doeth shall propsper:  The word prosper means to push forward, to grow or increase. 

The blessed man is growing, increasing; spiritually alive and thriving.  He is producing much fruit to the glory of God.  His prosperity is of God and it contains no sorrow.  God's prosperity is in all areas of his life.

Wrestling with God

Genesis 32:26 (KJV) ²⁶  And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

Jacob would not let the angel go unless he blessed Jacob. Jacob prevailed.  He received a blessing.  He would no longer be called Jacob.  Jacob in the Hebrew means one who follows on another's heel or supplanter. A supplanter is one who undermines or overthrows.  It is certainly not a term of endearment.   It speaks of one who is corrupt.  However, God is able to change any life, and He changes this one.  Jacob would now be called Israel.  The name Israel means something much different.  It means prince of God; one who fights victoriously.  Jacob's wrestling with God resulted in victory.  He was on longer the undermining schemer, but one who is walking in victory!

Years ago I attended the funeral of the mother of a dear man who went to our church.  After the funeral he told me how his mother and step-father came to know Christ as their Savior in an old fashioned revival meeting in a little Pentecostal Holiness church in Rock Hall, MD. They both immediately fell under conviction concerning their addictive and sinful habit of smoking cigarettes.  They tried to quit many times, but failed.  One Sunday morning they walked the aisle of their little country church and told the Pastor they were giving up cigarettes.  They told him they had tried many times to quit and failed. The Pastor said, "meet me tonight at 11:00 at the church".  They thought it odd, but returned to the church at 11:00 that night.  The Pastor invited them to the altar and stated; "we are going to wrestle with God until God gives you the victory over smoking".  And they did.  They began praying and continued praying until in the wee hours of the morning, God granted the victory.  They never smoked again!

Do you need to hear from God?  May I suggest to do what Jacob did, get a hold of God and do not let him go until He blesses you!