Acts 2:25-28 (KJV) This Ends With Joy

Acts 2:25-28 (KJV)
For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.

Peter makes it clear that David’s passage is prophetic of Jesus Christ. Still, David must have had a personal application as he wrote these words.

The passage ends with him being full of joy. That came:

• By keeping the Lord before his face
• By not moving from the side of God
• By resting in the hope of God’s promises
• By learning the ways of life

The result was:

• Rejoicing and glad words
• Assurance of eternal life and
• Joy in our communion with God

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

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Acts 2:25-28 (KJV) This Ends With Joy

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Acts 1:6-7 (KJV) Not For Us To Know

Acts 1:6-7 (KJV)
When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 

There are some things that it is not for us to know. Asking in this case was not wrong. How could they have known they were not to know except they ask? On the other hand, it would have been entirely inappropriate to fixate on that which they were not to know.

People fall into terrible errors attempting to discover those things God has not disclosed. To develop doctrines concerning things about which the Bible is silent is a grave mistake. To attempt to pinpoint the exact time of Christ’s return, for instance, is to exercise oneself in unnecessary activity and to fall prey to folly.

There are some things that are in the Word of God but one’s level of spiritual maturity prevents them from seeing it. Neither the teacher nor the student is wise to force the issue. God will reveal it to them in His own time. Consistent teaching to faithful followers will yield its fruit in its season.

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

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Acts 1:6-7 (KJV) Not For Us To Know

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Genesis 31:55 (KJV) What A Mess

Genesis 31:55 (KJV)
And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place.

What a mess we can get ourselves into!

Jacob has Laban behind him and Esau before him. He finishes one conflict to immediately address a second, and both of them are of his own making.

First lessonYou can’t run from consequences.

• He ran from Laban but Laban caught up to him. 
• He ran from Esau, but Esau was still before him. 

The best way to deal with consequences is head on. Face them, whatever they may be.

Next lessonLife is filled with these sorts of conflicts.

• Some of them are directly our making
• Some of them are because we have a sin nature that must be defeated
• Some of them are the result of living in a sin filled world and having no choice but to rub shoulders with sinful men

Spiritual growth is the result of addressing these situations one after the other. Running never helps. Avoidance solves nothing. Growth happens when we:

• Learn from them
• Deal with them and then 
• Move on passed them

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

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Genesis 31:55 (KJV) What A Mess

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John 20:15 (KJV) All That Remains Is To Tell Others

John 20:15 (KJV)
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.

Having no idea of His resurrection, her concern was in what service she might do for the body of the Lord. Her love for the Lord moved her to ministry. She was up early, ready to render any form of work that would be some aide in the care of Christ’s tomb and, discovering His body was missing, was now willing to take any measure to provide a more appropriate place for Him.

Her servant’s heart was rewarded with more than could have ever been expected. She need provide no further service to Christ’s body.

He is alive!

All that remains is to tell the others.

The servant of the Lord comes with a heart prepared to do whatever must be done:

• Clean the church house
• Greet the guests
• Offer simple assistance 
• Wrestle in prayer

Great or small the task, the servant is willing.

He quickly discovers that Christ is alive and powerful and is very much in the midst of His people.

All that remains is to tell others.

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

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

John 20:15 (KJV) All That Remains Is To Tell Others

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John 19:35-37 (KJV) Prove the Bible with the Bible

John 19:35-37 (KJV)
And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

Increasingly this world attacks the Christian faith by attacking the Bible, the Word of God.

The argument is something like this, “You can’t claim the Bible is true just because the Bible claims to be true.” They call it circular reasoning; one thing to prove the same thing. They call for evidence outside of the Bible. Then they call for evidence outside of faith, but once we give them such evidence, they label it as a faith based subject and dismiss it.

Creation is one example. There is scientific evidence to support Creation. There are holes in the scientific theories of evolution that even their most well regarded evolutionists admit. Yet they refuse to entertain any thought that Creation could be valid because, in their minds, it is faith based.

It will forever be impossible to win the person who refuses to believe the record of the Bible because the Bible is the one record God claims to be irrefutable and authoritative.

The person who rejects the Word of God judges himself to be unworthy of eternal life.

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

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

John 19:35-37 (KJV) Prove the Bible with the Bible

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Genesis 25:11 (KJV) The Family Path

Genesis 25:11 (KJV)
And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.

Abraham was:

• one hundred years old when Isaac was born, 
• one hundred forty years old when Isaac was married 
• one hundred sixty years old when Esau and Jacob were born and 
• one hundred seventy five years old when he died. 

Jacob and Esau were fifteen years old when Abraham died.

And it was after Abraham’s death that God blessed Isaac. This does not mean that his life was miserable prior to his Father’s death but that Abraham remained the spiritual head of the family until his death. Esau and Jacob grew up the better part of their developing years with Abraham, their grandfather, as the patriarchal and spiritual head. They would have been influenced not only by their mother and their father, but also by their grandfather most of their childhood.

God’s plan for Isaac didn’t begin at his marriage or even when he had kids of his own. He remained true to his father, following the will of God for him, until Abraham had died. Only then did God begin to move him in his own direction.

By this time, Isaac, and at least one of his sons, was committed to the same path God had set for Abraham.

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

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Genesis 25:11 (KJV) The Family Path

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Genesis 24:8 (KJV) Getting Free of an Oath

Genesis 24:8 (KJV)
And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again.

Swearing an oath is a serious matter. Biblically it is a much greater deal than a legal contract. The terms of a contract are binding and, should a party break their contractual agreement, that issue may be taken to court and settled by the authority of the land. Fines, judgments and other penalties may be enforced upon the offender.

A biblical oath is on a level infinitely greater. The court system has no authority. If an oath is broken there will be no fines or penalties. On the surface, a person can walk away from an oath with little more than some soil on his name.

The difference is that God holds us to our oaths. Spiritually speaking, it is better not to make an oath than to make one and break it.

So the Servant had a legitimate concern. If he swore to bring a bride for Isaac and was not able to accomplish his purpose what was he to do?

We learn here the principle of how to clear an oath:

• He was to seek the Lord’s guidance
• He was to fulfill his obligation to the best of his ability and resources but then
• He was to leave the results in the hands of the Lord
• He could not force the woman God led him to, to come with him. It would be far worse to force the situation and get a woman God had not led him to. 

The fulfillment of the oath was God’s work, not his.

If he had been faithful with what he had, he would be clear of the oath no matter the results.

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

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Genesis 24:8 (KJV) Getting Free of an Oath

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John 17:25 (KJV) These Have “Known”

John 17:25 (KJV)
O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. 

Jesus did not say “these have believed that thou hast sent me.” Jesus said, “these have known that thou hast sent me.“

• Faith is not believing what the Bible says is true 
• Faith is knowing what the Bible says is true

Here is the great difference between the religious and the true believer. Here is also the thing that so confounds the people of the world. Worldlings become increasingly sure that they know nothing at all. Everything they have come to believe to be true is suspect:

• The history they have learned
• The science they have studied 
• The philosophies they have embraced 

It is all to be accepted as only being what they believe to be true at the moment. It could all become different with new knowledge and new discoveries. (About the only thing that is not suspect is their certainty that the Bible is not true.)

Then along comes the Christian. He holds something he knows to be true, that Jesus is of God.

• He does not merely believe it
• He most certainly knows it
• He has no empirical evidence to prove it 
• He cannot produce hard facts that support it

There is no experiment that can reproduce it but

• He knows it to be true

He only has one argument at his disposal for those who question him; “Come and see.” Those who know Jesus know Jesus to be God. It’s as plain as that.

• Some believe He is probably God 
• Some accept that believing can be beneficial but 
• Those who know, know

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

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

John 17:25 (KJV) These Have “Known”

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Genesis 19:1 (KJV) What A Mess

Genesis 19:1 (KJV)
And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

These are the same angels that:

• Had approached to Abraham’s tent 
• At about the same time 
• Under the same circumstances

Lot greeted them in much the same fashion as Abraham had:

• Lot offered them lodging the same as Abraham and 
• Lot prepared for them a meal the same as Abraham 

I do observe, however, that:

• Abraham dwelt in a tent and Lot in a house 
• Abraham was promised a child on this occasion while Lot will lose his
• Sarah is made a mother shortly but Lot’s wife soon dies
• Abraham prays for the safety of others while Lot’s whole concern is for self

What a mess we make when we choose the friendship of the world.

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

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Genesis 19:1 (KJV) What A Mess

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Genesis 17:1 (KJV) The Perfection Pronouncement

Genesis 17:1 (KJV)
And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

Abraham had walked with God, by this time, for more than two decades. It had not been a sinless walk, but it had been a faithful one. He would not walk perfectly sinless even from here.

Perfection, in the sense of sinlessness, is attainable only in heaven.

In Abram’s case, perfection was in the answer of God for a son. Whatever else Abram was, he was not complete, so far as God’s plan for his life, until he and Sarai had a son. “Be thou perfect” was not a command for Abram to obey but a pronouncement from God upon him.

Jesus said, Matthew 5:48  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

It is in the same vein, not a command but a pronouncement accomplished by God in us through the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Perfection is found in placing faith in Jesus Christ.

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

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Genesis 17:1 (KJV) The Perfection Pronouncement

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free.

John 16:5-6 (KJV) The True Issues of Life

John 16:5-6 (KJV)
But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. 

Albert Barnes writes,
“They gave themselves up to grief instead of inquiring why he was about to leave them. Had they made the inquiry, he was ready to answer them and to comfort them. When we are afflicted we should not yield ourselves to excessive grief. We should inquire why it is that God thus tries us; and we should never doubt that if we come to him, and spread out our sorrows before him, he will give us consolation.”

I am encouraged to note that, even though the disciples focused on grief rather than reason, Jesus comforted them anyway. We are so prone to improper, selfish reactions rather than appropriate spiritual ones. God, in mercy, corrects us and directs us and all the while blesses us with what we need rather than what we want.

Our focus ought to be on the plan of God. What is it He is accomplishing? What is it that is His will? How is it that He might be most glorified in our lives?

These are the true issues of life.

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

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

John 16:5-6 (KJV) The True Issue of Life

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Genesis 15:1 (KJV) A Shield and a Reward

Genesis 15:1 (KJV)
After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

God consoled Abram’s fear by giving him two great things; both of them in the Person of God. Abram need not fear because:

God was his shieldI note that a shield is an inanimate object. It only works if the possessor uses it. This is not to say that God is inanimate but that He expects our responsibility. Followers are to be aware, holy, diligent and studious among other things.

The shield takes the blows for its possessor. The attacks of the world the flesh and the devil can feel like they are directed at believers but the real target is God. In many cases, though the shield would take most blows, one here and there get to the possessor. Yes, we get hurt in this contest with the world. Some of us get very hurt. But God takes the brunt and sees to it even the most injured are handsomely compensated.

God was His rewardI note He was more than that; He was his exceeding great reward. No struggle faced by a believer goes unnoticed by God or unrewarded in heaven. It may be that we get the short end of the world but we get the long end of heaven. I suspect that the shorter the stick here, the longer it is in glory.

Despite all that, Abram had a hope for today. He longed for a child. It was this longing, and his failure to be satisfied in God that led to the greatest error of his life; the birth of Ishmael. But I do mark that God did hear and answer his longing with the miraculous birth of Isaac.

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

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Genesis 15:1 (KJV) A Shield and a Reward

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free.

Genesis 13:3-4 (KJV) Back to the Beginning

Genesis 13:3-4 (KJV)
And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;
Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

Abram’s sojourn to Egypt had hurt him spiritually but not financially. He left Egypt very rich in animals and silver and gold but distant from God. So what does a man do in that spot?

Do what Abram did. 

• ·      He went where he began and
• ·      He did what he first did

Go back to your spiritual roots.
I know sometimes it is impossible to get to the literal location and that sometimes we just can’t reverse every consequence of past choices. I’m thinking that, in some cases, a person might want to travel back to the spiritual place before the one they can’t get back to.[1] It’s a matter of the heart and the spirit, not the place and the circumstances. Find that last place when everything was right in your heart with God and get back there.

By the way, I notice that getting back didn’t make Abram’s life any easier. One of the deepest problems with modern Christianity is that we tend to use it to avoid problems. Real Christianity likely creates more trouble in this world than it solves. It’s an “other worldly” faith that finds few real friends here.

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

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Genesis 13:3-4 (KJV) Back to the Beginning

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free.