Read:

Psalm 94:11-23 "Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?"

Exhortation:

(v. 16). I wonder what kind of an answer we would give to these questions.

There are times when we only pray about a problem. There are times when we wait. There are times when God says, "Not now - I'll take care of it later." But there are times when we must act, as when Moses had to stand up and lead the people out of Egypt, or when David had to perform the judgment of God. There are times when we who are the light of the world must stand up and shine, when we who are the salt of the earth must apply that salt to the decay in the world today.

How easy it is to be a spectator and say, "Well, I'll pray about it." Good - be sure you do. But God says, "Who's going to stand up for Me against the workers of iniquity?" The answer: those who know that God is their Help. "Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul would soon have settled in silence" (v. 17). "But the Lord has been my defence, and my God the rock of my refuge" (v. 22). When God is your Help, when you have the strength of God that comes from His Word, you can stand up against the sin in this world.

Those who are separated from sin are also called to action. "Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law, have fellowship with You?" (v. 20). We have laws today that provide defence from a lot of sin. Yet those who are separated from sin must stand up with God against iniquity - those who believe that He will give us the ultimate victory. We may lose a few battles, but thank God we're going to win the war!

Christians are never to become complacent about evildoers. We deal with them by praying, waiting and acting. God wants you to be an influence for Him. Be an active witness where He has placed you. Ask for His leading in knowing when to pray, wait or take a stand.

Read:

Psalm 95:7-11 "Today, if you will hear His voice: Do not harden your hearts"

Exhortation:

We find a warning in today's passage. "Today, if you will hear His voice: Do not harden your hearts" (vv. 7,8). The context is the nation of Israel in the wilderness. From Egypt to Canaan, they saw God at work. He led them out of Egypt, through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. And what did they do in return? They hardened their hearts.

How do we harden our hearts? It's a process that occurs gradually as we complain about God's work and ignore His Word. The Israelites complained about the way He led them and the way He fed them. They heard God's Word and deliberately disobeyed. This is called tempting God. "When your fathers tested Me; they tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation" (v. 9).

When you see God at work and you complain instead of rejoice, when you hear His Word and deliberately disobey it - you're tempting Him. It's like a little child just daring mom or dad to discipline him. When you harden your heart, you miss God's best for your life. The people of Israel saw the miracles. They heard the messages. They were fed day after day. But in a period of 40 years, that whole older generation died. They did not enter into the fullness of their inheritance.

What should you do to prevent a hard heart? Repent. Listen to God's Word and respond to it tenderly. Watch God's work and respond to it thankfully. Stop complaining and disobeying. Worship the Lord and keep a tender heart before Him.

When you take God and His provisions for granted, you become less thankful and less responsive to Him. Heed the warning of these verses: Keep your heart open to God's Word and obey Him

Read:

Psalm 95:1-7 "For the Lord is the great God, and a great King above all gods" (v. 3). 

Exhortation:

That's a great affirmation of faith the psalmist wrote as he looked at the heathen gods of other nations.

The beauty and strength of our Christian devotion and zeal is very much depend on how great is God within our hearts. If you have a small God, you'll have small faith; if you have a great God, you'll have great faith - not great faith in your faith but great faith in a great God. If God truly is a great God, then how should we respond to His greatness?

First, thank Him. "Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms" (v. 2). Be thankful that He is a great God. Note that His greatness extends to creation. "In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also" (v. 4). Isn't it good to know that God is a God of the depths as well as a God of the heights? When we're living on the mountaintop, He is there. When we're down in the valley, He is there. "The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land" (v. 5). I'm glad that my God is God of the changing places, such as the sea, and of the stable places, such as the dry land. No matter where we are, we can experience His greatness.

Second, sing to Him. "Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation" (v. 1). And worship Him. "Oh, come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker" (v. 6).

The greatness of God is the answer to the smallness of man. When you feel week and faint before great sins, great disappointments and great burdens, remember that you are worshipping a great God whose love, mercy wisdom and power are all-surpassing. So kneel before Him to seek His help for your great problems. As you kneel before Him, He becomes even greater.

Read:

John 17:23 "I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me"

Exhortation:

The Heavenly Father loves us because He loved Christ. Therefore it is said in Ephesians. 1:6 that "He hath made us accepted in the beloved." In His beloved Son, we are made His beloved.

The elect are made lovely, and fit to be accepted by God, through Jesus Christ. He accepted us as we are reconciled to Him in Christ. And all that we do is taken in good part for Christ's sake, who came to procure this favour for us, and did all which was necessary to obtain it. The ground of all that love which God beareth to us is for Christ's sake.

There is indeed an antecedent love showed in giving us to Christ, and Christ to us: John 3:16, '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.' The first cause of Christ's love to us was obedience to the Father; the Son loved us, because the Father required it; though afterwards God loved us because Christ merited it. All consequent benefits are procured by the merit of Christ.

In Christ we are blessed with all spiritual blessings. His works have secured our eternal blessings.

Read:

John 17:21 "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me"

Exhortation:

Though it be secret and mystical, yet our union with Christ is real. Because a thing is spiritual, it does not cease to be real. Our unity with Christ is not a mere supposition or a poor empty notion. Our unity with Christ is a real truth. If it is not real why will the Holy Ghost use so many terms to describe believers being planted into Christ?

Read carefully the following statements concerning believers oneness with Christ. "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." (Romans 6:5). "But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." (1 Corinthians 6:17)."For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;" (Hebrews 3:14). Do these terms only imply a relation between us and Christ? No; then the emphasis of the words is lost.

What great mystery in all this! Christ is not only ours, but He is in us, and we in him. God is ours, and we dwell in God. In 1 John 4:13 we read, "Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit." In ver. 15 we read, "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God." It is represented by similitude that imply a real union, by head and members, root and branches, as well as by marriage, where man and wife are made one flesh. It is compared here with the mystery of the Trinity, and the unity of the divine persons. It is not a notion of scripture, but a thing wrought by the Spirit.

We are united to the Lord - It is a truth.