Inquire! Inquire!

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

Isa 21:11 The burden against Dumah. He calls to me out of Seir, "Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?" 12 The watchman said, "The morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire; Return! Come back!"

 

I find myself back to the Book of Isaiah today, having been going through it verse by verse, I last left off with the “burden against Babylon.” In verses 11 and 12 a new area that God is going to “unload” on. The city of Dumah! This city was a city founded by the Ishmaelites and now located in the territory  called Seir which was the land of the Edomites.

 

All these “ites” can be confusing, and quite frankly it would take too much time in a short devotion to give you all the background.  Let’s just turn to  Ps 137:7 to see why the “Lord was going to “unload” on them!

 

‘Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Who said, "Raze it, raze it, To its very foundation!"”

 

These people were cheering the Babylonian captivity of Judah and basically chanting for Jerusalem to be razed to the ground! Not exactly a way to get on the good side of God! You don’t cheer over the destruction of Jerusalem; you do what Jesus did. “He wept.”

 

This person crying out to the watchman (Isaiah) is evidently an Edomite who concedes that “they have it coming/” He wants to know what the prophet can tell him about this judgment? What will it be? How long will it last?

 

The prophet replies, “Look, if you are really interested and concerned, feel free to ask, but the answer I will give is you need to return! You need to repent! You need to come back to the Lord.

 

The message is the same for you and I! Morning (relief from night) comes with repentance! Are you sincerely concerned about the judgement of God? Then call out to Jesus. Ac 2:21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.'

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Building A Mansion

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

I have been re-reading the classic “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis. If you’ve never read it, I highly recommend it and if you haven’t read it in a while, again I highly recommend you pick it up and go through it again, one chapter at a time, and be sure to bring your marking pen!

 

I was reading his chapter on “Counting the cost,” and almost ran out of ink as I underlined some of his thoughts on Christ’s admonition to “Be ye perfect.”  There is much to be said in response to this admonition, and although Lewis doesn’t mention the verse specifically, this chapter could be summed up in the words from  Php 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

When God calls you to saving faith, He has more in mind for you than cleaning up your more obvious sins. You and I are,  “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.(Eph 2:10) 

Lewis quotes the Christian writer George MacDonald  who pointed out, “every father is pleased with at the baby’s first attempt to walk: no father would be satisfied with anything less than a firm , free, manly walk in a grown up son.”

And like a good earthly father, we can be sure that if we fall, He will pick us up again.

 

One of the dangers associated with coming to Christ is once Jesus has cleaned up our obvious gross sins we are inclined to stop there and feel that now we are “good enough.”  But God wants us to continue down the road and strive toward perfection. (there’s always more work to be done in that arena before we get to heaven! Amen?

 

Lewis says “to shrink back from that plan is not humility; it is laziness and cowardice.” (Ouch) Of course we know that “the job will not be completed in this life: but He means to get us as far as possible in this life.”

 

One more quote from the chapter: When you came to Christ, Lewis says, “you thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace,”

I might add that with every step of obedience and trust, we take in the here and now is just more material for that mansion Jesus is building for you in heaven!

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

The Evidence

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

Ho 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, You children of Israel, For the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land. 2 By swearing and lying, Killing and stealing and committing adultery, They break all restraint, With bloodshed upon bloodshed.

 

These two verses speak volumes against inhabitants of the land. As Americans, we inhabit a land and we need to ask ourselves if these charges apply to us as well as they applied in the days of Hosea.

 

Is there a disregard of biblical truth in our society today? A lack of mercy? A general stiff-arming of God, keeping Him at a distance rather than having an intimate personal relationship  with Him through faith in Jesus Christ?

The answer to that question is found in verse 2. How are we doing with our mouths? Is there an unusual increase in cussing? Foul language is everywhere in our society. Even women are using language that years ago was reserved for sailors and the like.

Lies are prevalent as people seek to cover their sins and promote their agenda. How did those last ads in the election cycle strike you. There are so many lies, that one really doesn’t know who to believe anymore! To which I say, believe Jesus. He is the truth!

 

Killing! Not only the unborn , but senseless violence breaking out in schools, malls, theaters, parades, and other places that use to be regarded as safe.

 

How about stealing? Wrongful acquiring of goods and money! Shoplifting, looting, and lawmakers who enter congress as paupers and come out as kings.

 

Then  there’s the matter of adultery! Sexual sin that abounds in the land from pornography, fornication, homosexuality, and divorce, trampling the institution that God loves…marriage between a man and a woman.

 

All restraints of biblical morality have been shaken off by our culture and woe to you Hosea (preacher) for calling them out on it.

 

These are all evidences of a people who have shunned a personal relationship with God and settled for the ways of the world.

 

The answer? As we have said previously, there is a need for repentance and revival in the land. Let us live lives of repentance ourselves and pray the Lord use us as instruments of His grace and mercy in a land that desperately needs it!

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

No Intimacy With God

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

Ho 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, You children of Israel, For the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land.

 

I don’t believe this charge from the Lord is restricted to the people of Hosea’s day and I say that because the charge is leveled against the inhabitants of the land. As a nation, (the United States of America) we inhabitant a land and if the shoe fits us, (God’s charges fit us) we must wear it.

 

So what are the charges? Three of them. (1) a trampling of truth, (2) a lack of mercy, (3) a lack of knowledge of God.  In the next verse, Hosea goes on to point out the evidences of such a culture. More on that next time.

 

For today I want to zero in on the “lack of knowledge.” Because, this lack of knowledge concerning God will produce the results of trampled truth and a lack of mercy.

The idea of knowledge here is not that of head knowledge, but rather that of intimacy. The word knowledge comes from the same word used when Adam “knew” Eve and she conceived.

So the charge against the inhabitants of the land is they lack a personal relationship with God! It’s not so much a charge, but a stating of fact. The problem with the inhabitants of the land, is they lack a personal relationship with God, and we know that the personal relationship comes through  God-granted faith in Jesus Christ.

 

It’s plain to see then what needs to happen in the land to rectify the situation. We need a revival! An outpouring of the Holy Spirit to turn people from their wayward ways and back to the ways of the Lord where truth and mercy are championed.

Corrie Ten Boom had this to say about revival. If you want revival draw a circle in the ground, then step into that circle and pray, “Lord bring revival to what is inside this circle!”

 

Will you step inside that circle? Will you pray? Revival starts one soul at a time, why can’t it start with me?

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Go Your Way

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

I think I figured out the day that Jesus will return. I was reading in Daniel 12 today and it will be exactly 45 days after the abomination of desolation is set up. And that set up is going to occur 1290 days after the daily sacrifice is taken away.

 

I read about it in Da 12:11 "And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. 12 "Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.

Do the math! Exactly 45 days! Your welcome!

Oh the speculations that have come down to us and continue to come forth from people seeking to interpret these verses and assign dates to the second coming!

Can’t blame them, even Daniel was curious. But what did the angel tell Daniel to do about it? He said in Da 12:13 "But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days."

 

Is there any better advice for all of us. The table has been set for years for the Lord’s return. Every generation since the ascension of Jesus has had cause to say, “This is it!!”

 

People running around like chickens with their heads cut off, knowledge exploding exponentially! This is it right? Da 12:4b " until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."

Whether it is or not. Pilgrim. Be loke Daniel, Go your way. Keep living , keep loving, keep believing, keep serving, because no matter when the end comes, you will be like Daniel, arising to your inheritance, when the Lord returns!

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Call On Jesus

 Welcome to Today's Living Word

I was reading the 96th Psalm this morning and it has some pretty important stuff in it.

Verse 13 says, “For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth.”

His truth is the measuring stick by which we all shall be judged! As Jesus said in Joh 12:48 "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

Since none of us know when Jesus will return or call us home should He tarry, we always need to be ready. Eternity is an awful long time to spend anywhere, and it’s much better to spend it in heaven rather than hell!

The Psalmist also extols those who know this truth to “proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day” (Verse 2)

What does that sound like?

It sounds like this:

Ro 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Ro 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ro 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Ro 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Ro 10:13 For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."

In a nutshell, none of us deserve heaven on our own, the wages of our sin is death (eternal damnation) but Jesus paid the price for our sins and His payment has been accepted by God and as many who call on His name in this life will be saved! It’s a gift from God, as sinners we don’t deserve it! It doesn’t matter how bad your sins have been, Jesus died for us even while we were sinners! So confess with your mouth…..agree that Jesus is Lord and died for your sins and God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved.

I'm Duane Matz and that's Today's Living Word

Bigger Fish To Fry

 

Good day, I’m Duane Matz and welcome to Today’s Living Word.

 

Have you been praying and waiting on God for an answer? We’ve all been there! We’ve all heard the cliché God answers prayer in three ways, Yes, No, and not yet. Let’s talk about an aspect of “not yet”  that we often overlook. The reality of spiritual warfare!   Let’s talk about it from the book of Daniel:

 

Daniel had been fasting and even abstaining from bathing for three weeks and wasn’t getting an answer from God, finally an answer showed up in the form of an angel. We read about it in Da 10:12,13, “Then he said to me, "Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. 13 "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.

 

God heard Daniel’s prayer; he has heard your prayers as well. But sometimes God has bigger fish to fry. Know that! Persist in your prayer, and while you wait, throw one or two prayers in for the very real battlefield of civil government.

 

We are reminded of this duty in 1Ti 2:1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.

 

Peace, godliness, and reverence for nations. Pray for it! That’s one big fish that our world needs!

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word!