How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. (2 Samuel 7:22)
This study can not move any further until we discuss this verse. There is no possible way for us to truly love God, if we don’t first recognize that He alone is God. There is none besides Him.
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world–the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does–comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17)
I really love this passage of Scripture. I love that the author, John, doesn’t beat around the bush. He gets straight to the point. I love that! I learn best from those who get straight to the point. I have a difficult time with people who beat around the bush, so I can really appreciate John’s straight forward approach to life.
Blessed [with spiritual security] is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord and whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord. For he will be [nourished] like a tree planted by the waters, that spreads out its roots by the river; and will not fear the heat when it comes; but its leaves will be green and moist. And it will not be anxious and concerned in a year of drought nor stop bearing fruit. (Jeremiah 17:7-8, AMP)
I love the imagery that this passage of Scripture creates in my mind. I want to be that tree planted by the water, who never fails to bear fruit for the Lord. Let’s take a look at how this can be done!
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23, AMP)
Have you noticed that the name of Jesus isn’t used as much as the name of God? I find in many conversations that I talk a lot about God and I hear a lot about Him. But the mention of Jesus is rare. Oh sure, I hear about Him and talk about Him during Easter and Christmas. Who doesn’t? But that name, that name that will cause every knee to bow… isn’t always on the tip of my tongue! Why is that?
Honestly, I think that Satan is trying to silence us because he knows the power that exists in the name of Jesus. He sees that power and it terrifies him.
Sometimes we see people cower from the name of Jesus, people disengage from conversation when we use His name, some people simply walk away, and still others are harsh when we talk about Jesus. The name of Jesus stirs up controversy. Have you seen it? I certainly have.
Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.