MUST-READ: IF YOU don’t wake up swinging, you’re going to get knocked out. You’re going to lose. As God’s child, YOU are in a FIGHT, A WAR – like it or not. A war is raging over your life, for your eternal soul. And you are losing if you don’t get up swinging, every day.
Set your life up for success by hard-scheduling Christ into the first waking moments of your day – in prayer and His Word (Matthew 6:6; Mark 1:35; 2 Timothy 2:15). Build your days upon the Rock – the only immoveable platform, destined to victory!
ANY person who is not beginning his/her day seeking the face of Christ, is not putting God first. They still have the god of self first. Repentance needed – a re-turning to the LORD afresh! Then, watch His beautiful blessings flow into your life – so that no matter happens or comes your way, He’s LORD and Master over it all!
We must love and honor our God “first” as we “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). To seek first the LORD denotes priority – putting Him first and not ourselves. As we honor the LORD, there will be a leading to seek His holy face first thing each morning! When such is the case, the perfect will of God will pervade our lives. That is the promise of our LORD Jesus.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33
Putting Jesus first is literal. If we haven’t settled in our heart, our life, to spend time with God daily (preferably first), we are backslidden, setting ourselves up for failure, doing things our own way instead of God’s, and in utter need of repentance. Today is the day to turn back to Jesus as the “first love” of your life! See Revelation 2:4-5.
“I can do no good to those who come to seek from me if I have forgotten my time alone with God in the early morning.” – Robert Murray McCheyne
“In the past I would use the excuse that I wasn’t awake enough in the morning to read God’s Word. As a result, I spent much less time with the LORD in His Word. Best to do first. I have coffee every morning with Jesus and His Word.” – Meme A.
The disciples day begins with talking with God in prayer and praise and thanksgiving and allowing Him to talk to us by studying his Word.
A quality day with Jesus begins with communion with Him – First thing in the morning.
Saints of Christ – get alone with Your master each morning. Begin your day seeking His holy face – in His Word and prayer (Job 23:12; Jeremiah 15:16; Matthew 6:6; Mark 1:35; 2 Timothy 2:15). Run on FULL saints and not on empty. True wise virgins saints fill and run their earthen vessels on full, not empty! (Matthew 25:1-13) These are the “few”, the “little flock” of the Lamb of God who shall forever enjoy the treasures of Heaven for all eternity (Matthew 7:13-14; 25:1-13; Luke 12:32; 1 Corinthians 2:9; Revelation 21).
“There is no time like the early morning for fellowship with Jesus!” FB Meyer
WHEN God truly is first in your life, it’s proven in that you arise each morning to seek His holy face, to do His holy bidding, to be led by His Holy Word and Spirit (Psalms 5:3; 63:1; Mark 1:35).
“The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees.” – EM Bounds
“I seek thee early” – Below is yet another reference to putting God first and early morning prayer communion.
“With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” Isaiah 26:9
“A sinning man stops praying. A praying man stops sinning.” – Leonard Ravenhill
The LORD instructed His servant Moses to “be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning … and present thyself.”
Are you “ready in the morning”? Are you presenting yourself before the LORD in the morning? (Exodus 34:2-3)
Do you go up to God in the morning?
Is He your first priority when you awake?
God instructed Moses:
“And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount. 3 And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.” Exodus 34:2-3
Our meetings with God are to be private (Exodus 34:2; Matthew 6:6; Mark 1:35). He desires to meet with Him in private. To further emphasize this point, the LORD tells Moses that not even animals should be in the vicinity.
Concerning Psalms 30:5, one sister in Christ has observed the following:
“Every morning, we have the opportunity to make that morning the first day for the rest of lives.”
Early morning prayer is an absolutely irreplaceable mainstay in the life of every disciple of Jesus.
Do your mornings begin with fellowshipping with the LORD?
Those who choose to be “ready in the morning” to meet with God, will be ready when Jesus suddenly returns. For truly they are setting their heart affections upon Heaven’s King instead of this world (Colossians 3:1-4).
“Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; 36 And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. 37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. 38 And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 39 And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. 40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.” Luke 12:35-40
Think you really know Him? The person who does not have a daily prayer communion with the LORD has no oil in his lamp/vessel and is therefore not ready to meet Christ, the heavenly Bridegroom. Read Jesus’ warning parable on the Ten Virgins in Matthew 25:1-13.
Anyone not praying is not seeking God and has already fallen away (Luke 12:40).
Satan is defeated as we are not only positionally but also practically dead and “hid with Christ in God” (Romans 6; Colossians 3:3).
There is no such thing in history as a powerfully used man or woman of God who was not given to our LORD in a life of prayer.
“Pray often; for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan.” John Bunyan
“He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find him the rest of the day.” John Bunyan
“The secret place of prayer is the place to fight our battles and gain our victories.” R.A. Torrey, How to Pray, p. 88
Moses was alone with God. Jesus did and taught the same:
“And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he (Jesus) went out, and departed into a solitary (uninhabited; no other man) place, and there prayed.” Mark 1:35
Abraham also had established habits for success with the LORD – to meet with and commune with Him “in the morning.”
“And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD:” Genesis 19:27
Is Jesus the first One you are going after tomorrow morning beloved?
Isn’t this exactly what the same LORD Jesus taught us when instructing His disciples of the New Testament era on the important matter of prayer fellowship? Listen to our Savior:
“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Matthew 6:6
Prayer is saving faith in action—the obedience of engaging in a personal perpetual, and intimate relationship with the Savior. “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:31). In the divine economy and the personal life of every authentic disciple, knowing the LORD and a life of prayer are inseparable realities.
Satan is defeated
as we are dead with Christ,
hid with Christ in God!
Romans 6; Colossians 3:3
Note that when the LORD called Moses to meet with Him in the morning, he told Moses that He wanted personal time with him: “no man shall come up with thee.” (Exodus 34:3)
As Exodus 34 continues, we will note here below how that Moses went up an empty slate if you will and as the saying goes. Perhaps this refers to the blessed humility in Christ’s servant Moses and therefore his openness to learn of the LORD. He came up in the morning to meet with the LORD with a teachable heart and no preconceived notions or doctrines.
“And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. 5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.” Exodus 34:4-5
Like Moses, are we allowing the LORD to be the Writer of the bless-ed constitution on our hearts? When we come before Christ with open heart, He pens His Precepts upon our hearts, filling us with His Spirit. When speaking specifically of Moses, the apostle Paul writes:
“Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:16-18
After meeting with the LORD, Moses came out of that fellowship consumed with the Word and by the Holy Spirit. Watch this:
“And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist (knew) not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. 30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.” Exodus 34:29-30
Just as Moses experienced, as they meet with Him, the countenance of the people of God today, will be lit – will shine bright for the world to see and take notice of the salvation of our God!
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
We cannot lead others where we are not willing to go ourselves. Moses arose in the morning to meet with God. He had spent quality fellowship with the LORD. He sought God in private and was now being used of the LORD in public. Now he is “hid with Christ in God” and being used of the LORD to help others (Colossians 3:3):
“And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the LORD hath commanded, that ye should do them.” Exodus 35:1
Beloved, never again awake and do anything except seek God in your first moments. That’s exactly how Jesus walked (Mark 1:35). You are kidding no one except yourself to say that reading the Bible at night, the very last thing you, is going to cause you to grow in Christ (Psalms 5:3).
Our Mornings
During a season of ministry in my life, when 140 men had been thoroughly, individually ministered to and repented and received Jesus, with no exception, after each man gave his life to Jesus, discipleship began immediately. Deliberately and with deep conviction, I would look them directly in the eyes and lovingly, firmly say:
“Your day only begins right when it begins at the feet of Jesus! Whatever you do, read God’s Word daily. From this day forward, never begin your day without reading, studying God’s Word and spending time with Him in prayer. It’s more important than breathing and food. Don’t ever begin your day, each and every day from now till eternity, without Jesus, without spending time in His Word and prayer.”
BEGIN YOUR DAY WITH JESUS – IN HIS WORD AND PRAYER – and everything in your life is going to be blessed!
Is Jesus calling you to “Be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning”? (Exodus 34:2-3) Is the Savior bidding you to “Come and dine”?
“Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.” John 21:12
Beloved, how can we possibly dish out if we don’t first dine? How shall we feed and we don’t first fellowship, with Jesus, if we don’t feast of the bounty at His banquet table? Is He calling us to answer His call to deepen and prioritize fellowship with Him?
“One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.” Psalms 27:4
“When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.” Psalms 27:8
Recently, one lady rebuked me for preaching that disciples of Christ should seek His face in the morning, putting Him first. She said this was Americanized. Jesus wasn’t American and neither was Moses or the psalmist. This has nothing to do with what part of God’s globe is living but rather, that they are looking to the One who made all things and is our only salvation – according to His Word. In this message we are looking at what Jesus and Moses said and did about early morning prayer and it’s more than obvious that they sought God early in the morning – they put Him first:
“And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he (Jesus) went out, and departed into a solitary (uninhabited; no other man) place, and there prayed.” Mark 1:35
HOW DID JESUS begin His days? Did you just see how “a great while before day” Jesus sought the Father when He was on the earth? Are we following Jesus – by beginning our day, every day, before His holy feet, seeking His beautiful face? If we are, we shall begin our days with Him (Mark 1:35; 1 John 2:6).
“He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” 1 John 2:6
The Psalmist agrees.
“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” Psalms 5:3
“O God, thou art my God; EARLY (Hebrew: dawn) will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;” Psalms 63:1
“Morning” appears 227 times in the King James Bible.
“Unless in the first waking moment of the day you learn to fling the door wide back and let God in, you will work on a wrong level all day; but swing the door wide open and pray to your Father in secret, and every public thing will be stamped with the presence of God.” Oswald Chambers
Men of God have always been seen to wake up early and seek God, first thing. The LORD’s Word is filled with such examples to us. Jesus Himself set that example by rising up a great while before daylight and seeking the Father in a private place, one uninhabited by any other man (Mark 1:35).
“But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and IN THE MORNING shall my prayer prevent thee.” Psalms 88:13
“Prevent” here simply means to go before Thee. In other words, the psalmist, speaking to God, speaks of his seeking the face of the LORD first “in the morning” – putting Him first by rising up to pray, to send forth prayer to the LORD.
Memorizing the following words spoken by the man after God’s own heart (David) as immensely changed the course of this disciple’s life (Acts 13:22).
“Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.” 1 Chronicles 16:11
Mark Herridge Sr. writes:
“Give a man a prayer and he can have the victory today. Teach a man to pray and he can have the victory for a lifetime.”
Sister Debbie Lord shares:
“Lately I’ve begun my morning by bowing before the Lord God Almighty and Jesus at His right hand, magnifying Him — His ‘hallowed’ Name — holy, spotless, pristine. Wonderful and terrible is His power, judgment, mercy and love. More pure and true than any other thing or being in all of creation. There is none like Him. None can even begin to match Him in all of His majesty.”
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I come to You in the name of Jesus. Please captivate my heart with Thy holy fear, to hasten my life to Your holy feet. Teach me to pray. Please teach me concerning seeking Your holy face. Let my days begin with You O God – and yes from this day forward each day You give me will begin with seeking Thy holy face. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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Abiding
The Chosen are being Called and Prepared to “Go” [podcast]
Jesus didn’t say “stay.”
Jesus commanded us to “Go” (Matthew 28:18-20).
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15
“They Desire a Better Country”
“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country , and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:” Genesis 12:1
“By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange COUNTRY, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:” Hebrews 11:9
“For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a COUNTRY.” Hebrews 11:14
“And truly, if they had been mindful of that COUNTRY from whence they came out, they might have had the opportunity to have returned.” Hebrews 11:15
“But now they desire a better COUNTRY, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he has prepared for them a city.” Hebrews 11:16
Billions lie unreached.
“Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” Psalms 2:8
BE WARNED….
That if you dare ask God to prepare and use you, the adventure of serving as you are accomplishing His Great Commission is going to begin and gain steadily increasing traction and fruitfulness! Read John 15:1-16.
It all begins with a simple, sincere prayer, a request to God to use you—and therefore begin now to prepare you.
“If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” 2 Timothy 2:21
The LORD can use us to the degree we’ve sought Him for and submitted to His strippings, purgings, His preparation.
“See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” Jeremiah 1:10
God has a plan to remove that which does not belong in you and to establish what does.
- “to root out” (destructive)
- “to pull down” (destructive)
- “to destroy” (destructive)
- “to throw down” (destructive)
- “to build” (constructive)
- “to plant” (constructive)
When Jesus cleansed the temple, after rooting out the evil, He then installed the purity, prayer, praise, and power (Matthew 21; John 2).
God has His order. One thing comes before the other.
When you Go, that’s when you are going to Know!
“Christianity is not American and America does not define Christianity! We need to stop trying to merge the two together. Jesus died for people all over this world, and Christianity existed long before America was even a thought. I am a Christian who physically resides in the USA, but this world is not my home. I long for an eternal kingdom.” Gloria Sykes
When you obey Christ and “Go” there will be a harvest of souls—some you will see and many you will not.
“They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” Psalms 126:5-6
Thanking God and you for pausing to lift up the blessed saved souls to Jesus in PA. From Tom and Karen Cochran:
“God has opened up a door for us to minister in a nursing home. People in there are hungry. They have been stripped of their pride! They need help just to do everyday things we take for granted. Very few have family or friends who visit. All their material possessions are pretty much gone, and once put in a home they know this is probably where they will die. They have no hope. And that is why they are hungry! Jesus gives them hope! We have seen many completely changed by the gospel and power of Christ! Jesus saved a one- hundred- and-five-year-old woman, and after she prayed she began to sing ‘Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so’!”
People are eternal. Are you investing in people, eternal souls?
Are you personally participating in, contributing your time, talents, and treasures into the Great Commission Jesus gave us? See the end of Matthew and Mark.
MESSAGE ON AMERICA:
“Lately I have been seeing many taking to the streets to preach the gospel and it is shocking to see the response of Americans. In their pride and arrogance they keep right on walking and don’t even look up. Too busy in their comfortable lives. Headed for the path of destruction and they could care less.”
REPLY:
Seems this is how America could, should be viewed: “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. 15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city” (Matthew 10:14-15).
Who are the people who are going to be with Jesus?
“These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are CALLED, and CHOSEN, and FAITHFUL.” Revelation 17:14
Luke 9:57-62
“And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
Of this passage at the end of Luke 9, one writer notes the following:
“9:61 The third would-be disciple resembled the first in that he volunteered to follow Christ. He was like the second in that he uttered the contradiction, “Lord … me first.” He wanted first to say goodbye to his family. In itself, the request was reasonable and proper, but even the common civilities of life are wrong if they are placed ahead of prompt and complete obedience.
9:62 Jesus told him that once he put his hand to the plow of discipleship, he must not look back; otherwise he was not fit for the kingdom of God. Christ’s followers are not made of half-hearted stuff or dreamy sentimentality. No considerations of family or friends, though lawful in themselves, must be allowed to turn them aside from utter and complete abandonment to Him. ….
And so we have three cardinal hindrances to discipleship illustrated in the experience of these men:
1. Material comforts.
2. A job or an occupation.
3. Family and friends.
Christ must reign in the heart without a rival. All other loves and all other loyalties must be secondary.”
Matthew 9:35-38
The 3 Ways God’s People Participate in Christ’s Great Commission
1. Praying for Christ’s laborers (Matthew 9:35-38).
2. Witnessing, sowing and communicating the Word (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 8:11).
3. Supporting, supplying those of God’s people who are doing His Great Commission, preaching the Word (Matthew 6:19-21; 2 Corinthians 9:6-11; Philippians 2:25; 4:16-20).
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21
PRAYER: LORD, sanctify my life. This is YOUR life. Put me exactly where you want me on Your planet. Use this life dear LORD. In Jesus’ name.
Prepared to be Used of God | Great Commission
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Articles
“A Just Weight is His Delight” and Gouging is Sin
Gouging is Ungodly – and God is Watching, Sees All, and will Repay Accordingly
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Galatians 6:7-8
Scripture informs us of the LORD that “true and righteous are thy judgments” and God requires that those who know Him will deal justly – in just weights and measures (Revelation 16:7).
“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6:8
Doing justly before God would mean dealing equitably with men. When you read the following passage, keep justice, greed, and fearing God in mind:
“A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight. 2 When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom. 3 The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them. 4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death. 5 The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness. 6 The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness. 7 When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth. 8 The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead.” Proverbs 11:1-8
Wicked unrepentant people forge ahead in their sin, continuing to live separated from God, vainly believing that because He hasn’t yet judged them that He won’t in the future. Justice is a death march to the irrevocable fire of eternal hell.
“Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” Ecclesiastes 8:11
So when you go to a store, who has decided the pricing on each item? you or them? obviously when 2 individuals negotiate for the sale of an item between themselves, they come to an agreement on the price. the fact that a person in a situation like this, can pay whatever they wish for something if it has value to them, in no way negates just weights and measures as begins with God Himself …. There are standards to be measured against in determining the value of something. you can’t blank out what we find originating in Scripture. So, have you ever heard of real estate appraisal? If so, what’s this field of work for? What does it measure? What’s its purpose?
Charging more than the actual value is sin unless the buyer requests to pay more for it perhaps in order to obtain the item before someone else does.
Gouging arises from wicked hearts who greedily covet the things of this fleeting world. Greed is not a virtue, it’s a soul damning sin.
“Labour not to be rich (the sin of greed): cease from thine own wisdom. 5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. 6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: 7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. … 17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.” Proverbs 23:4-7, 17
The utmost fear and wisdom of God must be observed from His Word when setting prices for products and services. Seems best to under price a bit rather than over price, gouge. In the flesh, is it not easy to get greedy when setting prices for the product and/or services your company offers? Yet what is the long term affect on your community, your clients?
Think about those people you’ve done business with who price fairly and how that made you feel about them and how it affected your repeat business with them. Seems to me that those who fairly price their product/services are exponentially more likely to be established in a community with good reputation and honor.
“A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.” Proverbs 22:1
In every economy there are standards of measure and appropriate pricing or prices set accordingly…. The further a people distance themselves from God, from the instruction of His Word, the deeper in rebellion that nation plunges, the more skewed are the weights and measures. John Quincy was instrumental in laying the foundation for just weights and balances in America.
“John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the United States, liked to measure things – the width of a river, the distance between two points – by counting his steps…. When Adams became Secretary of State in 1817, his fascination with measurements coincided with the desire of Congress to establish a uniform standard for weights and measures across the United States. After three-and-a-half years of obsessive work (which frustrated his wife, Louisa), John Quincy Adams produced his Report Upon Weights and Measures. He thought it would be his most important literary accomplishment.
Fixing the Standard of Weights and Measures
The importance of everyone in the country using the same system of weights and measures was recognized by the founders of the United States. The Constitution gave Congress the power to ‘fix the Standard of Weights and Measures’ (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 5). However, there was no agreement as to which weights and measures should become the national standard. Each of the original thirteen states was using its own weights and measures, which differed from those used by other states. No Congressman wanted to be blamed for changing his constituents’ customary way of measuring things.
All of the early presidential messages to Congress included an appeal for legislation to establish a uniform system of weights and measures. In 1790, at the urging of George Washington, the House of Representatives asked Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson to draw up a plan. Jefferson put forward two options: one a refinement of the existing English system of weights and measures; the other a new decimal system based on the foot. Jefferson’s report was transmitted by the House to the Senate, where a select committee concluded that, since Britain and France were each considering national standards of measure which could become a universal standard, it was not desirable, ‘at present, to introduce any alteration in the measures and weights which are now used in the United States.’ (2) In 1796, the House passed ‘An act directing certain experiments to be made to ascertain uniform standards of weights and measures for the United States,’ but the bill was never taken up by the Senate.”
Applying a higher or lower price for what something is actually worth is the definition of unjust weights and balances. Today we see the greed of men manifested when they overcharge or gouge their neighbor by charging more than what is just for a service or product.
Gouging is sin, it’s a form of not loving your neighbor, it’s taking advantage of your neighbor, your fellow man.
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” Matthew 7:12
“Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Matthew 22:39
“Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” Romans 13:10
A friend of mine told me: “Those in business today who gouge people by overcharging them do it because no one stands up and holds them accountable.” In other words, as long as they can get away with it, they will do it.
He is correct. As I think back, there one particular example that comes to mind of recent, where in my estimation, I was the victim of gouging, of unjust weights and balances.
$22 for a plate lunch, a to-go lunch which was not a large volume of food and no drink was included (which I personally never get anyway) and they didn’t even have empty cups or water available.
These gougers have all kinds of ways, sayings, they use to “justify” their charges, such as “it’s industry standard pricing,” or “standard price charged by everyone in our industry.” etc.
After being gouged, I contacted them, their leadership, and sought to reason. Neither budged and so I exposed them with one star reviews and an explanation as to why I viewed their charges as gouging, as an unjust weight and balance.
“Just balances, just weights… shall ye have.” Leviticus 19:36
“A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.” Proverbs 11:1
We usually quote the first part of this verse and apply it to spiritual balance, which is fitting and true. Yet the application of this statement involves charging our neighbor equitably for goods and services.
Isn’t it best to charge fairly and sleep well?
Stealing from others, gouging, unjustly greedily overcharging others, brings curses which includes not being able to sleep soundly. Listen to the wisdom of our God in Solomon:
“The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. 13 There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. 14 But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand. 15 As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. 16 And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?” Ecclesiastes 5:12-16
Covetousness and greed run rampant among fallen men and yet greed and covetousness will reap the just reward of eternal damnation.
“For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.” Ephesians 5:5-7
“Thou shalt not steal.” Exodus 20:15
Overcharging another, gouging, is stealing. Any person who is perpetrating thievery on others, and this includes overcharging/gouging, is ungodly and cannot sleep well. Such is an unrepentant sinner. Is it really worth and unclean conscience? Is it worth spending eternity in hell? Though completely ignored by the professing apostate church world today, all sin must be cut off from our lives, must be crucified (Mark 9:43-49).
“Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. 36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36-37
“Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.” Leviticus 19:36
“A just weight and balance are the LORD’S: all the weights of the bag are his work.” Proverbs 16:11
“But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” Deuteronomy 25:15
PRAYER: Father You are holy. Please forgive any greed in my heart. Please, from this moment forward, bring deep conviction of sin to my conscience LORD. Break me to the core of my being and grant that all stony places in my heart be replaced with an heart of flesh. Please unite my heart to fear Thy name dear LORD. In Jesus’ Name, amen.
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When we die downward and are dead and buried with Christ, we can be assured that God is going to raise us upward.
“But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Romans 8:11
Romans 6:1-14
“1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed (brought to naught, nullified), that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
The Crucified Life | Travis Bryan III
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