Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
"A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, But the simple pass on and are punished" (Proverbs 22:3, NKJV).
The thought came to me this morning that all of us often run ahead of even our best thoughts. And too often forget simple truths that could save us from real heartaches!
It is one thing to have our heads full of knowledge, even precious knowledge of "last-day events," but what shall it profit us if we lose our focus on the One who really matters! Sometimes, it is easier to think about Him in our heads but forget about Him in our hearts!
If you are like I am, almost unconsciously, we can go for hours, or days, or longer, wrapped up in our neat understanding of "end-time" issues--and act out as if all this knowledge doesn't really make any difference in the way we spend our money or our time--or how often we neglect the ache in the hearts of those nearest us.
Every once in awhile I am reminded of those precious insights that my life-long friend, Bob Wieland, wrote regarding those precious Ten Commandments. He said that if you memorize the Ten Commandments but omit the Preamble, you have a stern code of law, that is, Old Covenant in nature. But If you keep the Preamble where it belongs, you have a "New Covenant set of ten delightful promises." In the Hebrew, "Thou shalt nots" are the simple future tense indicatives: Believe the Preamble and "you will never steal!" Or, "you will never commit adultery"! (That's really Good News!)
What does the Preamble say (Ex. 20:1, 2)? It's New Testament, New Covenant, Good News: "I am the LORD …" That holy name of infinite mystery--we know Him today as "our Father in heaven" (Matt. 6:9), your intimate best Friend who's on your side. Your Creator God, your Powerful Savior … He's yours; He actually gave Himself to you. But there is more ...
"Who brought [past tense] you out of the land of Egypt"--in other words, "REMEMBER THE RED SEA! For us today, REMEMBER the darkness of discouragement or shame THAT HE BROUGHT YOU OUT OF. He brought you into the Light; He ALEADY has saved you from hell, having taken Himself in His own experience the darkness of your second death; and REMEMBER THAT THE SAME blessed Holy Spirit THAT BROUGHT COURAGE TO THOSE ISRAELITES is today ministering the sunshine of grace upon your soul 24/7.
Keep reading the Preamble: "Out of the house of bondage" He is leading you today! "Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace" (Rom. 6:14; sums up the Ten Commandments!). Christ redeemed you before you were born; don't throw your birthright away as Esau did! The Holy Spirit is telling your heart about it right now--don't despise or sell it! NOW, BELIEVE THE PREAMBLE as the Israelites did and remember the Red Sea and what kind of God is asking for your trust!
--Herbert E. Douglass
From "Red Alert #64." Copyright © 2012 alert@eredalert.com, All rights reserved. (Used by permission.)
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