Gratitude for Answered Prayer

“On the day I called you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.” – Psalm 138:3 (ESV)

Psalm 138 is a catalogue of praise to God for hearing and answering prayers. A Psalm of David, the Psalm recounts various situations in which God showed His love and concern and answered the believer’s prayers.

God is still faithfully answering the prayers of believers today. God shows steadfast love and faithfulness (v. 2). His name is exalted above all (v. 2). Whatever day one calls on God, He answers and increases the soul’s strength. The kings of the earth will come to recognize the Lord as sovereign and sing to Him (vv. 4, 5). Although the Lord is high, He regards the lowly (v. 5). In the midst of trouble, God stretches out His hand and delivers the faithful (v. 7). The believer can be assured that the Lord will fulfill his purpose in his life, and that God will not forsake him, the “work of His hands” (v. 5).

Even though David wrote the words of Psalm 138 centuries ago, the truths hold true today.

God stands ready to hear and answer our prayers. The faithful can go to Him with petitions daily. They are assured that His ear is attuned to their needs.

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. He hears the prayers of His faithful servants.

He hears and answers even me. Praise is a part of petition and thanksgiving. Let us not forget to praise the Lord for His faithfulness to us day by day. Selah! - Ethelene Dyer Jones 06.25.2017

“Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.” – Hebrews 9:15 (ESV).

Hebrews 11 has sometimes been called “The Roll Call of Faith” by Bible scholars. In that chapter the writer of Hebrews lists many Old Testament examples of those who held a strong faith in God under the “Old” or First Covenent, made to Abraham and subsequent persons whose accounts are given in the Old Testament. Those believers were faithful to hold to the promises passed by word of mouth generation to generation and recorded in the law and the prophets, the Psalms and Proverbs.

In the New Testament we learn of the New Covenant mediated by Jesus Christ the Lord. A mediator is one who helps two parties arrive at an important agreement. The first covenant, given to the Israelites, became ineffective, not through flaws in God’s beneficence in giving it, but in the people’s inability to keep the terms of the covenant. Jesus came and established a New Covenant between Himself and God and for believers.

Jeremiah and others of the prophets wrote of and anticipated the New Covenant. “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant…not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord…I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:31-33). Jesus was the mediator—the executor of the New Covenant. And since, for remission of sins, there must be shedding of blood, Jesus Himself was the perfect sacrifice. He willingly offered Himself as the guarantor—the blood sacrifice—to seal the terms of the New Covenant and pay the price for mankind’s sins and separation from God.

The author of Hebrews states that “all who are called” will receive the promise of the eternal inheritance”—another way of stating “eternal life.” An amazing fact is that Jesus’ death for the propitiation (offering, sacrifice) for mankind’s sins is retroactive. Therefore, the “roll call” of the faithful in Hebrews 11 gives us an insight of Old Testament heroes whom we can expect to meet in Heaven because of their calling-out and faith held by those who lived before the coming of Christ to earth for the sacrifice of sins.

Jesus’ sacrifice is also “once for all” for any (of any era) who hear(d) and heed(ed) His call, believe in Him, and accept His sacrifice for sin. Dr. John Macarthur states in his commentary on Hebrews: “In a deeper sense, the sacrifice had already been made in God’s mind long before it was made in human history, because Christ’s works were finished from the foundation of the world” (see John Macarthur, New Testament Commentary. “Hebrews.” Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005, p. 235). Jesus Christ, our Mediator and Redeemer, has done His work for the faithful of all ages: “It is finished!” was His triumphant cry from the cross before He died. To accept or reject is personal choice. Let us “be about our Father’s business” and declare to our unsaved family members and friends that any individual has but to believe, accept, confess and follow Jesus, and then look forward to an eternity with Him and with saints like the called-out among whom were Moses, Abraham, David and so many more. And, too, all who believe in this life will be reunited with ancestors and loved ones who have gone on before us. How can we not want to receive “the promise of the eternal inheritance” as declared in Hebrews 9:15? - Ethelene Dyer Jones 06.18.2017

Choosing the Right Path

“Blessed is the man Who walks not I the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in
the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in
the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.  He shall be
like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its
season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. 
The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. 
Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the
congregation of the righteous.  For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But
the way of the ungodly shall perish.” -Psalm 6. (NKJV)

When we plan a journey, we want to arrive safely at our chosen destination.  We
map out a route.  Now we have a our fingertips help through the Global
Positioning Service (GPS) as a handy device on our cell phone.  We can quickly
get directions and the route to travel.   We often refer to living life as the
“path” we follow, or the “journey” we take as we live out our allotted days on
earth.  The anonymous writer of the first Psalm invites all who read it to
embrace the pathway God has established for the good of man.  He calls it “the
law of the Lord”—another way of stating that God has made a covenant with man,
to lead and direct him, and lead him in the “paths of righteousness,” the way
man should follow and live.  This way is delightful, and man should “meditate on
it day and night.” 

Early in my Christian life, I committed the King James Versions of this Psalm to
memory.  Throughout my years, I have often quoted the Psalm and meditated on its
truth.  “Blessed”—“happy”—is the person who avoids the counsel of the ungodly,
refuses to stand in the path of sinners, and avoids the seat of the scornful. 
Instead, happiness comes when one delights in the law of the Lord and thinks on
God’s law day and night.

As a child, I could easily understand the metaphor (although I did not then know
to call it a metaphor, a comparison) of being like a stately tree growing beside
the water and bearing fruit.  On our farm, we had apple, pear and peach trees. 
These bore delicious fruit for our family’s use.  I could then easily relate
what the Psalmist was teaching when he said the “blessed” or “happy” person was
like a productive, fruit-bearing tree.  I related, too, that trees that bear
fruit need water, just like a person, to grow and develop.  And in my thinking,
I related the study of God’s Word as being the “water of life.”  This is a
wonderful concept for a young child to learn and live by!  I also liked the
promise as a result of this action:  (The tree—the person) “brings forth fruit
in its season; the leaf does not wither; whatever he does prospers.”  As a youth
and into adulthood, I wanted to follow that method of seeking fruit and that
result of bearing fruit.  I had much to learn, but somehow the lesson fell upon
eager ears.  My path was set.  Early on, I wanted to walk with Go, and I made a
choice to do so.

This past weekend I had the happy privilege of returning to “my mountains,”
where my roots began.  I took friends, one born and reared in China and another
born and reared in British Guinea, to visit the mountain community where I was
born and reared.  We walked a short distance on the famed Appalachian Trail that
crosses Highway 129/19 at Neel Gap a few miles “up a mountain” from where I grew
up.  We drove to the church which was a pivotal point in my growing up years. 
We visited the country schoolhouse where I studied from Primer through Seventh
Grade, thus getting a firm foundation in education.  We viewed a portion of the
land that was once my father’s fertile farm.  We saw my “old homeplace.”  We
drove near the river where I was baptized as a testimony to my faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ on an August Sunday afternoon in 1939.  I think my friends easily
learned from my excitement at being “home’ that I had learned early in life an
eternal truth:  To choose and follow God’s path in life is the way to go.  This
path does not preclude troubles.  But it does assure that God is in control and
that God knows “the way of the righteous.”  Therefore, we have the choice of
choosing the right pathway, the Way with God as Guide.  It is a sure path—the
right path!  Selah!  - Ethelene Dyer Jones  06.04.2017