Led by the Truth

Encouraging believers to learn and live the truth of God's Word

Category: Devotional Thoughts

Heed the Heavenly Warnings

September 1, 2020 /

“…the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults.”

Psalm 19:9b-12

Many people in this day and age do not heed warnings. The most common evidence of this is in hurricanes, tornadoes, and severe thunderstorms. Most of the time, warnings are issued in advance of these dangerous weather phenomena, but many people, for various reasons, choose to ignore the warnings and “ride out the storm.” Some manage to do this safely, while others do so to their own peril.

Likewise, there are many Christians who choose to ignore a much more important warning– the warning that comes directly from God. God makes it clear in this passage that God warns his servants by way of His judgments, or commandments. The commandments of God are the warnings issued by God to keep us from danger.

“For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.”

Proverbs 6:23

The spiritual dangers of this world lurk all around us and continually obscure and darken our pathway so that we cannot see the eventual destruction they cause. God’s commands, like a flashlight shining into a dark room, illuminate the darkness of life’s pathway and reveal those hidden dangers so that we may steer clear of them and remain on the proper path that God has for us.

To ignore the heavenly warnings of God’s Word is to set ourselves on a collision course with the dangers of life and align ourselves with death and destruction. No Christian sets out for their lives, testimony, and ministry to be ruined by sin, but the slightest dismissal of God’s warning, however small it may seem, is the first step down this tragic path.

“He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”

proverbs 29:1

The reason why people do not heed severe weather warnings is because they do not believe the storm will be as destructive as it is forecast to be. In some cases, this turns out to be true, but in other cases the storm turns out to be just as powerful and catastrophic as expected.

Friend, the Scripture says the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. The heavenly warnings issued by God are never inaccurate or unreliable; you had better believe that the destruction God warns us of will occur if we do not heed His commandments.

We must humble ourselves and admit that we cannot understand our errors, neither can we understand our own way (see Proverbs 20:24). We must ask the Lord to cleanse us of the sins and errors which we cannot see because of the stubbornness of our own hearts. Then, we must determine to never again ignore God’s heavenly warnings and embrace the promise presented in this passage that if we heed His warnings, we will experience a great eternal reward that surpasses any fleeting sinful pleasure or pathway which we were previously seeking.

The Blessing of the Lord

June 5, 2020 /

The Lord hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless them that fear the Lord , both small and great. The Lord shall increase you more and more, you and your children. Ye are blessed of the Lord which made heaven and earth.

Psalms 115:12‭-‬15 KJV

Five times by direct discourse, and once by implication, God tells Israel that He will bless them. The greatest lie of the devil is that God has not been mindful of us, that he has forgotten us, and has no desire to bless us. The inspired words of this psalm fly in the face of such an indictment. God has remembered those who have been washed in the blood of His Son as a father remembers his child. God is mindful of our most precarious predicament and our deepest, innermost woe and need. God may not necessarily deliver us from our affliction immediately, but He will give us the peace to endure it, and that, fellow believer, is certainly a blessing. We never need to fear any trouble that comes our way; God will bless us, if we trust in Him and in no one else.

Trust in the Lord!

June 3, 2020 /

O Israel, trust thou in the Lord : he is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord : he is their help and their shield. Ye that fear the Lord , trust in the Lord : he is their help and their shield.

Psalms 115:9‭-‬11 KJV

Three times God gives the instruction to Israel to trust in the Lord. Why? Because He (God) is their help and their shield. Spurgeon tells us that this psalm was sung at the Passover as it is part of The Hallel. The three-fold reminder to trust in the Lord, then, is most likely a direct reference to the fact that God proved Himself as a help in parting the Red Sea and a shield in using the pillar of cloud and fire to prevent the Egyptians from prevailing over them.

We would do well to remember our Lord’s deliverance from our sins as proof of His help (in that he redeemed us) and His shielding protection (in that He keeps us in the palm of His hand and none is able to pluck us from it). O that these truths would drive us to trust in the Lord and not in ourselves or vain idols!

Are You Trusting in Idols?

May 29, 2020 /

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.

–Psalm 115:4‭-‬8

Today, most people and religions do not worship physical idols made of silver and gold. However, the application of this passage certainly extends to the modern day idols of money, success, physical pleasure, entertainment, and the like.

May it be said that when we give ourselves to trusting in these idols, whether as Christians or non-Christians, we are transformed to become like the idols themselves. We will be dumb so that we cannot speak when our destruction occurs, blind so that we cannot see our coming judgment, deaf so that we cannot hear the voice of Jehovah the true God, unable to smell so that we cannot experience the aroma of a life that is blessed by God, and maimed so that we cannot walk down the righteous paths of the godly or handle the words of the Almighty.

Friend, if you are trusting in any idols today, know that the Almighty is infinitely greater than any poor, deformed idol of this earth, no matter how convincing it may seem. If only more souls could see the deficiency of idols and grasp ahold of the all-encompassing sufficiency of God, what a peace our world would have!

Are You Giving God Glory?

May 27, 2020 /
Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, But unto thy name give glory, For thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.

–Psalm 115:1


One of the key principles in this life and in eternity is that God’s glory will not be shared with another. God declares in Isaiah 48:11,


“For mine own sake even for mine own sake will I do it for how should my name be polluted and I will not give my glory unto another.”


Every time we take the credit for a work of grace in our lives (which includes anything and everything we do for God), we ascribe glory to ourselves rather than God.

In contrast, we should give God glory for the abundant mercy He has shown to us in salvation and in our present walk with Him. We should also give glory to God for the truth of who He is; He is just, holy,  all-powerful, all-knowing, and loving. We should lift up these attributes of God in our speech, daily living, and service.

Friend, are you glorifying God today, or are you glorifying yourself?

How’s Your Sacrifice?

April 16, 2020 /

In this passage, the Lord uses the analogy of a servant’s relationship to his master and a son’s relationship to his father to illustrate the fact that as Israel’s Heavenly Father, he deserved the utmost honor and respect; as Israel’s Master and Lord, he deserved reverential fear. God phrases this analogy in the form of a question, which God often does to prick the hearts of men and cause them to consider their ways:

If then I be a father, where is mine honour?
And if I be a master, where is my fear?

Malachi 1:6 (KJV)

God’s intention in posing this question to the priests was to show them that godly fear and honor did not exist in their lives. The chief reason that God identifies for the dearth of these two spiritual qualities is the priests’ ungodly attitude towards God and His work. God said they were guilty of despising His name and calling the table of the Lord contemptible (utterly despicable). As a result of this attitude, the priests were in the business of profaning the Lord’s Name and work by sacrificing polluted, blemished animals on the Lord’s altar instead of the unblemished, proper sacrifices required by the Old Testament law.

Friend, there is much application for us to make from this passage concerning the New Testament believer-priest as he or she worships God. First, the proper honor, respect, and fear of God must envelop every facet of our lives. It is easy for us to give lip-service to the fact that we honor, love, and fear the Lord, but if these qualities are not the consistent tenor of our public and private lives, then we face the same indictment placed upon the priests of Israel.

Second, we must have the right attitude while doing God’s work. Beware when Satan begins to tempt you with subtle murmurings and disputings about the responsibilities you have in your local church, or how much you are constrained to give in the services, whether in time or money. From these seemingly small complaints arises a spirit of discontentment which, in time, will solidify into the callous of utter disdain and contempt for the Lord and His work.

Lastly, we must bring proper spiritual sacrifices before the Lord. When our fear of the Lord has waned, our attitudes have gone sour, and our spirits have become hardened to the things of God, we will offer the polluted sacrifices of heartless praise, dead worship, lackadaisical service, and carnal living to the Lord. Not only that, but we will, like Cain, expect God to accept our offerings even though we know that our actions are not pleasing in His sight. When we as believer-priests find ourselves in such a state, it is then when the Lord sternly reminds us that “sin lieth at the door.”

Yet, God in His love still admonishes us to repent. If we confess our sin of dishonoring the Lord in our life and service, then God will remain faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse our hearts so that we may offer to Him the holy, acceptable, living sacrifices of heart-filled praise, Spirit-filled worship, fervent service, and consecrated living. May God help us to be in such a state every day of our Christian lives.

How’s Your Love?

April 15, 2020 /

“The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us?”

Malachi 1:1-2a (KJV)

It is convicting that God would begin what is essentially a message of rebuke with a proclamation of His love for Israel. God’s love is a love of the most intense devotion; it is utterly unconditional. Yet, Israel responds flippantly to this loyal love in asking “Wherein (how) hast thou loved us?” This question would be more appropriate if it were posed to our fellow man because man is sinful and the quality of man’s love is not on par with God’s. We don’t always back up our proclamations of love with the actions that prove our loyal devotion to those whom we say we love. However, Israel made this same accusation against Jehovah God, the omnipotent Ruler of the universe. How it must have hurt the heart of God to see His love that He had shown for thousands of years consistently and arrogantly left unrequited.

Yet, in reality, we are not far from the Israelites. We may not necessarily lift up our voice to God and say, “Wherein hast thou loved us,” but every time we choose to live carnally as a believer, we have in essence asked this very question. Christian, how is your love life? I’m not talking about with your spouse, your family, or your friends. I’m asking about the status and quality of your love for the Savior–your Savior. Are you in fellowship with Him, or are you walking in the darkness of sin? Are you being faithful to Him in your service, giving, and witnessing? Are you daily in His Word and daily in prayer, seeking to know more about the One who loves you? May you and I seriously consider these questions and do business with God to get our hearts–our love–for Him renewed and restored to complete fervency and vigor.

Originally published under the title: “Devotional Thoughts from Malachi 1:1-2”

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