Gary Gleans

We need God!  It is very important for us to recognize and live in light of this simple truth.  We have a tendency to be independent and think that we are self-sufficient.  Often, we are so proud that we begin to think and live as if God somehow needs us.  We must never fall into this trap of spiritual arrogance.  We are the ones who lack the understanding and the will power to be able to know and obey God’s Word.  We are the ones who suffer under the weight of our own sinfulness and desperately need to be set free from the snares of sin.  God is the only One who can save us and we need Him. WE NEED FOR GOD TO HEAR US: One of the best ways that we can demonstrate our need of the Lord is through prayer.  When we cry out to the Lord in prayer, we are essentially declaring our dependence upon Him.  We need help from God to be able to understand the world in which we live and our circumstances according to His Word.  God views things far differently than we view them and if we do not

When we love God’s Word it is basically inevitable that we will face affliction in our lives.  We live in a fallen world that does not want to submit to the Word of God and is not pleased when others do.  Affliction should not come as a surprise to us but it should be a great comfort to know that we do not need to face affliction alone.  God is with us and He stands ready to extend His mercy and grace to us and will deliver us from that affliction in the time that He considers best.  When we fear that we may be facing death because of our persecutors we can call out to the Lord who is faithful to give us life. GOD GIVES LIFE ACCORDING TO HIS LAW: The psalmist calls out for the Lord to deliver Him from his many afflictions because of his remembrance of the law of the Lord.  When we are faithful to obey God’s law, God is faithful to grant us life, redeem us and represent us.  Those who are wicked and hate God’s Law do not experience this mercy and grace from God because salvation is

Love for God’s Word is beneficial to every area of our lives.  When we love God’s Word we will spend time with it and we will be obedient to it.  We cannot obey that which we do not know and we will not obey that which we do not love.  It is very easy to say that we love God’s Word, but the true proof of love is not in our declarations but through our demonstrations of Love.  If we love the Word of God we will look forward to our times of study, we will find ourselves thinking about that which we have learned throughout the day and we will be obedient to that which the Scriptures command.  This attitude towards God’s Word will bring about great blessings in our lives. THE LOVE OF GOD’S WORD BRINGS US JOY: The kind of joy that God’s Word brings to our lives is the kind that transcends any circumstances that we might face.  Even when we are being persecuted without cause; the love of God’s Word will fill our hearts with joy.  God’s Word is a treasure that outweighs any weight of suf

Desperation is one of the strongest emotions that we have.  Our desperation is linked to our desires.  The more we desire something, the more we will experience desperation when we do not get that which we desire.  Unfortunately, we become far too desperate over that which is trivial and frivolous and not nearly desperate enough over that which God would have us feel a sense of urgency and desperation.  The reason that this is true is because far too often, our desires are all “out of whack.”   We must begin to align the desires of our hearts with those of God’s heart or we will find ourselves living lives of desperation for all of the wrong reasons.  Desperation over that which is not vital to God will always lead us to despair. WE MUST BE DESPERATE TO KNOW THE PROMISES OF GOD: Knowing God’s Word should be a deep desire in the heart of every believer.  The psalmist repeatedly cries out to know the Word of God and understand what God demands of him.  There is a keen sense of despe

There are three influences in all of our lives: the influence of God, the influence of others and the influence of our own heart.  In a perfect world the people around us and our own hearts would all be seeking the exact same thing as God.  Unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world – yet.  God is bringing the history of this world to a place where we will enjoy the absolutely perfect presence of God forever in the company of the redeemed and righteous from all the nations of the world; but until that time we face a far different reality.  God never changes His righteousness is a constant from history to eternity.  However our hearts are constantly in flux and in one minute we can be seeking God’s face and in the next minute turning away from Him.  The people around us also suffer from this same inconsistent way of living.  Some of them will encourage us some of the time but very often they will hinder us in our walk with the Lord. GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS IS ETERNAL: The Lord is

I am on vacation this week so will not be posting until Monday of next week August 25th.  Have a great week!

God’s Word is a blessed treasure in our lives.  It provides the things that we do need and protects us from that which would harm us.  We must learn to spend time in God’s Word and dedicate ourselves to obeying God’s Word if we want to make use of the treasure that God’s Word represents.  That which we value we will make room for in our schedules and will dedicate ourselves to follow.  God’s Word should be that treasure in our lives and must occupy a significant and privileged place in each of our agendas. GOD’S WORD GIVES PROVISION OF DIRECTION: God’s Word tells us exactly what we should do and what we should not do.  It is written in a way that is clear for all of us to understand the standard to which the Lord holds us.  The truth is that God’s ways may go against the natural bent of our sinful hearts, but they are very good and pleasurable for us because God’s instructions will always bring great joy to all how follow them.  For example: most of us have a hard time with anxiet

We are servants of the Lord.  We use the word “servant” today in a way that almost causes us to forget the true meaning of the word.  The idea of slavery today is not very common in our thinking and we are not comfortable with the thought of having or being servants.  When we talk about being a servant today it is almost always a voluntary act of helping another person in a way of my choosing that benefits them in some way.  We are not comfortable with the idea of subjecting ourselves to another person and committing ourselves to do what another person chooses for us to do.  When we say that we are servants of the Lord, we must recognize the fact that this puts us in subjection to Him and we must do what He requests of us whether we are desirous of doing it or not.  There is also another aspect of being a servant or slave that is also often over looked.  The Master of a servant is also responsible to care and provide for him.  HOW GOD PROVIDES FOR HIS SERVANTS: God has promised t

We share this planet with many evil men and we must put up with many evil schemes that these men contrive.  The question is how are we to respond to these situations?  We must be careful not to be overcome by these men and their practices.  We would do well to follow the example of the Psalmist in this aspect.  He talks about his feelings towards these men as well as the commitments he makes in light of their existence.  He also takes a close look at how God will treat these men and uses it as a means of making sure that he is not swept away in their judgment. HOW WE SHOULD RESPOND TO EVIL: We are usually not very comfortable with the word “hate.”  However, when it comes to wicked and double minded men, the Psalmist says that he hates them.  He recognizes that they represent a very real danger in his life and he does not want to get caught up into following their evil ways.  We must learn to hate that which is evil and reject their attempts to destroy us.  God calls us to love His

Light is a tremendous blessing in our lives.  It allows us to see where we should go and helps us to avoid many dangers that may lie in our way.  The Word of God is a light in our spiritual walk.  It shows us where we should walk and also helps us be able to avoid the traps and pitfalls that so often lie in our way.  Neglecting God’s Word is the physical equivalent of trying to go through life with your eyes closed.  Even in our own homes where we are very aware of the placement of every item we have a tendency to smack into that coffee table on our way to the refrigerator for a glass of water in the middle of the night when we try to navigate our way without turning on the light.  It is far more dangerous to navigate in our spiritual walk without the light of God’s Word illuminating our paths. WE MUST VOW TO FOLLOW GOD’S WORD: If God’s Word if truly a light then it only makes sense that we would vow to follow the path that is illuminated by that light.  It is senseless for us to

Loving God’s Word should describe every true follower of the Lord Jesus.  Fearing God and loving His Word are synonymous thoughts.  There are numerous benefits to loving God’s Word and there are very clear ways that we should demonstrate that love of God’s Word in our lives.  It is easy to say that we love God’s Word because we all know that we should love God’s Word.  However, love by obligation is not really love.  If we are going to truly love God’s Word as the psalmist suggests, we must recognize and appreciate the advantages that God’s Word provides and then demonstrate an attitude towards God’s Word that is consistent with loving God’s Word. THE ADVANTAGES OF LOVING GOD’S WORD: The Psalmist says he loves God’s Word and gives several reasons why he does so.  First of all, he sees that God’s Word gives him an advantage over his enemies.  Because he knows and loves God’s Word he has a wisdom that surpasses that of his enemies and therefor he is able to escape their attacks, avo

The Word of God is eternal.  His Word never changes and it is established forever as the standard by which all of the universe will be judged.  The world in which we live is in constant flux.  That which was considered wrong in years past is now considered a normal part of everyday life without any pain of conscience.  At the same time, there are many practices of the past that were widely accepted by the majority of society that today are considered to be moral atrocities.  The reason for this is that the standards of men are not eternal, nor are they universal.  That which is condemned in one culture may be applauded in another.  The standards of man are in a constant state of change but the Word of God stands forever the same in all generations and in every culture. WE CAN DEPEND ON THE WORD OF GOD: The Word of God is completely worthy of our trust and we can depend fully on God’s Word to remain the same and guide us in the right direction.  God’s Word is fixed in the heavens f

Salvation is a glorious promise from God for which we all should long.  However, the question is: from what exactly do we need saving?  There are several answers to that question, but the most straight forward and simplest answer is to simply affirm that we need to be saved from sin.  Sin is a terrible blight on the face of humanity and on each and every one of our hearts.  We all suffer from sin.  We suffer because of our own sin.  We suffer because of the sins of others against us.  We suffer because of the consequences of sin on the world in which we live.  God has promised to save us from sin through the blood of Jesus Christ.  That means that we will be rescued from our own sin and all of the consequences of that sin: hell, death, separation, loss…  It also means that we will be rescued from the harmful attacks of sinful men against us.  There will be a day when all around us will love us genuinely and we will love them in return.  We are also promised that our surroundings will

The fact that God created us is a glorious truth with vast implications on our lives as well as our eternity.  The fact that God is our Superior is reason enough for us to submit to His Word; but the truth that He is our Creator places an even greater mandate on our lives to worship, obey and fear Him.  Throughout our lives we must be on a constant search for understanding Him and His ways.  Everyone who creates something does so for a purpose.  God is not exception to the rule.  He created us with a specific purpose in mind, so if we want to live a life that experiences the joy that He has envisioned for His creation; we must learn to know and obey His Word.  This is true for every person on the planet.  However, not everyone chooses to submit to and seek the God who has created them.  Therefore we face two different types of people as we go through our own journey to please the Lord. THOSE WHO FEAR GOD AND REJOICE IN OUR OBEDIENCE: Followers of the Lord love to rejoice in one an

Affliction is one of those tools of God in our lives that we are never very excited about when we face it.  However, it is a very common tool that God uses in our lives in order to build the character that He wants to see in our lives.  God is faithful to give us what we need in order to become like Christ not necessarily what we want.  As a rule, we are always attracted to comfort and ease, but God is interested in holiness.  We must learn to trust God and to see that what He wants is always best even if it is not the most comfortable for us.  God’s Word is true and will help us become like the Lord Jesus if we will follow and obey it. GOD USES AFFLICTION TO REBUKE US: It would be wrong for us to say that all affliction is due to our sin, but it would also be wrong for us to say that it is never due to our sin.  The Psalmist tells us that before he was afflicted he had gone astray.  The implication is that God used the affliction in his life to bring him back from having gone ast

Walking with God and keeping His Word is its own reward.  God is a rich reward for all who seek Him.  Fellowship with God is a blessing that far outweighs any other relationship we might have.  Like any relationship, our walk with God has profound implications on our lives and the way that we live our lives.  If we love God and are in a relationship with God; we will love His Word and seek to follow His Word with all of our heart.  This way of living has implications on how we live on a day to day basis and it will affect every aspect of our lives and all of our priorities. THE COMMITMENT WE MAKE: Loving God will always result in a commitment on our part to obey the Word of God.  When we recognize who God is it is only natural that a relationship with Him will bring us to the point of submitting ourselves to His will.  We will also be committed to calling on the Lord for His grace in our lives.  We understand that we are in need and that He can meet those needs so we cry out to Hi