07/26/2026 – “Remember that “the need to receive, recognize and rely on the Holy Spirit” is before all else. // “If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine…” John 7:17
“The golden rule for understanding spiritually is not intellect, but obedience. If a man wants scientific knowledge, intellectual curiosity is his guide; but if he wants insight into what Jesus Christ teaches, he can only get it by obedience. If things are dark to me, then I may be sure there is something I will not do. Intellectual darkness comes through ignorance; spiritual darkness comes because of something I do not intend to obey.
No man ever receives a word from God without instantly being put to the test over it. We disobey and then wonder why we don’t go on spiritually. “If when you come to the altar,” said Jesus, “there you remember your brother hath ought against you…don’t say another word to Me, but first go and put that thing right.” The teaching of Jesus hits us where we live. We cannot stand as humbugs before Him for one second. He educates us down to the scruple. The Spirit of God unearths the spirit of self-vindication; He makes us sensitive to things we never thought of before.
When Jesus brings a thing home by His word, don’t shirk it. If you do, you will become a religious humbug. Watch the things you shrug your shoulders over, and you will know why you do not go on spiritually. First go — at the risk of being thought fanatical you must obey what God tells you.”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
“It is impossible to read too much, but always keep before you why you read. Remember that “the need to receive, recognize, and rely on the Holy Spirit” is before all else.”
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My reflection: Read and pray over Psalm 44 in particular. I am going to share the Apologetics Study Bible commentary on this chapter and then connect up with Paul’s quote from this Psalm in Romans 8:36.
“Ps 44 – This is a national lament over the problem of suffering. The writer, speaking on behalf of the nation, recorded how the Lord abandoned them in a war for no reason — they had not broken faith with Him. Paul quoted from this psalm (v.22) in Romans 8:36 (*A – below) to affirm, as the psalm doe, that such suffering does not separate us from the love of God.
44:23 The command “wake up” is a bold anthropomorphism calling God to action, as if He has been asleep on the job. It is a desperate cry of suffering, rightly did Paul explain this by saving, we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit intercedes for us (Romans 8:26). Only a people with a supreme confidence in their God – such as faithful Israel — could use such bold, even demanding, language in prayer, fully confident that He can handle it.” (*B – below)
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(*A):
Ok, Indeed, let’s look at Romans 8:36 (Paul’s quote), reading through the end of the Believer’s Triumph section in verse 39:
“As it is written:
Because of You we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more victorious through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!”(Romans 8:36-39)
So, what strikes us as our takeaway from this incomprehensible joy in the “Believer’s Triumph” that started with a bold lament to the Lord? Thoughts?
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(*B) – Sadly, fast forward to the time of Jeremiah and Isaiah with Israel worshipping foreign idols, even within the temple. In Romans, chapter 9 – Israel’s Rejection of the Christ, the commentary of verse 6 reads:
“But not all of elect, ethnic Israel constitutes elect, spiritual (saved) Israel (v.8). Paul distinguishes two kinds of election: (1) the election of the nation of Israel to achieve certain tasks (also why God chose individuals – the patriarchs and Pharaoh, v 17), and (2) election to salvation. To be in the latter group (that is, to attain righteousness) requires faith in Christ (vv. 30-33; recall what makes a true Jew in 2: 28-29)
Soli Deo Gloria!