Is it possible to eat and not be satisfied?

Is it possible to hear but not understand?

Is it possible to read and not comprehend?

Is it possible to be warned and ignore it?

These questions form the foundation of where find ourselves in Psalm 75. In verses 6-8 we read…

6 No one from the east or the west or

from the desert can exalt themselves.

7 It is God who judges:

He brings one down, he exalts another.

8 In the hand of the Lord is a cup

full of foaming wine mixed with spices;

he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth

drink it down to its very dregs.

It is so easy to hear the truth of God’s Word and walk away forgetting to obey it. How many times have we read or heard Jesus say, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew
7:12)? If you’ve been a Christian very long, you’ve probably heard it a lot. Matter of fact, even if you’ve only been a Christian for five minutes, you’ve probably heard part of this—at least in concept. Yet, for all we’ve heard it, how often have we gone out within minutes and treated someone in a way we would most definitely NOT want to be treated? Too often for you too, huh?

But our blessing from the Lord doesn’t come when we hear God’s Word. It comes when we DO God’s Word (James 1:22-25). It’s easy to think we can get by on our wisdom but that’s arrogance. This is what the Psalmist Asaph is saying in verse 6: we can’t exalt ourselves. No matter what we do, we are incapable of being our own god. Pride only ends one way: bad.

We are acting like those without Christ when we disregard His words. Jesus said in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

But dear one in Christ, you are called to a wisdom so much higher than your own. You don’t have to figure it out by yourself. You can read His Word—consume it,
let it become part of who you are. Don’t make the mistake of trying to live your life as a functional atheist—meaning you say you believe in Christ and trust Him but live your life as if He doesn’t exist.

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong—not so that people will see that we have stood the test but so that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed.
2 Corinthians 13:5–7

As you move through your day and the rest of your week, try the following:

1. Test your faith in the crucible of God’s Word.

2. Test your dreams in the stillness of your quiet time with Him.

3. Test your desires with the surrender you’ve given to Him.

He longs to bless you, but first He must clean you. This is what our loving Daddy does. This is how He remakes us into His image and sets us free.

In my heart in my soul

Lord I give You control

Consume me from the inside out Lord

Let justice and praise

Become my embrace

To love You from the inside out

Everlasting

Your light will shine when all else fades

Never-ending

Your glory goes beyond all fame

And the cry of my heart

Is to bring You praise

From the inside out

Lord my soul cries out

“From the Inside Out”
Joel Houston
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