Finding God in the Aftermath of Crisis - Part 1

Joel 1:1-3 “The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. Hear this, you elders, and give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! Has anything like this happened in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? Tell your children about it, let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.

In our churches study of the books of the Minor Prophets, Pastor Kyle began a Sunday sermon series in the book of Joel. Sometimes, it seems that life is in a cycle like a well written dramatic movie, of disaster to crisis to resolution to aftermath to restoration to looming disaster. But, walking with God in righteousness is the way to produce a steadfast spirit that transforms and brings true peace in life. The book of Joel starts with the people just experiences a devastating locust attack that laid waste to the land and wiped our everything. But, things were about to get worse because an enemy’s army sent from God was on its way against the nation of Israel. When we are right with God, we welcome the Day of the Lord. But, when we are unrighteous before God, we dread the Day of the Lord. Whether they know and understand or not, it is horrifying and worrisome for the unrighteous; the people not walking with the Lord.

Isaiah 1:16-20 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

The Lord is not a God of wrath, but must punish sin. His message to us is simply that if we do “this”, then “that is going to happen (blessings or curses). Pretty straight forward, follow and obey God, then He will take care of you. Don’t and we will pay the consequences. But, sometimes, despite a parents warning, we, like a child, have to learn by touching the hot oven door. Pastor Kyle explained how to find God in the midst of and aftermath of crisis. (1) Take a good hard look in the mirror. Call “wrong” wrong or “sin” sin and do the “right” thing. See God for who He truly is, then take a journey inside yourself to compare. If you find and see something wrong in your heart, mind or soul, then stop doing it. Tear your heart (inwardly) and not your garments (outwardly). The Lord is concerned with what is happening on the inside. Stop any cycle of sin begins with the first step. Confess your sin and start to make better decisions  which are right in the eyes of the Lord. Get help if required.

Let’s continue Pastor Kyle message from the book of Joel in the next post.

In Christ, Brian   

Joshua 1:9

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (NKJV)

Godly Provision

Psalm 34:7-9 “The Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him [who revere and worship Him with awe] and each of them He delivers. O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good! Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him. O fear the Lord, you His saints! For there is no want to those who truly revere and worship Him with godly fear.”

What marvelous promises! These are promises for today, not for the hereafter. God loves and cares for His creation. We are protected. We are blessed. We are satisfied. Researching a few biblical resources, I found a joyful truth about God.

Jehovah-Jireh” is one of the many different names of God found in the Old Testament. “Jehovah-Jireh” is the King James Version’s translation of YHWH-Yireh and means “The Lord Will Provide”. It is the name memorialized by Abraham when God provided the ram to be sacrificed in place of Isaac. Jehovah-Jireh provided a sacrifice to save Isaac, and that action was a foreshadowing of the provision of His Son for the salvation of the world. Much of what God does for His precious saints (those who have been sanctified in the Lord) is veiled in the Old Testament—often hinted at in poetic sections like the Psalms or wrapped up in the principles contained in mighty miracles displayed in God’s sovereign care for Israel.

Matthew 7:7-11 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

But, one writer points out that the New Testament is replete with direct promises and insights. The first three chapters of Ephesians reveal the inexhaustible resources that we have at our disposal as the children of the King of the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus promises that we need not worry about tomorrow or about our needs; the heavenly Father already knows what we need and is anxious to give us “good gifts”. Paul told the church in Philippi that he knew that he could “do all things through Christ which strengthens me”. He also understood that God “shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus”.

Psalm 34:10 “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing”.

It's so wonderful to know that God is our source for everything we need and He cares about everything we care about. There's no need so small that He doesn't know about it, and nothing too big that He can't provide for us. It is when our heart desires are in alignment with the Lord’s desires for us and the world, that He will give us the desires of our heart. The Lord is the “Great Provider” of godly provision. Know that by God's providence you are blessed.

Ever-Present God

Proverbs 15:3 “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.”

I read a short devotional on the omnipresence of God that was thought-provoking that I’d like to share today. The God who created and made all things is not only omnipotent, He is omnipresent. “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him” (2 Chronicles 16:9).

David’s insightful Psalm 139 is certainly one of the most striking affirmations of God’s omnipresence. Psalm 139:8-12 explains, “If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” even the night shall be light about me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.”

God’s omnipresence, however, should not be understood in a pantheistic sense. Omnipresence is defined in the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary as: Presence in every place at the same time; unbounded or universal presence; ubiquity. Everywhere. Omnipresence is an attribute peculiar to God. Although He sees everyone and everything, that does not mean He is in everyone and everything. Evil is the absence of God, but He is there. But since Creator God is spirit and everywhere, He Himself cannot be seen anywhere. Jesus said concerning the Father, “You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape,” but He also said, “I am come in my Father’s name”. “He that has seen me has seen the Father”.

John 14:15-17 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

It is also a wonderful revelation that God, the Holy Spirit now indwells every Christian believer, so this is another way in which God is everywhere—that is, wherever there are true Christians, God is there. “Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s”. Live as if God is right there with you … because He is. 

Godly Behavior

Philippians 2:14-16 “Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.”

It is a comfort to know that the regenerate convert has the Holy Spirit makes sure that we do not take lightly the obligation to live godly lives. A short devotional on this Bible passage above states that this “list” in Philippians 2:14-16 contains both warnings and promises.

The teacher reiterates that everything is to be done without “murmurings” and “disputings.” Both words are very interesting synonyms of heart attitudes that produce ungodly behavior. The Greek word translated “murmur” is goggusmos, and it is almost an onomatopoeia (sounds like what it actually is)—a secret debate, muttering to oneself. The “dispute” (Greek word dialogismos) suggests a logical debate with oneself. We are commanded to excise that kind of behavior from ourselves so that we may well be blameless and harmless as the “sons of God,” living “without rebuke.” These words are powerful in their description of God’s expectations for us.

1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 “And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.”

The blameless condition is first an eternal promise that comes with salvation. That condition “works out” in this life as a faultless reputation that is harmless. In Romans 16:19, Paul uses the term this way: “I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil”.

Finally, if we eliminate “murmuring and disputings” from our inner thoughts and actively seek to be “blameless and harmless” with our external behavior, we will be “without rebuke” in the middle of this sadly sinful world, while living godly lives with the eternal perspective.

2 Peter 3:10-14 “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.”

True Treasure – Part 2

Michael continues his message on “True Treasures”, pointing out that James 4:2-3 says that you have not when you pray because you ask amiss, that you might consume it upon your lust. Lust means "Concupiscence; carnal appetite; unlawful desire of carnal pleasure. Evil propensity; depraved affections and desires." Lust is anything that you treasure above God. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  

Prayer is communication with our Heavenly Father. Communication is co-Union when we unify His purpose with our purpose, His value with our value, and His heart with our heart. Therefore pray in secret so that God can hear your heart's desire for a relationship in proximity with Him. "Perfect prayer" is the manifestation of the Spirit of Christ in us. For the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are sons of God.  For in our flesh we know not what we should pray for as we ought.  But the Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings that we cannot express in the language of our own human frailty – Romans 8:15.

Jesus didn't teach his disciples how to preach. He taught them how to pray. The "Lord's Prayer" is part of Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew 6:9-13. Most people think that prayer is asking God to bless us. However the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples emphasizes that we should bless God: "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed (holy, sanctified, set apart for your purpose) be thy name."  The first of the Ten Commandments literally says, "Thou shalt have no other gods between your face and my face." Therefore, treasure treasures in heaven.  Our true treasure is our Heavenly Father Himself.

From the lyrics of "Be Thou my Vision," may our prayer be:

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art

Thou my best Thought, by day or by night

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word

I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord

Thou my great Father, I Thy true son

Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise

Thou mine Inheritance, now and always

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart

High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art. 

Amen.

May we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!

Your brother in Christ, Michael

True Treasure – Part 1

This week, Michael writes that Matthew 5 and 6 records Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount." The theme of the Sermon on the Mount is that treasure not material treasures upon earth, but instead spiritual treasures in heaven. Treasures on this earth will corrode and pass away, but the eternal spiritual treasures in heaven will last into eternity. The question is, What do you value most? Earthly wisdom says to hoard earthly treasures because they have a short shelf life. Everything we own wears out and loses its value. However, God commands us to treasure treasures in heaven that will last forever. According to 2 Corinthians 4:18, the things that are seen are temporal, but the unseen things of the Spirit are eternal. Therefore, treasure treasures in heaven for where your treasure is there will your heart be also. Men and women will follow their hearts into eternity. The treasures of this earth are “dust to dust and ashes to ashes”. That which is of this earth will be shaken and burned.  However, treasuring treasures of the Spirit of life in Christ in us will last forever.

The greatest treasure is acquired by the power of prayer. Prayer is where the Christian life is lived. English Christian evangelist and author Leonard Ravenhill said, we should learn to pray in "concentration camps." For thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee. It's far easier to rest without an answer until we learn to believe God according to the power of prayer. Prayer is to believe God for the scriptures say, "whatsoever you ask in prayer, believing you shall receive."  

Humanistic worldly wisdom teaches us to believe and act on things of the world that we don't understand. We routinely use our electronic devices to send and receive information without understanding the intricacies of e-mail and data communications. Likewise, God doesn't ask us to understand how prayer works. He simply requires that we act on prayer by believing andacting according to His Word.  

Acts 6:24 says “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” You can't serve both the material things of this world and the spiritual things of life in Christ. You are servants to whom you obey.  

The beatitudes, beginning in Matthew 5:3, give the requirements for those blessed of God. These “blessed” attitudes are cultivated by maintaining communication with God in prayer. Prayer connects our heart with God's heart.  Prayer is aligning our heart with our Father's heart. Prayer is "delighting ourselves in the Lord."  When our delight is His delight, then he will give us the desires of our heart.

Let's continue Michael's message on "True Treasures" in the next post.

In Christ, Brian

A Picture of God’s Love – Part 2

Hosea 14:1-2 “Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take with you words and return to the Lord; say to him, “Take away all iniquity; accept what is good.”

Continuing Pastor Kyle’s Message on God’s love for us, explaining that our Creator Father God wants every decision in our life to be made with Him; every moment and portion. When tempted to do things the human way, choose God’s way. There is a tendency to try and keep everyone around us appeased and happy, despite God’s way. We have to choose between “chasing after the wind” in the vain pursuit of being in with the “in-crowd” or pursuing what is pleasing in the sight of the Lord.

Ephesians 5:8-10 “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.”

2 Corinthians 5:9 “Whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him.

1 Thessalonians 4:1 “Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.”

With all our technology advances today, it has never been easier to live a life away from God. Cell phones, tablets and laptop computers; the Internet, live-streaming videos, online newsfeed, anytime social media, real-time gaming, YouTube and Googling vie for our attention and add to our busyness with more distractions from God’s love, until a crisis or tragedy arises. When we take our eyes off of God, and onto what everyone else has and are doing, we develop a self-centered, unrealistic expectation of our life. Do not forget God; He’s right there with you always. We must remember what Matthew 1:23 says, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).” Make the choice to stop “chasing the wind” and lovingly and prayerfully make the choice to gather, praise, worship and live in dedication, devotion and desire for the ways of God’s. 

1 Corinthians 15:54-55 “When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?”

When tempted to do things the old “fallen” way, choose the new “with God” way, which is foreign to the sinful flesh nature and the God-rejecting world system. The devil is a scheming trickster, who tempts and deceives to steal, kill and destroy souls by turning hearts away from God, creating a real “run and grab everything you feel that you need or want” life mentality today in our culture. But, sinful pleasure are both temporary and fleeting at best. And we should know that if we pick a fight with God, you can make a bet on who is going to win. Do not identify with the pre-transformation self, but with the regenerated and post-transformation child of God and citizen of Heaven. Those sinful old ways of the natural man or woman lead to bondage, exile, death and eternal punishment. God’s way leads to godly freedom, real joy, true peace and eternal life. When tempted to think that our lives are bad, remember that God cares. We have a past, but we now have the present and a future, and God wants to live and think by the new forgiven and saved way of life now. 

John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

We were spiritually dead in sin, but Jesus Christ conquered sin and death for us. God is in the life resurrection business. But, we cannot just model Christ with our life; we must take “words” and tell others of the love of God. It seems like we can do church on our own, but the community of Believers must be working and living the People of God life together and in inter-personal relationships, building the body of Christ, leaning, growing, maturing and impacting our culture and decreasing the population of Hell – all for the glory of God. Remember, live and communicate the love of God.   

Hosea 14:9 “Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.”

In Christ, Brian

A Picture of God’s Love - Part 1

 Hosea 13:4-6, 9-10a, 14“Yet I am the Lord your God ever since the land of Egypt, and you shall know no God but Me; For there is no savior besides Me. I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. When they had pasture, they were filled; They were filled and their heart was exalted; therefore, they forgot Me. “O Israel, you are destroyed, but your help is from Me. I will be your King; Where is any other, that he may save you in all your cities? I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your sting! Pity is hidden from My eyes.”

This last Sunday, Pastor Kyle finished up our church’s Sunday sermon series through the book of Hosea, stating that the whole book of Hosea is a timeless word-picture of Lord’s love for us all. He pointed out how slogans are designed to say all that they need to get the message across in just a few words. They say much, without saying much. They invoke an emotional word-picture intended to cause the hearer to view things as viewing them in a manner that is an extension of, and with a connection to, who we are on a soul level. Like Hosea, God buys and takes back His people despite their perpetual infidelity. In the story, we are Gomer, who turns from God in willful sin. We have old ways and patterns that cause us to turn away from God. Sin separates us from God. 

Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

We are all “fallen” in our sin nature, yet there is loving forgiveness to be found by the Sovereign Creator God for us. Yet, God says: “I love you and forgive you. Go and be holy.” (meaning, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. – Galatians 5:16). Pastor Kyle gave us two questions that we should ask ourselves every time we hear of or read the book of Hosea. Question #1 - How could Almighty God love us like that? God’s love and mercy, that produces this grace and forgiveness, is not deserved; it cannot be earned; it cannot be purchased. Love and mercy are natural attributes of our Heavenly Father. Accept it, receive it and turn back to God in repentance, pledging yourself to live in His holy Word, Will and Way. Come to God or return to God. The more that we love and follow Jesus with passionate obedience, we shall grow and mature as Christians, increasing and becoming more like Him. 

Galatians 5:17, 24-25 “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

Question #2 – Where is Hosea’s wife trying to show up in our life today? We are not that different than those Israelites, who walked away from God thinking that they can “do it on their own”. Another term for “pride” (inordinate self-esteem; an unreasonable conceit of one's own superiority in talents, beauty, wealth, accomplishments, rank or elevation in office, which manifests itself in lofty airs, distance, reserve, and often in contempt of others) is “doing things the sinful and destructive human way”. 

Let's continue Pastor  Kyle's message on the next post.

In Christ, Brian

Bless the Lord, O My Soul

Psalm 103:1-2 “Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.

Walk the Talk – Part 2

Acts 11:18 says, “When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.”

Michael continues his message by pointing out that there is another record in Acts about “Simon, the Sorcerer”, who wanted to buy the gift of the Holy Spirit. Simon thought that he could buy the power of the Holy Spirit. He wanted it for his own gain. He still valued the things of this earth ... he treasured earthly treasures. Peter told Simon that he should repent ... that he should change his mind and let God reign. The first step to salvation is to turn from making myself lord of my own life. It means to change lordships. It means to confess Jesus Christ is Lord. Lord means owner. It means that I'm not owner of my own life ... He is. The essence of Christianity is not who we are but rather whose we are.

2 Timothy 2:24-26 “A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”

The will of God is to love them while they are still sinners and pray for them if perhaps God will make a way for them to turn to Him. In repentance and acknowledging the truth they will escape and recover themselves from the snare of the devil. The basic problem for the “unsaved” is that they have been held captive by the devil, aka, the god of this world. When they worship themselves and money is their treasure, they are ensnared by the devil. Repentance means to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ for deliverance.

Luke 16:9-14is the parable of the alleged unjust steward. He used his own wealth to cover part of the debtors' debts that they owed to the master of the house. The master commended the alleged unjust steward because he had done wisely: “And I say unto you, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

Relationships are more valuable than wealth. The church counsel is to use your money to invest in the things that really matter ... to use your wealth to build up people, for Christ’s sake. Treasure treasures in heaven by investing it into the only two things that  last into eternity. The things of this world will be shaken and burned. The only two things that last into eternity are our own spiritual life in Christ and the eternal spiritual lives of others whom we influence for Christ. We don't live for our commission. We live for his “great co-mission” ... therefore, we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.  In other words, Walk the talk and "Give 'em heaven!

May we ever live to the praise of the glory of His love and grace!

Your brother in Christ, Michael

Walk the Talk – Part 1

This week, Michael writes: There's a story of a group of men who called themselves fishermen. Their area was renowned for its lakes and streams filled with big and hungry fish. The men met weekly and talked about the abundance of fish and defended fishing as an occupation. They searched for new and better ways of fishing. Their slogan was "fishing is the task of every fishermen."  They sponsored councils and conventions about fishing. They built large buildings at their fishing headquarters. However, they never fished. They called many to go into the fishing business. They held meetings to find where there were other areas where the fish were plentiful. They educated many people about how to approach and catch fish. But the teachers never fished. They sent out many students to do full time fishing. Like their teachers back home, these students never fished either. Some made fishing equipment, others studied how to farm fish. After one meeting, one young man went out and caught two large fish. The chairman of the fisherman club recruited him to go out and tell others about the two fish that he had caught. The young man never fished again. 

The moral of this story is that they never followed the master's calling. The master is Jesus Christ who had said, "I will make you fishers of men." Jesus said in John 14, "If you love me you will keep my commandments." If we say that we treasure treasures in heaven instead of upon earth, then our actions will prove where our heart is. The proof is in the pudding. However, salvation starts with "confession" that Jesus is Lord. Confession means to "speak the same thing." In life, it means to talk the talk and walk the walk. As the book of James says, “Be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves”. The question is, "What is it that you value?" For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Paul said Philippians 1:21, regardless of whether I live or die, to live is Christ and to die is gain. My life and death are for the same purpose: the furtherance of the gospel of (the good news of) my Lord Jesus Christ. We were created for God's glory, not ours. The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “glory” as: Praise ascribed in adoration; honor of God for His divine perfections or excellence. The word "glory" in the Hebrew text means "weight." Glory is the substance of the things of weighty and lasting value. The interpretation of the "handwriting on the wall" in the book of Daniel said, "thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting." The scale is God’s standards.

When heaven is your treasure, repentance is your greatest opportunity. Repentance means to "change your mind." It means to do an about-face ... to turn from self and unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Our moment by moment opportunity is to "set our affection on things above, not on things of this earth." Our grand opportunity is to turn our eyes upon Jesus. According to Hebrews 11:1, Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  

Let's continue Michael's message on "Walking the Talk" in the next post.

In Christ, Brian

Church and State

“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature would "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.” Thomas Jefferson, January 1, 1802

It seems that ever since the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision was handed down on February 10, 1947, Everson vs. Board of Education, used this personal letter from President Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut, reinterpreting his assurance to them that the United Sates government was constitutionally bound to the Right of “Freedom of Religion”, a division intended for government not to interfere with the free exercise thereof has been turned around to mean that government has the duty to stop religious express in any and all government affairs and institutions. It may come as a surprise but, even a cursory reading of history would indicate, the current political debates over the relationship between the church and the state are not new but have existed in the West for centuries. In fact, the issue was addressed even before the rise of Western culture, as God’s people under the old covenant also were concerned with church-state relations. An article that read stated that during the old covenant period, the people knew nothing about the separation of church and state. Instead, Israel was a theocracy governed by a king who was appointed by the Lord Himself. That has changed under the new covenant, however, because the church now exists as a sanctified (separate) people who live within societies governed by civil magistrates who are not necessarily believers.

Romans 13:1-3a “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong.”

The article explained that, of course, defining the church as a separate people does not in itself explain how it is to relate to the governing authorities. We must also understand something of the nature of civil government. Simply put, government is “legal force”. It has the authority to set laws that govern our behavior, punishing its citizens when they break the law. Such is the design of our Creator, for government is His invention and not something people came up with on their own. The Lord Himself is a governing authority with the right and power to rule over what He has made. Everything belongs to Him and is subject to His sovereignty (Ps. 24:1). In His wisdom, God has delegated some authority to human beings. He instituted the first human government, which consisted of Adam and Eve, when He tasked our first parents with taking dominion over the earth.

Genesis 1:28 God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

In his City of God, Augustine says that after the Fall of Man from the Garden of Eden, government took on the new responsibility of keeping evil in check. Ideally, the civil magistrate serves to help prevent wicked people from defrauding others of life, liberty, and property. In a fallen world, government is ordained by the Lord to punish evil.

There is much to be discouraged about when we look at the unjust laws that our ruling authorities have put on the books. However, we must also understand that even the most corrupt governments are signs of God’s grace. Anarchy is much worse because the lack of civil order makes it absolutely impossible for human beings to live and thrive. We should be aware of the faults of our rulers, but we should also thank the Lord that He uses them to restrain evil and that He is ultimately in control of the affairs of both church and state.

Blessings

God Versus the Idols

Jeremiah 10:6-7“There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is great in might. Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you”.

As I read along in this little study of the book of Jeremiah, I see by the relevant applications of this prophet’s message in living in today’s world. My dad’s church went through a sermon series through this book years ago and with the treasure-trove of knowledge and wisdom being presented, the benefits are obvious for each and every one of us also. The lesson explains that God, in His gracious revelation of Himself, often tells us both what to do and why we are to do it. Though He is always well within His rights to answer our questions with “because I say so,” He frequently goes beyond that to explain why serving Him is always in our best interests. Life rules with understanding the reason behind them creates personal buy-in to obey. A good example of this is the denunciations of idolatry that we find in the Old Testament prophetic books. For instance, Isaiah 44:9–20 mocks pagan idols to show us why we should not follow false gods. Isaiah tells us that a deity that we can shape with our hands from created material is no god at all.

Jeremiah chapter 10 is another passage in which the Lord gives us some reasons why we should serve Him and not other gods. He begins with the familiar Old Testament charge not to follow “the way of the nations”. We think about Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Shamanism, etc., but also “self” in money, power, position and possessions. In their original context, such charges refer to the gods and ethics of the peoples that surrounded ancient Israel (Lev. 18:24–30; Deut. 12:29–31). God’s people were not to follow the pagans in serving their deities or living according to their immoral codes. Jeremiah10:6-7 focuses mainly on the serving of other gods, particularly gods associated with astrological signs. We see this in the charge not to “be dismayed at the signs of the heavens” (Jer. 10:2). The peoples of the ancient Near East believed that their gods would move the stars and planets in the sky above in order to indicate their future plans for nations and individuals. Consequently, certain astrological configurations could provoke great fear and terror when they were interpreted as omens of doom. The frequency with which Israel and Judah descended into idolatry indicates that they were not above such fears. But as Jeremiah told the ancient Judahites, they were not to be afraid because these false gods could not do evil or good (Jer. 10:3–5). Following idols is wrong not only because they are not the true Lord but also because idolatry binds people to fear, fear that is unfounded since other deities are non-existent. What did we fear today?

Jeremiah’s call for Judah’s repentance reminded them that following God was in their

best interests; that they were to obey Him not only because He said so but because following anyone else makes no sense at all. Yahweh—the Lord of Israel—is the only true and living God. He is no dead idol or a false deity who is a fantasy but the everlasting King who made the heaven and earth by His power (Jer. 10: 6, 10–13). To fail to serve Him or seek instruction from Him is the height of stupidity (Jer. 10: 21).

The lesson concluded by stating Reformer John Calvin comments, “God renders his glory conspicuous everywhere, so that it ought to engage and occupy the thoughts of all men and women; and it would do so were they not led away by their own vanity.” Idolatry does not exist because the Lord is unclear about His existence but because of our own vain imaginations. Sin makes us prone to trust gods other than the one true Lord of all, but when we do that we become

captive to fear and the destructive results of putting our final hope in any but God.

Blessing in the One true God

Misplaced Confidence

Jeremiah 7:3–4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord’”.

Getting only part of message or information in anything can lead us blindly in the wrong direction. In this little Bible Study of the book of Jeremiah that I’ve been going through, this point is brought up in the passage above. The lesson warns us that paying attention to only part of what God says always gets us into trouble. The most important rule for discovering what this passage or any Bible verse means is to interpret the verse in its context. Today, for example, we routinely hear people confess, “God is love” from 1 John 4:8. Many who do this, however, then affirm that one can be saved apart from Christ. Such individuals might confess that even a professed atheist will go to heaven as long as he treats others kindly. These people pass over the fact that in His love, God sent His only Son as the one way of salvation for the world (John 3:16; 14:6). In not heeding all that Scripture says about divine love, they reach false conclusions about the exclusivity of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

The study says that modern people are not the first to read God’s Word selectively. Jeremiah chapter 7 records the Prophet’s famous sermon against those who trusted in the words “this is the temple of the Lord”. The threefold repetition of this phrase could indicate the ultimate confidence the Judahites placed in possessing the temple. Or, it could mean the words formed a mantra the people spoke whenever Jeremiah warned them of divine wrath. Either way, the Judahites thought God’s choice of the nation and His placement of the temple in Jerusalem meant He would never allow the city to fall. This selective reading of Scripture, however, ignored the Lord’s purpose in choosing Judah.

The Lord chose the children of Jacob to be a holy nation, and failure to keep His covenant would bring about the ultimate penalty of exile. Professing faith in the covenant Lord of Israel and having Abraham as one’s forefather were not enough for salvation; the people had to possess faith in the Almighty and demonstrate it via love of God and neighbor. Thus, Jeremiah told Judah that they had to care for the destitute (evidencing love of neighbor) and abandon other gods (evidencing love of God) to be preserved from destruction. Dr. John L. Mackay comments, “The Temple guaranteed them nothing if they were living lives of rebellion”.

We do not gain the righteous status by which we are justified and given citizenship in His kingdom by methodically obeying the Lord. Faith alone in the promises of God alone avails for justification, which is fulfilled as we trust in Christ alone. But the signs that we have justifying faith are true repentance of sin and a genuine, good-faith effort to follow and obey the Lord. Judah forgot this in Jeremiah’s day, but they should have known better. After all, the people’s possession of the ark at Shiloh in the days of Eli was no help to the impenitent.

The study today concluded that we must likewise be wary of misplaced confidence. Though great steps of understanding, dedication, devotion and desire, we do not rest in God’s salvation because we took Christianity 101 or confirmation classes, signed a card of commitment to Christ or saying a “Sinner’s Prayer” and going forward to receive Christ at an “altar call.” Instead, our present possession of saving faith is what assures us that we belong to Jesus. The question we must ask ourselves is not whether we “once” professed faith but whether we trust Him today and every day? Christianity is not what we did or what we do, but who children of God are and whose we are. Do we trust Christ alone this day? 

Blessings

All on Your Own

Hosea 6:7 “But like men they transgressed the covenant; There they dealt treacherously with Me.

Last Sunday, Pastor Obie continued our church’s sermon series on the book of Hosea saying that co0mmon thought is merely having a same point as others. It may not be the “right” way or the “safest” way, but it is “my way” or “our way”. How many times do we feel that we do not need instructions, directions or guidance in doing something? The negative effect can be that we end up in a worse place than where you started. 

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?

In the Old Testament, the people of God made a covenant with God and only by the Will and Hand of God did they accomplish greatness. But, over time, they turned away from God and towards themselves. Israel’s decline led the forgetting of what God had done for them and to spiritual betrayal. God compares sin to spiritual adultery. But, the love of other gods still happens today in unfaithfulness to our heavenly Father, Creator God when we commit ourselves to our own interests, pleasures, possessions, position, money and addictions that take our eyes off the Lord and makes us prostitutes to those idols in our life. But, though we dishonor and ignore Him, God loves us despite us.

Hosea 7:10 “Their arrogance testifies against them, yet they don’t return to the Lord their God or even try to find Him.” 

Pastor Obie explained three pitfalls of a prostituted people. (1) Their pride blinds their spiritual perspective. How easily we deceive ourselves with our own abilities and accomplishments that make us blind to the things of God and His Divine hands in life and creation. All on my own. (2) They place their trust in powers other than God’s power. We put our trust on self, others and other things than Father God. We find strengths in our alliances and our armies, in our physical and intellectual strength, in our achievements; but, not in God’s. Who do we turn to when troubles appear? Do we turn inwardly, outwardly or upwardly? 

Hosea 10:13 “But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors.”

(3) They prioritize their pleasure and preferences over God’s. The desires of the sinful flesh for pleasure leads to turning away from God’s commandments, statues and laws, which are designed (a) to protect us, (b) to provide for us.  No Rules equates to pure chaos in life, not freedom, but bondage. God’s Way is the only way to true happiness. Spiritual adultery does not get us where we really want to be. Are we living in such a way that our life is pleasing in the eyes of the Lord?  

Ephesians 2:5-6 “Even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)

 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.”

Pastor Obie reminds us that God’s grace is greater than all our pitfalls. Hosea 11:9 

Father God teaches us (His children) how to walk in the ways of the kingdom of Heaven. He wants to see the best for us, which is when we are in the center of His love. God wants a richer relationship with us, rather than empty religion. Not just knowing of Him, good at following rules, but bad at following God, so failed even though we believed that we succeeded. God says, “I do not condemn you.” Acceptance comes before change. Like the prodigal son, we were all dead, but now alive; was lost, but now are found. Through Jesus Christ, we have come home to the Father. He is with us and we personally know Him both intellectually and relationally. This is true love.

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

Jesus Christ died for us on the cross for the atonement of our sin, while we were still sinners. We cannot make it on our own. Let His power change you.

In Christ, Brian

The Deceitful Human Heart

Jeremiah 17:9–10“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ‘I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds’”.

Going through a study of the book of Jeremiah, I came across the passage above, which is one that has made a large impact on my worldview and a point of contention in this world. One of the biggest questions in the world is whether mankind (in terms of our heart) is basically good or basically bad. This passage and others like Matthew 7:13-14 and Ephesians 2:1-3 make clear the answer from God’s perspective. We need a Savior. 

The study pointed out that in the law of Moses, indeed in the Bible as a whole, there is much stress laid on outward behavior and how we are to treat our neighbors. Yet the Mosaic law is clear that mere external conformity to its demands is insufficient. The Lord demands an obedience that goes far deeper than that ... not what we do, but who we are. His standards must be on our heart—they must impact our motives, thinking, emotions, and everything else that we are both inside and out. This is a hard truth to grasp, which is why God emphasizes it from the beginning of His dealings with the people of Israel. The five books of Moses often stress the need for a circumcised heart (having cut off the sin skin) that is set apart to love the Lord above all else.

Galatians 5:19-21 “When you follow the heart desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, drug abuse, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”

Jeremiah emphasizes the need for a changed heart by reminding his readers of our hearts’ condition apart from God’s grace. Born in sin and committing sins throughout life, our hearts are “deceitful above all things, and desperately sick”. We do not, apart from Christ, love the truth. We rationalize the irrational and defend the indefensible. We harbor malice, lust, covetousness, and all manner of secret sins. We selfishly desire whatever we want, whenever we want. This is what Scripture tells us from beginning to end because of original sin. Bible commentator Matthew Henry comments, “There is wickedness in our hearts which we ourselves are not aware of and do not suspect to be there. Are we blind and conformable in our sin?Transformation

The prophet Jeremiah saw this so clearly because of the era in which he lived. During Josiah’s reign, Judah enjoyed what appeared to be a great revival, culminating in one of the grandest Passover celebrations ever. However, though Josiah had true piety, the nation as a whole experienced only a skin-deep revival. Jeremiah 17:1–4 reveals that the people never truly gave up “their altars to other gods and their Asherim (one of the three great goddesses of the Canaanite pantheon), beside every green tree and on the high hills.” The hearts of the people under Josiah were far from God, and there was only rote observation of true religion.Ultimately, the people were not trusting God and His Word, but they looked to whoever was currently in charge to direct their piety. There was no deep personal attachment to the Lord, so the people were just as happy worshipping the gods of Canaan as they were praising Yahweh. How about us?

Jeremiah 17:7-8 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Josiah was a good man, much better than his grandfather Manasseh. Nevertheless, because the Judahites trusted in the king, not in the Lord, reformation did not go far enough. It is always folly to trust mere men for one’s reconciliation to God, no matter how good and holy such men happen to be. 

There is only one man in whom we can trust absolutely for reconciliation to God, and that is the God-man Christ Jesus. No matter how pious other servants of the Lord may be, following them simply for the sake of following them is never enough to be restored to our Creator. We can obey church leaders, show up every Sunday for worship, and otherwise appear pious, but none of these things are any advantage without a true and abiding trust in the Lord God Almighty. 

Ephesians 2:4-14 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.”

The Afflictions and Comforts of God’s Word

Jeremiah 23:28-29 “Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. Is not my Word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”

I was reading an interesting Devotional today, which states that central to the biblical worldview is the power of the Word of God. Holy Scripture presents this truth in various ways. Isaiah tells us that just as precipitation is sure to cause plants to grow, God’s Word accomplishes its purposes (Isa. 55:10–11) – we grow from devotedly studying it. In 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, Paul explains that the Lord saves His people by means of “the foolishness of preaching”, (that which the spiritually blind believe is unnecessary, is truly a necessity). In today’s passage, Jeremiah makes the point by saying, “Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jer. 23:29).

The lesson explained that Jeremiah originally spoke these words when he had to deal with the problem of false prophets who told God’s people that they would remain safe despite their following of their own stubborn hearts, not His law. These ungodly messengers believed that the Lord’s promise to dwell among His people in His temple meant Jerusalem would not fall. Of course, the problem with this message was not that it was wholly devoid of truth; rather, the problem was that the false prophets only believed part of what God had revealed. Yet the false prophets did not remind the people of Judah that the Lord’s presence was contingent upon faith and repentance, upon the good-faith effort to do the will of God and contrition when there was failure.

The false prophets preached only the comforting passages of Scripture, neglecting its hard truths. True, the Lord dwelled with His people in Jerusalem, but His presence was not bound to that city. Since He also fills heaven and earth, He is sovereign over space and time, and in His omnipresent lordship He could cast out the covenant community while remaining with the faithful remnant in their exile. His Word is forceful and fiery, bringing about the destruction it promises upon the impenitent and nourishing the souls of His children just as grain nourishes the body.

This same Word guaranteed that after the exile, a righteous descendant of David would sit on the throne and rule just as the leader of God’s holy people should—in justice and righteousness. The Lord would bring the remnant of Judah and Israel back from the countries to which they would be sent, and this salvation would surpass in glory the exodus from Egypt. In Christ, God has kept these promises.

Fire and hammers destroy and demolish—so we should expect the Word of God to afflict our consciences and bring us to the end of ourselves. Yet fire and hammers also refine and shape—so we should expect Holy Scripture also to purify us and build us up in godliness. As Christians, we need to experience both aspects of God’s Word, and we need to preach and teach both the afflictions and comforts of Scripture to ourselves and to those around us.

Blessed be the Word of God – the Word of Truth