It Stinks to be Young!

“Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.” (Eze 16:60 AV)

This is the only encouraging verse in an otherwise very discouraging chapter.  The entire chapter describes Israel from the time the LORD rescued them from Egypt until the time they were carried away.  The first part of the chapter tells of God’s grace and what He did for them.  Then, the LORD rehearses just what it was they did in response.  Some pretty discouraging things.  They completely rejected and embarrassed the very gracious God who took them from slavery, cleaned them up, and used them to glorify Himself.  The verbiage used is very dramatic.  It speaks of a promiscuous woman who is worse than them all because she gives away her wealth, rather than demanding it from, her lovers.  A truly immoral and hideous creature.  All this verbiage to describe what Israel did is, in the above verse, described as her youth!

Herein is the encouraging thing.  This everlasting covenant will be established at the beginning of the reign of Christ!  When their Messiah returns and sits upon the throne of David, this covenant will be in force and Israel will fail no more.  This covenant, although never voided, will come completely to pass when Jesus comes back.  But here is the encouragement for the believer:  All the mess we have ever created was in our youth.  Just like Israel, there will come a time when we will fully mature and failure is no longer possible.  Sin will never again corrupt our minds, bodies, or souls!  All this failure we succumb to is our youth!  Our immature, impulsive, selfish natures will mature at our glorification.  When transformed into the image of Christ, we will never again battle a youthful sin nature.  Glory!

Just as physically growing older is inescapable and inevitable, so too is spiritual maturity!  Just as my children could not wait to grow older and get on with their lives, the true child of God who walks with God looks forward to shedding the sinful body of our youth!  This is why God is so gracious to us.  We are in our youth. We will get it!  Sooner or later, we will understand by and by!

Yes, This is the Same God!

“And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old [and] young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom [is] the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which [were] before the house.” (Eze 9:5-6 AV)

Yes, this is the same God whom we worship today!  Even though we do not care to think of God in this way, it is the same God!  In chapter nine, the LORD instructed six men to go through the city and slay all those who had not received the mark of contrition.  Those who sorrowed over their own sin and the sins of the nation received a mark on their foreheads.  Then the six followed and killed man, woman, and child who had not received this mark.  This is a foreshadow of exactly what will happen during the tribulation period.  There will be two marks then.  The mark of the beast and the mark of the Holy Spirit.  Those without the mark of the Holy Spirit will be destroyed.

Ezekiel was bothered by what he had seen.  It seemed so senseless.  The killing of all those in Jerusalem who showed no remorse for their sin.  To be honest, it would bother me as well. Especially comparing sin with sin.  Sure, there would be those who probably deserved the die.  Those guilty of sin wherein death was the sentence.  But what of the others?  Just because they showed no remorse, isn’t slaughtering them a little extreme?  This is what Ezekiel thought, anyway.

What we fail to remember is the holiness of God.  We fail to realize that things are eternal.  We all die.  Sooner or later.  Whether by natural causes after living a full life, or by tragic ends such as disease or violence.  Life is but a vapor.  Compared to eternity, life is very short no matter how long we live.  The real issue is the right of God to demand holiness.  Our God does just that.  He has created all things that breathe.  Including every human being.  Because of that, He has the right to demand righteousness, holiness, and contrition when we fail.  If we are in rebellion against the God who created us, we have no expectation to life.  This is the God whom we serve.  He is a God of grace as manifested in the free gift of salvation.  But He is also the God of holiness and judgment.  A fact we have conveniently forgotten.

Perceived Privacy Proves Poor Piety

“Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.” (Eze 8:12 AV)

God is never absent.  Not in the sense that He is not present in any way, shape, or form.  God is omnipresent.  He is everywhere at all times.  However, there may be times we perceive His is not present.  This is our perception and not reality.  God sees all things.  He is aware of all things.  He may choose to be silent.  He may choose to not interact with people or things.  But that does not mean He is not present.  When people believe they perceive the absence of God, their true character is revealed.  In the above verse, the elders of Judah are in the temple worshiping false gods in the basement of the building.  They have their own chamber thinking the walls and ground around them shield them from the sight of God.  How foolish.  When we think we perceive the absence of God, then our true selves show up!

Every parent has done this from time to time.  They place their children in a room to play, giving them the security of privacy.  After a bit, the parent sneaks to just outside the room to hear what is going on inside.  Often, we are pleased with what we hear.  However, there are many times when we are not pleased.  They begin to misbehave.  They treat one another with cruelty.  Or, they do things they know Mom or Dad would not approve of.  Now that my sons are adults, we are finding out all sorts of things they did while unsupervised.  On one such occasion, we came home to find Lincoln logs in all sorts of strange places and a few dents in the dry wall throughout the house.  It appeared as though a Lincoln Log war with the babysitter erupted in our absence!

God is always watching.  But, child of God, if you perceive that God is afar off, maybe what He is doing is giving you a lesson in the true you!  How are you doing?  Do the “absent eyes” of God mean you fail to live according to His word!  He truly is not absent!  He is nearer than You think!

What a waste

“That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.” (Eze 4:17 AV)

The older I get the more I am aware of the true wickedness of mankind.  Including myself.  What is really sad is the destructiveness of this wickedness.  It completely destroys everything it touches.  What God intended for the benefit of mankind never really comes to pass.  There are blessings from obedience.  And, these blessings are wonderful.  These blessings are from the grace of God.  Yet, if the grace of God is rejected, sorrow and death take its place.  It is enough to desperately pray for eternity!

It is a difficult thing to watch.  When someone makes the choice to make iniquity the pattern of life.  Ezekiel must have had mixed feelings.  He knew the nation was in complete and irreversible rebellion against God.  He saw the waste of a nation.  He saw the absolute desecration of their one-time greatness.  He saw nothing but the torturous dissolving of his own countrymen.  On the one hand, he had compassion and sorrow for them.  On the other, was the passion for truth.  The two are often at odds with one another.  It is almost enough to make one mad!  Especially when redemption is so near and reversal of a course of destruction is possible.

The older I get the more and more I desire heaven.  Not that my personal trials will be over because I truly believe the LORD has blessed me far more than I deserve.  Rather, I am sickened by the destructive nature of sin.  It truly is maddening.  The world has gone crazy over iniquity.  The world is about ready to go ablaze for the right for total and complete self-gratification.  Anyone or anything that stands in their way they will destroy.  Including one another.  There is no hope outside of Jesus Christ.  He is the only hope for mankind, yet they reject Him.  It will all consume away.  All of it.  What a waste!  If only the world would turn after Jesus!  If only…… 

Hope From a Humbled Heart

“My soul hath [them] still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.” (La 3:20-21 AV)

Change means hope.  From worse to better is always hope.  Jeremiah, writing on behalf of the nation, is referring to the effect God’s chastening hand has, or will, have on them. That which he is remembering is the heavy cost they paid for their sin.  In particular, the humbling effect this chastening hand had upon those to whom it fell.  Circumstances may or may not change.  But our heart always can.

Over the years, I have dealt with many who struggle with sin.  Particularly a stubborn one which they have fought for a long time.  The belief that salvation would instantaneously free them from all temptation had added to the frustration.  I remember one such fellow who struggle with alcohol.  I truly believe he accepted Christ.  However, at the age of almost sixty, he had been a drunk for forty-five years.  He really had known no other life.  After he accepted Christ, he still struggled against the spirits.  Living within walking distance of four liquor stores, it was easy to see that death would be his only victory.  Some may look on a fella like that and think he never truly accepted Christ.  What they wouldn’t see is his reaction to the hand of God working on his heart.  He was no longer sorry because of consequences of choices alone.  He was sorrier for failure to slay this giant.  He was sorrier that he had failed the LORD and this vice controlled him than he was losing his electric or having no food in the house.  Questions of salvation entered his mind. How could someone who got saved still struggle with booze?  He was humbled at the rebuke of the LORD.  He simply failed to trust the leading of the Spirit to overcome the spirits.

Jeremiah is giving Israel hope.  The same hope that God gives His children today.  Our hope is not in changing circumstances.  Our hope is in changed hearts.  Our hope is not that the captivity will end.  Our hope is that we will no longer be captive to our hearts.  Our hope is not that life will be nothing but blessings.  Rather, our hope is that our hearts are humbled before the great and wonderful God of grace!

Grace May Take Time

“And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth [day] of the month, [that] Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the [first] year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison,” (Jer 52:31 AV)

What came to mind was the king of Israel became an object lesson to the rest of Israel of God’s coming grace.  Evil-Merodach, Nebuchadnezzar’s son, may have served some prison time with Jehoiachin.  Jewish tradition says that Evil-Merodach mocked his father while he suffered seven years madness.  Because of this, it is said, Evil-Merodach was thrown in prison and befriended Jehoiachin.  Upon the death of his father, Evil-Merodach freed the prisoner and elevated him to a place of honor above all other kings in captivity.  What came to mind was a generation would pass and the LORD would visit Israel in Babylon.  Much like Nebuchadnezzar passed and his son showed mercy.  When the generation of the disobedient passes, then God visited his children again to show mercy.  There is hope!  There is a future!

One of God’s most valuable assets is time.  We often want an immediate answer to our situation.  Especially when we caused it ourselves.  However, there may be nothing that can be done.  Time!  As a pastor, we are faced with difficult situations that have no immediate solution.  Or, the solution may end up causing more problems than allowing time to take care of it.  Hasty problem solving sometimes creates more problems that we initially had.  When it comes to personal failures, there may not be an immediate solution.  A generation or age may have to pass away before grace comes again.

I am reminded of our young adult years.  Those are scary years.  Years when we have the freedom to make adult decisions, but lack the discipline or wisdom to make the right ones.  If someone makes a mistake in those years, it is usually one whose consequences may last a life time.  There are no immediate solutions.  We can try to pick up the pieces as best we can.  But time is the only fix.  In Jehoiachin’s case, it took an empathetic individual who could understand his suffering to show him some mercy.  To the rest of the world, he was a rebel and failure.  To Evil-Merodach, he was a prisoner who spent far too many years in a prison sentence which was more than his crime deserved.  God knows our situation.  Whether self-inflicted or not.  Time will take care of it.

Grace Does Have Limits

“So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, [and] because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.” (Jer 44:22 AV)

What a sad statement this was.  Jeremiah had stayed behind to encourage the remnant to stay in the land to steward it under the governance of Babylon.  They would have great liberty even though a tax would have been demanded.  Some laws may have had to be changed.  But all in all, they would be able to live in relative peace under the jurisdiction of Babylon.  However, if they fled to Egypt for protection, the LORD would give them over to violence and death.  What compounded the problem was the women worshiped the queen of heaven and tempted their men into the same.  The LORD has had the last straw.  He is removing any and all hand of protection and grace from the people of God.  He can no longer bear.  Many believe God’s grace is unlimited in availability and application.  This is simply not true.  Although His grace is eternal and unlimited, it does not mean He chooses to exercise it.  God’s grace does have limits.  We soon forget this.

We have seen, from time to time, someone who has gone down a road a little farther than God’s grace followed.  Years ago, there was this fella that worked with me.  He claimed to be saved and was a student at the Christian school which our church operated.  This fella got involved in drugs.  He and another good friend of mine got into all sorts of drugs even though they claimed to be saved.  The first fella came home from a party and attempted to climb a rain spout.  He forgot his keys and was trying to get to his bedroom window.  He never made it.  He fell right on his head and broke his neck.  It was a miracle he survived.  We saw him laid up in the hospital with a wire cage screwed into his skull.  The second fella learned from his friend’s mistake.  At least for a little bit of time.  However, he too, just like Judah, went down the same road.  Only he went further than the two of them ever did.  Today, he is sitting in prison for a mistake he wishes never happened.

If we are unrepentant, God will eventually take His hand of protection from us.  A lesson few, if any learn.  He will allow us to suffer the consequences of our choices without any hope of relief.  This remnant, who was shown grace above their brethren, lost more than they ever did.  It is quite sad.

The Fear of Freedom

“And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which [were] upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land [is] before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.” (Jer 40:4 AV)

This is one of the difficult “what if’s” moments.  According to verse one of this chapter, the above statement, although offered by a Babylonian prince, was the word of the LORD to Jeremiah.  It appears the LORD was giving Jeremiah complete liberty to choose where to live.  He would be free from the captivity of which his brethren suffered.  He did not have to go to Babylon if he chose not to.  Jeremiah was under the protection of the Babylonians as long as he remained within their domain.   Or, so it was supposed to go.  What Jeremiah decided was to stay under the jurisdiction of the Egyptians while ministering to the remnant in Mizpah.  The Chaldeans left Mizpah to the Egyptians to govern under their power.  It was still Babylonian territory.  But Egypt was the force left to govern it.  A rebellion took place and the governor charged with protecting Jeremiah was killed.  Consequently, Jeremiah was taken to Egypt where he would eventually be assassinated.  The “what if” is: What if Jeremiah had chosen to go to Babylon with the rest?  He would have been under the direct protection of the power that be and may have fared much better.  In fact, that was the advice Jeremiah gave to king Zedekiah.  Submit to Babylon and you will be ok.  I am not so sure I would have made a different choice.  His cash cow just came in.  He has liberty like never before.  But sometimes, liberty is not a good thing to have.

Sometimes, too many choices are not a good thing.  It reminds me of someone fresh out of high school.  He wakes up the next morning and realizes that life is before him with endless possibilities.  The problem is, with every choice there is a consequence.  Without a plan, many young people fall into serious trouble.  Without focus, choices can be made that derails goals and plans, which over time, one might attain.  But the road to getting there becomes much harder.

What Jeremiah may have wished he had done was to pray about how to use his new-found liberty.  Perhaps it was to stay in Mizpah and die a martyr’s death.  But perhaps it was to go into Babylon.  When faced with too many choices, the wisest thing is to get counsel!  It still may turn out the same.  But at least one would know that was God’s perfect will for his life.

Yes, Sir --- Maybe

“The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.” (Jer 35:14 AV)

Jonadab commanded his sons to refuse all wine and live in as transients.  They dwelt in tents.  They sowed no seed, built no homes, and permanently settled nowhere.  They lived off the land and kept themselves unspotted from the world.  These commandments may have been motivated for very practical reasons.  They could escape any threat easily and quickly.  If they were always sober and mobile, it reduced any threat the Babylonians could raise against them.  These sons did not question the authority.  They harkened unto the words of their father and obeyed implicitly.  Even though these sons eventually fled into the city of Jerusalem proving that even the best preparations could not avoid the hand of God, they were blessed by the LORD because they at least understood submission to authority.  The question to Judah was if the sons of Jonadab could follow their authority without question, and that authority was a flawed human, why couldn’t Judah harken to and obey the Word of God?

We will obey parents because we are afraid of the punishment that awaits if we do not.  We will obey our employer because we do not want to get fired.  We will obey the traffic officer because we do not want to get a ticket.  We will obey the tax man because we do not want to lose all that we have.  We will obey the civil government because we do not want to go to jail.  We will obey all sorts of human authorities, but when it comes to the LORD, we pick and choose what we will or will not obey!

In the end, those who learn to submit to authority are the ones who are ultimately blessed.  The sons of Jonadab were allowed to stay in the land after all others were carried away.  They learned to obey their father’s word in the most extreme of all situations.  This enabled them to submit to the Word of the LORD.  It is easy to submit when the alternative is far worse.  It is harder to submit when the consequences don’t seem so bad.  It is the later which the LORD is seeking!  Obedience out of respect, not out of fear!

Never Ending Love

“The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, [saying], Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” (Jer 31:3 AV)

The lovingkindness of God is incomprehensible!  The LORD gives Jeremiah a message of hope and love for the people of Judah who are about to be displaced because of their sin.  Even though the chastening hand of God will be tough, the love of God never ceases.  Even though we deserve the chastening hand of God far more than we receive it, the lovingkindness of God never ceases!  Even though they may have felt rejected and a bit bitter because of their chastening, God still drew them by His love in the midst of their calamity.  When I think of the lovingkindness of God, I realize just how much I do not understand it.

I have three grandchildren.  They are awesome.  Each is unique in their own way and a true blessing of God.  As a grandparent, I think on them and a smile comes to my heart and mind.  They are the best three people on the planet!  But what I am most astounded at is the love their mothers show them.  Particularly when they become impossible.  I have forgotten just how patient and nurturing a mother can be.  I have seen my daughters-in-law deal with their children in the worst of times.  It is none-stop.  One thing after another.  From sickness to tiredness to flat out disobedience, these mothers have to deal with it all.  Just when I think these little angles have gotten on their last nerve and mom will explode, instead I witness the miracle of a mother’s love.  Patience and empathy for an erring child!  It is beyond words.  No voice is raised.  No yelling is heard.  Even in the most trying of times, there is patience, calmness, and a calling of the child in a firm but loving way.  Truly miraculous.

This is to what the LORD is referring.  Even when we are at our worst, the LORD is patient and calls to us that we might be cared for.  Even at our worst, we may receive a spanking, but it is done with love and patience.  This love is everlasting.  It will never change.  No matter what we do our how awful we are to the LORD, His love for us will never, ever, change!

Potentially Perilous Truth

“Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard. Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you. As for me, behold, I [am] in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you.” (Jer 26:12-14 AV)

How people choose to react to truth doesn’t change it.  Truth is truth.  If reaction does not change truth, then the prophet should not fear declaring it!  God is not going to change His mind.  He is set to bring Babylon against Judah and bring them into captivity for 70 years.  Regardless of the prophet’s faithfulness to declare it or the people to receive it, if God spoke it, then it will happen.  So, the prophet has a choice.  He will either ignore the reaction of those to whom he is preaching and be a mouthpiece for God, or, he will fear what the people might do and modify the message.  Either way, the truth will continue.  It won’t change one thing.  God’s will still marches on.  If the prophet is obedient, he goes into captivity with the people, yet enjoying some protection.  If he compromises, he is going into captivity without God’s protection. But going into captivity he will.  The challenge is to be this resolute regarding the truth when there is limited protection.

It is one thing to preach, teach a Sunday School class, work in a VBS, or speak of the Bible in the relative safety of the church building.  Quite another to be just as bold at the workplace, in the neighborhood, among lost family, etc.  When Jeremiah spoke these words, the people had gathered around him and the princes and priests had just arrived.  He stood alone.  There was also a false prophet declaring two years would be the maximum of Babylonian captivity.  There as a contrary voice among contrary people.  The integrity and faith of the prophet won the day!  Standing alone, the word of God went forth.

What won the day was not caring what would personally happen to him.  Jeremiah had to see the truth was far more absolute than his own future.  He had to see the absolute value and steadfastness of God’s truth as far more important than his own personal welfare.  We will know where we stand with truth when the opposition gets heavy!  Stand we must!  There really is no other choice!

Who Will Be Heard?

“The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What [is] the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.” (Jer 23:28 AV)

The context of this verse is the prevalence of the false prophets.  Jeremiah is lamenting the sheer number of false prophets misleading the people away from repentance.  These false prophets are declaring there is only peace ahead, even though the forces of Babylon are knocking at the door.  These false prophets are the same as today’s positive motivator preachers who only have good news to share even though bad news lays at the door.  The false preachers who refuse to teach and preach on sin, repentance, and consequences.  According to Jeremiah, the fault may lie somewhat at the feet of the true prophet!  So, when the command from the LORD comes that the true prophets of God that have a vision should speak, it is not an encouragement, it is a command.  If they do not, then someone will fill the silence!  The voice of the prophet does not need to be more in quantity, just louder than the opposition!

I have gone to several professional sports games.  The crowds are often deafening.  However, when someone brings one of those little tiny marine airhorns, it over shadows all the crowd noise in the place.  Those little horns are louder than almost anything mankind can produce!  They will blow the cobwebs out of a two-hundred-year-old corpse!  You can hear one of those horns clear across the stadium even with the crowd next to you as loud as they can be!

Where I am from, there are more churches per county than in some states of the union!  No exaggeration.  Some may think that is a good thing.  However, when there are more churches than legitimate, God called, Holy Spirit led, Bible student preachers, there will be churches with preachers who are not called of God or, do not know their Bibles.  Where I am from, it is hard to find anyone who will admit to being lost.  Almost all say they are saved.  Which is simply not the case.  Those who are deceived are religious.  However, since the Holy Spirit does not convict or lead, they are self-willed.  The problem is, they know enough Bible to be dangerous.  What is the solution?  The solution is for the true prophet of God and the true child of God to proclaim the true scriptures louder than those who think all is fine!  We need more bullhorns!   We need louder bullhorns.  We need the truth to out proclaim the prosperity, touchy-feely, nothing but good news gospel!  We need the truth of God’s justice satisfied by God’s grace!  We need the truth of our wickedness met with the depth of God’s mercy!  We need the truth!

This Is The Last Time - Honest

“Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name [is] The LORD.” (Jer 16:21 AV)

The context is visitation upon the Gentiles when God restores Israel.  The book of Joel calls this the valley of decision.  Many preach this to mean there is a valley God will put one in to make a decision.  However, the real meaning of this is a valley were a decision has already been made and the consequences irreversible.  The above verse, however, gives indication a choice has not been made, but the revelation of the choice is clear.  There will come a time, in every individual’s life wherein they have to decided one way or another.  This will only happen once.  The blessings from the right choice or consequences of a wrong choice are irreversible.

Although I have never skydived (nor ever intend to), I have heard there is a point of no return.  Once out of the plane, the diver has to pay attention to his altimeter.  There is a certain altitude where one must pull the rip cord.  If he does not, he seriously risks his life.  Physical injury is certain.  It doesn’t matter how sincere he was when he pulled it, if below that threshold, he will most definitely need an ambulance or hearse.

In God’s economy, this threshold is grace.  Grace may abound.  But grace has its limit.  If not, all would be saved regardless of what they do with Christ.  The same is true of saints.  The longer we toy with sin and refuse to repent of it, we risk crossing that threshold of God’s absolute grace into serious harm to ourselves and others.  That one time show of how great God is will be the last time to make a decision.  May we make the right one!

Does Anybody Care?

“They have made it desolate, [and being] desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth [it] to heart.” (Jer 12:11 AV)

How many have half -finished projects lying around the house because we lost heart?  I am going through that mid-life thing.  Not regrets.  I have learned a long time ago that regrets are a part of life.  However, unless those regrets change a course of life, it is a waste of emotional energy.  Not that kind of mid-life thing.  I am going through that stage of wanting to try something new.  When I initiate the project of interest, I am all in!  Get the right tools, the right instruments, the right materials, etc.  However, when it is painfully honest the end product will not be nearly as perfect as I imagined, it may sit there unfinished.  It is at those times when commitment must be stronger than desire.  When the writer here says that no one lays it to heart, it has little to do with passion and more to do with concern.  In others words, the things of God lay desolate because no one cares!

This is becoming epidemic in our churches and families.  We have an emotionally motivated culture that needs to be stirred to unstoppable enthusiasm before they are all in.  However, when it becomes work, or, it seems as though it has become routine, then it falls by the way side. Try to get folks to come out for soul-winning!  Or, prayer meeting.  Or even three church services a week.  Or any function at church.  We are seeing less and less interest because we are not emotionally motivated to do so.  Our commitment is gone.  We blame routine, boredom, our personal business.  But the truth of the matter is, we are not committed.  We do not lay it to heart.

Note in the above verse, the heart does not lay it to the person.  The person lays it to the heart.  It is not the emotions that motivate the person.  The person motivates the emotions.  Integrity and commitment are the keys.  The job must get done.  There is expectation of faithfulness.  Whether we desire it or not, it needs to be laid to heart!  Or, the work of God lays desolate!

Enslaved Deliverance

“And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?” (Jer 7:10 AV)

 This attitude prevails in our contemporary Christian world.  This idea that God sent His Son to be beaten and persecuted, ending in a horrible and cruel death so that we could be free from hell and continue in our sin!  This is not new.  This is the doctrine of the Nicolaitans and mentioned in the book of Revelation.  Nicholas was a first century preacher who taught freedom from law.  His misunderstood Paul’s teaching on Christian liberty and taught it to mean the saint was free from the principles and statues of the entire Old Testament law.  Not just the ceremonial law, but all of it.  The principles of the saint became whatever he chose to make them.  Israel, thousands of years earlier, did the same thing.  God delivered them from the power of Egypt.  He gave them law for the orderly function of a nation and their homes.  This law foreshadowed the coming ministry of the Messiah and the glory of God.  Specially compared against the lawlessness of the heathen around them.  Israel chose to exercise their liberty from Egypt and their nations as a means to transgress God’s law.  They were delivered.  Yet they used this deliverance and a means to pursue their own pleasure.

If we are saved, the Jesus came to deliver us.  Not just from the consequences of sin (that being hell), but from sin itself.  Sin is destructive.  Sin leaves behind it messed up lives.  Sin us cruel. Sin knows no satisfaction.  Jesus Christ came to save us from that. He did not deliver us so that we could turn around and enjoy the liberty He bought with His life, presuming upon that grace, by living in a way that directly insults the very deliverance He purchased.

We have this great dog.  He is wonderful!  He is a lab mix.  When we put him outside, he is chained to the railing of our back porch.  He has about fifty feet of liberty.  However, right outside our back door is an ivy tree.  Birds nest in that tree.  Kimber (that is what we named him) is a bird dog.  Sometimes, he sits at the top of the stairs and jumps at the birds leaving the tree.  However, there are other times he goes in and out of those bushes, entangling himself with his lead.  To teach him a lesson, I may leave him out there to bark and bark, hoping he can remember these bushes are not a good idea.  The lesson sticks for a while.  However, he soon forgets and does it again.  I did not free him so that he could turn around and exercise his liberty to his own hurt. But that is exactly what we do.  It is presumptuous to think that God delivered us from abominations for the purpose of us turning around and doing it again!

Rejection is only Temporary

“Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.” (Isa 66:5 AV)

This statement is prophetical in nature.  It speaks of a time to come when those of Israel who wish to trust in the promised Messiah will be outcasts by those who claim to do God’s business.  They are rejected on the pretext of blasphemy.  They are thrown out because they chose to follow the LORD by the very ones who taught them to do just that.  These kinds of hurts are often the deepest.  When those who should be the godliest become adversaries towards those who are, it hurts really bad.

This is all too often in group dynamics.  When the student becomes independent and then becomes the teacher, sometimes the masters who instructed him become resentful.  When the student takes his subject matter more serious than his masters and becomes the teacher of the masters, there can become hard feelings.  This is a little different in that the Pharisees had no intention of following Christ.  They persecuted the converts and made them the laughing stock of the nation because these simple saints dared take the instruction which the Pharisees provided and saw the Messiah for who he was.

The comfort in the above verse is that eventually, Christ will appear to those who chose to follow Him!  We may not receive the comfort we desire in this life, but we will in the next.  Our final authority is the Bible.  What it teaches and says is where our conscience should abide.  We need to take comfort in the fact that God is pleased even when man is not.  And, just because the enemies of the Bible may charge us with being against the LORD, it doesn’t make it so.

Work In Progress

“For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp [that] burneth.” (Isa 62:1 AV)

This is the best news the child of God can hear.  Israel disappointed the LORD more than can be imagined.  The LORD sent them into captivity because they failed to observe the most sacred of all commandments.  The keeping of the Sabbath.  When their Messiah came to save them from their sins and the rule of Rome, they choose Rome.  This sent the Nation into diaspora for 2,000 years.  Yet, the Father never forgot His covenant with His people.  What a gracious and loving God we serve.  He made that covenant with His people thousands of years ago.  He will not go back on His word.  Part of that covenant was to transform these people into a people of righteousness.  A people who would follow the law and live according to the glory of the God who rescued and saved them.  God desires for the righteousness of the Israeli people to be as the brightness of the stars above!  The same is true of the New Testament saint!

God did not save us so that we could live in a state of perpetual and destructive sin.  It is often charged that salvation has to be by some sort of works based system because if it was not, then those who are saved by grace will continue in presumptuous sin.  Those who make the charge really do not understand salvation by grace.   For someone to accept the pure grace of God takes humility.  Humility to admit one’s condition, position, and need.  It takes humility to admit one’s utterly wicked condition; that one is condemned before a holy God; and there is nothing one can do to save his own soul.  If he gets that low, then when Jesus saves him, his desire for sin wanes.  It was is that caused him to get that low.  He doesn’t want to get that low ever again.  His desire changes from sin to righteousness.  He has a passion to live perfect in the law of God.

That is why this passage is such an encouragement.  For those who desire complete conversion from a wicked sinner to a purely righteous saint, God will not cease to labor to that end!  Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!

Live Like You've Won

“Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation [is] near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed [is] the man [that] doeth this, and the son of man [that] layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.” (Isa 56:1-2 AV)

The only difference between the Jewish nation and the church where it concerns the moral and civil law is when salvation happens.  For the Jewish nation, salvation was future.  For the church, it happened in the past.  But salvation is still by grace through faith.  Regardless they were looking forward to it, or we are looking back on it, salvation to all is the same.  Therefore, the commandment to keep judgement and do justice was not to succor their salvation.  It is not by works.  It is all by faith.  The point is the same that can be applied to us today.  If salvation is by faith, then we keep the law because we are saved (or in the case of Israel, will be saved), not to make us saved.

When I was a boy, we entered this contest called the Pinewood Derby. We would carve out race cars from a block of pine.  Then we would race against other boys.  Imagine if the outcome was guaranteed.  No matter what I did to my car, it would be the fastest.  How would I work on the car?  Some would do nothing with it.  They would place an unworked block of wood at the top and gather their trophy at the bottom.  Even if it took all day for it to get there.  But must boys wouldn’t.  If they knew the outcome was to win the race, it would motive them to be as creative and industrious as they could and put forth the best car they could because in the end, they do not want their car to be an embarrassment to the guaranteed first place trophy.

This is the motive for following the law.  We have already won.  Salvation is guaranteed.  Our motive for righteousness is the goal of reaching Christlikeness as closely as we can before the final and full transformation takes place.  We do not want to be an embarrassment to the one who will grant our rewards at the judgment seat of Christ!  Keep the law, for our salvation is nearer than when we believed.

Playing In The Dark Is No Fun!

“Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.” (Isa 51:4 AV)

The dark can be fun.  There is hide and seek.  One person is put in the dark while the others run and hide.  There are fun houses where scary things jump out at you.  And who hasn’t dreamt up the idea of turning the lights out while playing tag.  That used to be a favorite as a child.  My siblings and I had a few dark places in the house and we would turn the lights out while randomly running around.  It was funny when we would bump into one another and someone was falling on their rear.  It was fun until someone got hurt.  Which is always the case while having fun in the dark.  The dark may be fun for a time, but eventually, the lack of light causes great harm.

One of the scariest times of my life happened at summer camp.  I had stayed rather late in the Mess Hall after all other campers had gone to their tents.  It was pitch black outside and I forget a flashlight. Not even the light of a flickering star.   I didn’t even have any matches.  No means of artificial light of any kind. All campers had gone to bed so there were no artificial lights either.  I had to walk a quarter mile in a blackness that was so thick, I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face.  I felt along the dirt road, looking for the entrance to my site.  It was so frightening.  I would have given anything for a flashlight! The dark was no fun at all!

God knows this.  So, He has provided the light of His law to guide us through life.  This light is a guide.  A guide that gives to us the greatest source of blessings we can possibly enjoy.  The law is a means in which to glorify the LORD. YES.  But more than that, the law are principles that gives us the maximum amount of enjoyment from life with the least amount of bad consequences.  I am astounded at the immature thinking of a lot of God’s people.  They raise their children with rules and principles of the home designed to keep their children safe while setting them up for success in the future.  All the while, they turn their backs on the laws of God’s word as though God is trying to rob them of life.  They use the same argument their child does.  God knows what is best.  He is the one who created us.  He wants us to enjoy the life He gave!  The law is the means by which we do this!

Plainly Speaking, God Speaks Plainly!

“Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there [am] I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.” (Isa 48:16 AV)

Plainly stated, God speaks plainly!  A good friend of mine and former pastor once told me, “God is more infinitely concerned you find His will than you are!”  His point was, when we struggle to determine what the LORD would have us to do, it is not because God is playing a game.  He is not hiding His will on us to torture us.  His will is always plainly before our faces.  It is not the LORD who hides it from us, it is our own heart.

There was this activity we used to do with our teens, years ago.  We would download stereograms.  Stereograms used to be printed in the Sunday comics.   Usually they were a half page on the back of the funnies.  Do you remember?  Hidden is this complex patter of shapes and colors was an object.  The goal of the stereogram was to see the image and in some cases, enter one’s answer for a chance at a prize.  The directions said to place the picture at the tip of your nose.  Then slowly pull the page away from one’s face until an image appears.  The page would get about six inches from your nose and like magic, an image would all of a sudden ‘pop’ out of the page.  It would be in 3D.  The more experienced one got with these stereograms, the more one didn’t have to start with the page at the tip of one’s nose.  The trick was to relax one’s eyes and focus way beyond the six inches.  As though you were looking miles away.  What one had to do is see beyond the most obvious.  The cluttered ‘noise’ of the near.  Look down the road to project what was already there.

This is also true with God’s will and truth. Our perception gets confused with so much noise that is right in front of us.  Emotions like fear and pride keep us from seeing it.  Or, like ignoring the ‘hint’ printed with the stereogram, we do not consider the truth we already know from the word of God and make the answer far more complicated than it needed to be.  The bottom line is, God desire for us to know Him, His will, and His truth.  He is not hiding it from us.  It is our perception that is making it difficult to see.

The Pleasure of Godly Values

“The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make [it] honourable.” (Isa 42:21 AV)

A father can be pleased at many things.  Especially when it concerns his children.  He can be pleased at how healthy they are.  He can be pleased with their personality.  He can be pleased with their accomplishments; their scholastic achievements, their athletic feats, or their success in career.  But there is one thing a godly father is more pleased with than anything else.  He is pleased when his children reflect the values which he has taught them all his life.  Not for ego’s sake.  But because these values are right.  As he sits around the dining room table and just listens to his adult children and their spouses speak of life, he is struck with how much they have learned and how deeply they value the truth of God’s word.  Even if dear old dad may not agree in every minor point, or he has learned himself that he can learn from his own children, righteousness is the currency of joy, pleasure, and satisfaction.

This is the meaning of the verse.  Not that God is some person of egotistical motives that wishes to be right and all others wrong.  Not that He wants, or even needs to be, proven right.  That is why He is well pleased.  He is not well pleased because, in some insignificant way, magnifies Himself at the expense of others.  He rejoices because righteousness and the law are a beautiful thing!  It is perfection!  It is blessing!  It is riches greater than material things.  The reason why righteousness above is a personal possessive is that righteousness and God are one in the same.  God and truth are the same.  Things are righteous because God is righteous.  Things are honorable because God is honorable.  Righteousness is God and God is righteousness.

Which brings us back to our example above.  When those who learn mirror the righteous values of their mentor, it validates his ministry to them.  He has accomplished something.  Even though those values do not belong to him, he is still pleased that these values will live on in one more generation!  When the righteousness of God and the law continue, God is pleased that His creation has internalized what is good and right!  What a thrill!

Grace Beyond Tomorrow for Today

“Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.” (Isa 38:4-5 AV)

Have you ever stopped to think when the LORD forgives or answers prayer, He also knows where, when, and how you will fail him again in the future?  He even knows if the favor He grants in the present will be appreciated or protected in the future.  Yet, He chooses to bless anyway.

Such was the case with Hezekiah.  Hezekiah was given a death sentence.  The LORD sent Isaiah to tell Hezekiah to set his house in order, for he would soon die of an illness.  Hezekiah had no heir to the throne.  That does not mean that in the short time he had left, the LORD might allow Hezekiah to father a male child.  Yes, he would have died before the child was born, but the throne would continue through his seed.  Hezekiah wanted an heir.  But he also wanted the blessing of a relationship with that heir.  So, the LORD was gracious and granted Hezekiah another 15 years of life.  Manasseh would be born two year later.  Upon his recovery, what Hezekiah did, caused more damage than his death would have caused.  The LORD granted Hezekiah his wish, but had he not, then Hezekiah would not have been the king responsible for God’s judgment.  God blessed Hezekiah and showed mercy to him, even though He knew Hezekiah would abuse this grace and squander the gift.

Which brings us to our point.  God’s grace not only considers our desperate need of the present, but also look beyond our failures of the future.  God knows that I will mess up in the future.  Perhaps even really badly.   However, He does not hold it against me in the present.  He knows, for certainty, if I will squander His grace.  Yet, He does not hold it back.  He knows whether I will appreciate His grace and gifts, or consume them with no regard to His glory.  He knows all this.  But His grace is greater than my failures.  Past, present, and specially, future!  Oh, what grace!

When Losing is Winning

“But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: [is it] not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.” (Isa 36:7-8 AV)

One thing’s for sure.  If and when revival hits, the world will never recognize it as such! In fact, the world will assume it just the opposite.  What Assyria is saying here is Hezekiah took away the God of Judah when he destroyed all the altars and groves in high places wherein the people of Judah worshiped rather than where they were supposed to – the temple at Jerusalem.  Assyria saw the cleansing of the nation as a loss of religion.  It was just the opposite.

Which brings us to a thought.  As we pray for revival, let us understand what that means.  When people pray for revival, what they are praying for is an increase.  More salvation decisions.  More baptisms.  More memberships.  Bigger buildings.  More programs.  More exciting music.  Etc.  This is not Biblical revival.  Biblical revival is a reduction.  Not an explosion.  It is a reduction of that which is hindering spiritual growth in God’s people.  It is the putting away of idols.  It is the putting away of individual standards of worship that elevates man’s emotions rather than true doctrinal based worship.  True revival is not an increase.  It is a decrease.  When true revival hits, the world will see it as a loss.  A good thing for them.  What they will not realize is when revival hits, the true power of God comes to God’s people.  The result of the revival is growth.  But growth is not revival.

If the world is happy, it just might be that God is bringing revival!  If the world sees God’s people as abandoning their religion, that would be a good thing.  If they see us as dying, then perhaps what God is really doing is purging us from our sin so that we can begin again a spiritual growth experience.  Perhaps if the world is happy in persecuting God’s people because they perceive it to be a loss for us, maybe the LORD is bringing true revival to His people!

"Never A Good Time" is the Best Time

“Blessed [are] ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth [thither] the feet of the ox and the ass.” (Isa 32:20 AV)

The context here is the restoration of Israel following their captivity, two thousand years of persecution, and eventual reclamation under the Messiah.  The message here is to continuously sow among all waters the nation might find themselves among and send forth the ox and ass to plow the fields.  The point is, those that sow in hard times will be far more blessed then those who only sow in good times.

This morning’s devotions were wonderful.  Chapter 29-32 largely deal with the reclamation of Israel following thousands of years of disobedience.  It is such a blessing to read how the LORD will come back, restore Israel, save the Gentile world, and set things up as intended from the time of the garden of Eden.  What a wonderful world it will be when Christ reigns in righteousness.  Nothing can be compared to it.  Not one time in the history of the world was righteousness the characteristic of man’s reign.  Not one time.  This will be new.  In the meantime, there is still a need to till the fields and plant the harvest.  There is still a need to work!  There is still a need to sow the seed in hope of a future harvest.

Something I have noticed about farming.  The time of sowing is often not the best time of weather.   Summer time is gorgeous.  But if the farmer waits until summer time to plant, it will be too late.  Spring time, although things are coming to life, is still gray and damp.  Muddy and wet is the condition of the fields.  Weeds have popped up during the winter time that have to be sprayed or tilled under.  Fall time is a beautiful tan color.  But it too is wet and messy.  It seems as though the LORD is teaching us that sowing a reaping is often done in the less than best circumstances.  It is cold, damp, uncomfortable, and darker days are ahead.  But sowing and reaping we must!  The harvest is the blessing of disciplined husbandry!

Grace is the Only Difference

“LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.” (Isa 26:12 AV)

It is important to remember there is no moral difference between the righteous and the wicked.  That is, in our human nature.  Reading Isaiah, and books like it, one might be tempted to believe the righteous are so because they have done something to make them such.  Yet, as we see in our passage, we are righteous because God makes us so.  It is He that works in us.  It is He that produces the fruits of righteousness.  If it were not for the grace of God which shown in our hearts when we humbly repented of our wickedness, trusting in Jesus Christ to save us and change us, there would be absolutely no difference between us and the wicked.

The other day, I was watching program called Live PD.  It is a program that follows different police and sheriff departments across the country, and as the name implies, it is done so live.  I began to muse on the criminal psyche.  One stop involved a car which was idling in the parking lot of a motel which had problems with armed robbery in the past.  The young man sitting in the passenger seat was a juvenile offender.  He was on probation for armed robbery.  As the inspected the car, they found a loaded pistol under the passenger’s seat.  Right where the probie was sitting.  Along came all the sad stories of how it wasn’t his car and he just came out of his room to sit with his mother’s boyfriend.  Yada Yada.  But them my mind went to the officer.  And I tried to understand what made their psyches so different.  What would make a policeman’s thinking different than a criminal’s.  The world wants to blame it on environmental factors.  But the truth is, we are all born sinners.  Even the cop was in rebellion against God.

Which brings me to my point.  If it wasn’t for the grace of God, there would be no righteousness.  I am no different than that criminal.  In the core of who and what I am, without Christ, I am no different.  The only thing that makes me different is salvation in Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  That is all!  God have mercy on us all!