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Monday, August 29, 2011

"Let Us Examine Our Ways"

Jerusalem lies in ruins, the Temple is destroyed, the nations treasures have been taken and it's people live in captivity. Words like destruction and desolation are used to describe the outcome of God's wrath against His people. They cast Him out of their lives and so He brought about their downfall to bring them back to their senses. (no need for commentary here, we understand the application)
The book of Lamentations is a difficult little book to read as it is filled with sorrow and desperation. It is difficult to imagine the total sense of abandonment that the Jews felt as Nebuchadnezzar sends his forces to destroy Jerusalem and remove it's treasures (people and possessions). They had lived under His protection for hundreds of years and took for granted that His protection would not be withdrawn. And so, when they are completely defeated, they find themselves "serving the slaves".
The verses that call out to me are found in Lamentations 3:40 -42.

"Let us examine our ways and test them,
   and let us return to the LORD.
Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
   to God in heaven, and say:
We have sinned and rebelled
   and you have not forgiven."

In the day of our own destruction, when we choose to live our lives unto ourselves (and we will), how will we respond? When we find that we are captive to something or someone, what will we do? When our treasure is gone (people or possessions), how will we react? Until that day, it is probably not known how each of us will respond. I like to think that I will turn to God and ask for His forgiveness and restoration; that I will be on my knees confessing my brokenness and sorrow. I believe my faith is strong enough that I know where my strength comes from; but I have lived a very blessed and protected life.
I like the verses, I like the attitude. When we find ourselves off the path, we need to examine our ways, test them. Are we following Jesus or are we on some other trail? Have we lost sight of the One that leads? If so, we must return to His guidance, His path. When we find that we have gone our own way, the only way back is to turn to God in heaven and confess that we don't know the way. Tell Him that we have sinned and rebelled and lost our way. Pride says, "just keep going, you are smart, you know the way". Humility says, "I am lost on my own, I need Jesus to lead in my life".
May we determine to "examine our ways", to constantly check who or what is leading our lives! If we have strayed from The Path, may we decide to return to Jesus, confess our sins and abandon our pride. God is always there! Our rebellion does not move Him away from us, it moves us away from Him. Let us return to the path that is straight and narrow and follow the only One that knows the way home. God bless.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Promise of Restoration

(Ezekiel 8-11)

Ezekiel is in Tel Abib and he is God's man to deliver His message to His people in exile. He has been told to "eat" the scrolls of God's words and tell the people exactly what is contained in them. He is promised protection as he is sure that the people will harm him for his prophecies.
This section of scripture contains a vision given to Ezekiel in which the city of Jerusalem is basically laid waste. It's inhabitants are killed for their unfaithfulness and worship of idols. He is taken to the temple and witnesses the worship of idols in God's home. God is angry and deals with his people harshly. "Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them." (Ezk 8:18) Death will come. Difficulty will come. Leaders will be punished. God tells them that they "have not followed my decrees or kept my laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you." Judgement comes in response to their unfaithfulness.
If that was the end of the story, it would be a sad ending. But God has a plan for restoration, He always has and still has to this day. The exiles will return with changed hearts to live in Israel once again. They will have an "undivided heart" and a "new spirit in them". God will remove from them "hearts of stone" and replace it with "hearts of flesh". They will "keep His laws" and "follow His decrees". He will be "their God" and they will be "His people".
Good news? Good news! Same story, different time. Separated from God, we are "without hope and without God in the world". (Eph 2:22, please read entire verse) Just like those unfaithful Jews, we are destined for destruction and just like them, God has a plan for our restoration. That plan is found only in His son, Jesus. "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ." (Eph 2:23) If our story ended with our being excluded from God's people, that would be a sad ending.
Thankfully, there is a promise of restoration for each of us, but we must repent of our sins, accept the atoning sacrifice of the Christ on our behalf, confess His name publicly and be immersed in water to receive the cleansing found in His blood. When we do that, God takes out our heart of stone and replaces it with one of flesh. When we do that, God puts a new spirit within us. And then we follow His decrees and His laws. Then He is our God and we are His people. (read all of Acts 2 and 22, Romans 6 and Col 2)
Great news? Great news!! If you would like to study this further, I am always available, just send my a comment on my blog and let's talk.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Listen To His Word

"The LORD, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy."  (2 Chron 36: 15,16)

These are two verses that should shake us and wake us and they surely demand our attention. Sadly, the Israelites had fallen into the worship practices of their neighbors and had turned from the one true God. He sent His prophets to call them back to a relationship with Him and for a time they would return. Whether it was poor parenting, poor teaching or poor leadership, they would always abandon God and He, because of His love for them, would call them back again and again. (sounds familiar)
While the tendency is to apply these verses to our nation, and we certainly should, the real application must be to me as an individual. Am I listening to God's message, am I sensitive to His leading in my life, do I despise His words and mock those that bring them or obey them? Do I recognize that His love for me means that He is patient and will give me repeated opportunity to hear His message and return to Him? Am I a parent that makes sure that the next generation is faithful to God and His message or do I let my children grow up under the influence of the world and its messages?
God is patient and does not want any to perish. (2 Peter 3:9) However, He tells us that there comes a point where it is to late and "there is no remedy". That is a scary statement. We can ignore the message long enough that He is done with us. Some say God is the God of second chances, I say He is the God almost unlimited chances. But He tells us that we can ignore Him to the point that His anger is aroused and our opportunity to hear and listen is over.
This brings to mind the story of the man who drowned on his roof during a flood. He confronts God and asks why he didn't save him. God tells him He sent a boat and a helicopter. Sometimes we have the person right in front of us with the right word from God or we read our Bibles and ignore the very verse that can change our lives for eternity. Our pride or our ignorance often stands in the way of our rescue. He has sent the vessel through which our salvation is available. Jesus is our boat and our helicopter if only we will listen. He "has the words of life" that we need to hear.
I am thankful that God is a God of pity and that He is "slow to anger". I need that! I need His grace and patience to allow me to grow and learn. That is what I need, what he needs is for me to be willing to listen. Just as a parent dealing with a child, God wants us to listen and learn and just as a parents patience finally gives out, His can too. There comes a point where there is no remedy.
Paul puts it like this..."And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers". (Romans 1:27-29)
You and I see this list of sinful actions lived out around us daily. God is patient, but His patience has a limit at which point it is to late and no remedy can be found. May we stay open to His message and His messengers, always going to His Word to confirm truth. May God richly bless you as you strive each day to be His man and His woman.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Faithful Under Pressure

(Daniel 1 & 2)
One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is the story of Daniel. He stands as a great example of how to live out our lives in this world in a way that brings honor to God. As a young man, Daniel is taken captive and removed from his homeland. He finds himself in a foreign nation, serving under an evil king. His name is changed and he is instructed to begin living like the natives. His Jewish name, Daniel, which honors God is changed to Belteshazzar, a name that honors the king. He is given the food of the king, which would violate his conscience and God's Law.

Here is the thing that I admire most! He is away from mom and dad, he is away from the "church", he is far from home, yet he determines to continue to live in a way that pleases God. His surroundings, his circumstances are not what determines his conduct. Daniel is God's man in every location, in every situation and God blesses him for that. He is rewarded in the here and now for his faithfulness. (of course he is also rewarded eternally) God uses Daniel to demonstrate His power before king Nebuchadnezzar. He interprets dreams and demonstrates great wisdom, so the king makes him ruler over the entire province of Babylon.

While we read about Daniel's faithfulness and his promotion to ruler, the purpose of this is not Daniel's glory, rather it is all about God. Daniel understands that God is the one that is doing the work, he understands that alone, he is helpless. After interpreting the dream for the king, Daniel makes it clear that it is not his power that has enabled him to do this. "The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy." (Daniel 2:45) It would have been easy for him to take the credit. He could have let everyone believe that he was the one with the power and reaped the reward, but Daniel is faithful in every situation.

The king understands that God is the one that is at work here. "Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery." (2:47) Daniel's faithfulness accomplishes God's purposes. The LORD is honored and glorified, even by an evil king.

Sometimes we think our actions have no effect, that our conduct goes unnoticed. Daniel calls out from history to say that our lives matter, how we choose to live has meaning. We may not serve before a king, but we serve before those that need to meet God everyday. When we are home or away from home, God gives us opportunities to demonstrate faithfulness. We can choose to eat and drink like those around us or we can choose to not defile ourselves. We can choose to identify with the world or we can wear the name of Christ.

Daniel had a choice to make and he chooses faithfulness over fitting in, he chooses to live honorably instead of comfortably. He chooses God over the world. His life stands as an example to us that when we chose to live our lives in a way the honors God, we will receive the glory that is from God.  "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?" (John 5:44)

May each of us determine to live noble lives in service to God, whether we find ourselves at home or abroad, in high school or college, married or single, young or old. God will use us, if we chose Him. As they say.... "Dare to be a Daniel"!

Monday, August 1, 2011

Clay In His Hands

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
Then the word of the LORD came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. (Jeremiah 18: 1-6)

God sends Jeremiah to the potter for a visual lesson. Sometimes we need to see something to fully understand the meaning in a message and God uses a potter and his clay to communicate a truth that we all need to fully grasp and make part of our DNA.

I have always enjoyed watching a potter work with clay on a wheel. It is almost magical to watch a lump of clay turn into a vase. The clay starts out as a blob, without form and in the skilled hands of the potter becomes a beautiful, yet useful vessel. He has done this many times before and it shows in his skill at working with this unforgiving medium. One wrong move, one touch here or there, the amazing work turns into a twisted mess. Thankfully, the potter knows what he is doing and even when a mess is made, he is able to take what is left and turn it into something of value.

God is like that! He knows and understands the materials He is working with. He has formed and reformed multiplied millions of lives in useful, beautiful vessels for His use. No matter what the lump looked like before His hands touched it, the clay is forever changed after His touch. No lump is beyond His ability to change, if the lump will only get on the wheel.

Every lump is "marred" before He shapes it, no one is without blemish and everyone needs His touch. He can form any messed up life into something that is useful to Him, if He is allowed the opportunity. We must be willing to "be shaped as it seems best to Him." He is the potter and He determines how to mold and shape each person in service to Him. The clay cannot say to the potter "make me a flower pot" or "make me a water pitcher". It is in the hands of the potter to decide what each lump will become.

For many of us, allowing someone to have that kind of authority in our lives is scary. Submitting ourselves to that kind of shaping and molding takes trust. We must consider who or what is shaping our lives, who have we turned over control to? Is it television? Is it a book? Is it our friends or our family? Is it our computer or our smart phone? Something or someone is shaping each of us. We have made the decision (consciously or unconsciously) to trust.

Our creator is calling us to submit to His authority, His shaping of our lives. Nothing or no one is in the position God is in to know what is best for us. He made us and He knows what our lumps should become. His hands understand our needs and are able to form us into just the right person.

"Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand". He is able, unlike anyone else to know you inside and out and to give you the life that your heart longs for. Get on the wheel; allow Him to work in your life. Allow His hands to fix the blemishes, allow His hands to shape your life into something beautiful and useful to Him.