Wednesday Thought -- February 1, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group.  They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach -- and that for the sake of dishonest gain.  Even one of their own prophets has said, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.’  This testimony is true.  Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth.” (Titus 1:10-14)

Deception was a problem in Paul’s day, even as it is in ours.  When someone comes along with an air of authority and confidence and a knowledge of enough Bible to be able to use it in what he says, people will follow.  Jim Jones, the Hale-Bopp Comet cult, and dozens of other examples are enough to confirm that to us.  People will believe some strange stuff.  Whole families and groups of people are duped and ruined by such teachers.

Paul mentions several characteristics that are common among false teachers: their lives do not match what they teach (mere talkers), they are in it for what they can get out of it (for the sake of dishonest gain), they want to be in charge, not even submissive to God (rebellious), and they simply reject the truth for their lie.

It’s that final characteristic that provides the greatest safeguard for us and is the greatest challenge to us.  If we know the truth, we cannot be led astray by the lies they tell.  Jesus declared, “Your word is truth.” (John 17:17)  And several other passages affirm that the message of Jesus is the “word of truth.”  Knowing the truth -- knowing what the Bible teaches -- is the best safeguard against the false teaching that is so prevalent around us.

The liars and false teachers can be very persuasive with the smooth words, charismatic presence, and grand claims.  The truth will set you free from their lies.  Know the truth!  Know the Bible!

His, by Grace,

Steve

Tuesday Thought -- January 31, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

What does it look like to be spiritually mature?

There are actually a number of gauges that can be used.  We can compare ourselves to a Person, Jesus Christ.  He embodies perfection -- perfect spiritual maturity.  Or, we can look at the fruit of the Spirit.  The more fully those characteristics are developed in our lives, the more mature we are.  The same thing can be said for the Beatitudes in Matthew 5.  They provide another set of benchmarks against which we can compare our growth.

Paul provides such a list in his letter to Titus, and a similar one when he wrote his first letter to Timothy.  He’s talking about the qualifications for an elder, but, with a few exceptions, it’s basically about spiritual maturity.

“An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.  Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless -- not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.  Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.  He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” (Titus 1:6-9)

Take a close look at that list of character traits and then take a look at your own life.  How are you doing in your growth toward maturity?  Can you see the progress you’ve made in the last year or so?  Are there specific areas in which it is clear that you need to allow the Lord to work in your life?

The road we are on has a clear and certain destination:  heaven.  There the transformation of our lives will be complete.  But the destination isn’t all that is important to the Lord.  He’s interested in our journey here, too.  Are you allowing Him to change you along the way?

His, by Grace,

Steve

Monday Thought -- January 30, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness – a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior, To Titus, my true son in our common faith:  Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.” (Titus 1:1-4)

One eternal attribute of God that you can count on:  He does not lie.  It would be a contradiction of His character to lie and God cannot and will not contradict His own character.

And God, who does not lie, has promised these things:

He has promised that there is eternal life.  That’s not a new promise, it is one that is as old as time.  There is a heaven, God has promised it.  People will go to heaven, God has promised it.

The people who will go to heaven are those who have come to Him through Jesus Christ.  Jesus declared, and the Father affirmed, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.’ (John 14:6)  It is through the person and message of Jesus that eternal life is available.  God has spoken it and His Word can be counted on as true.

It is faith in Jesus Christ and the knowledge of the truth that leads to life.  First, the message of the truth about Jesus must be heard, that’s where knowledge comes in.  Then, the message must be responded it, that’s faith.

Eternal life, through Jesus Christ, by faith.  That’s what God has said.  And God doesn’t lie.  You can count on it!

His, by Grace,

Steve

Friday Thought -- January 27, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“‘Do not fear, O Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, O Israel.  I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile.  Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid.  Do not fear, O Jacob my servant, for I am with you,’ declares the LORD.  ‘Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you.  I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.’” (Jeremiah 46:27-28)

Sometimes the discipline of the Lord is severe.  It was for Judah.  They were taken captive to Babylon and lived as oppressed people there.  It was a bitter pill for the proud people of Judah to swallow.  They considered themselves God’s people, how could God abandon them like that?

But God hadn’t abandoned them!  The discipline, though severe, would not destroy them.  It would be only temporary, only for them to learn the lessons they needed to learn.  And when the time was right, God would restore them to their land and to His blessings.

So, too, is God’s treatment of those who follow Him today.  Sometimes His discipline on us is severe, so severe that we think it unfair and so harsh that we think it will destroy us.  But, as with Judah, God disciplines “only with justice.”  He disciplines, not for the sake of punishment, but for the sake of teaching.  As He taught Judah, even through great pain, so He will teach us, too.

Remember, no discipline of the Lord will destroy you.  No discipline is meant for your long-term harm.  All of God’s discipline is for your good, to bring you back and to teach you to walk in the ways of His blessings.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Thursday Thought -- January 26, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:  ‘Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah till now.  Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, each of them will turn from his wicked way; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin.’  So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and while Jeremiah dictated all the words the LORD had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them on the scroll.  Then Jeremiah told Baruch, ‘I am restricted; I cannot go to the LORD’s temple.  So you go to the house of the LORD on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll the words of the LORD that you wrote as I dictated.  Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their towns.’” (Jeremiah 36:1-6)

You can’t say that God didn’t warn the people of Judah about what was ahead if they did not repent and turn back to Him.  Nothing that came upon them should have been a surprise to them.  Jeremiah wasn’t the first prophet to be sent to warn them, but even Jeremiah’s preaching should have been enough for them to repent.

But the people of Israel did not repent.  At least, the vast majority of them did not.  Perhaps there were a few that listened to Jeremiah’s words.  Perhaps there were small pockets of repentance and revival.  But for the most part the people ignored Jeremiah and the predicted discipline came upon them just as he had said it would.  They weren’t ready.  They should have been, but they weren’t because they did not listen to God’s Word through Jeremiah.

In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam and Eve what would happen if they ate of the forbidden tree.  They were warned.  They just didn’t listen!

In the days before the flood of Noah, God had Noah preach among the people for 120 years before the rains started.  They were warned.  They just didn’t listen!

We live in another day in which God has made clear what is ahead.  For individuals, the warning has been given.  Death will overtake each of us and after death comes judgment for those who do not know Jesus.  We’ve been warned.  Still too many don’t listen!  And for the whole world, we’ve already been warned about the end.  A day of reckoning is ahead for the whole world.  We’ve been warned.  Still too many don’t listen!

There will be no excuse for those who face God’s judgment.  They’ve been warned.  Don’t be among those who didn’t listen!

His, by Grace,

Steve

Wednesday Thought -- January 25, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets to you.  They said, ‘Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions; do not follow other gods to serve them.  Then you will live in the land I have given to you and your fathers.’  But you have not paid attention or listened to me. … Therefore, this is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says:  ‘Listen!  I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disaster I pronounced against them.  I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to them, but they did not answer.’” (Jeremiah 35:15, 17)

Jeremiah proclaimed that disaster was coming upon the people of Judah.  They were to be defeated by Babylon and taken as captives to that land.  It was not by chance that Babylon was coming to attack Judah.  And it would not be by chance that Jerusalem would fall into their hands.  God allowed Babylon to attack and God would allow Babylon to defeat Jerusalem.  He was removing His hand of protection from His people and allowing them to be defeated.

But these were His own people, why would God remove His hand of protection from them?

Judah was reaping what it had sown.  It had sown disobedience and it was reaping discipline.  Warning after warning had come from the Lord to listen to His word and follow the ways He set before them.  But the people of Judah ignored God’s word and followed their own way.  God had spoken clearly of the blessings that would come from obedience and the pain that would come from disobedience.  The people did not believe that pain would come, so they disobeyed.  Now, they would reap what they had sown.  What God had promised was coming.

It is a principle of God, as Paul declared, “Do not be deceived:  God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.” (Galatians 6:7)

His, by Grace,

Steve

Tuesday Thought -- January 24, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“This is what the LORD says:  ‘If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time, then my covenant with David my servant -- and my covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before me -- can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne.  I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.’” (Jeremiah 33:20-22)

God made a covenant with the people of Israel.  It was His agreement with them.  He would bless them and work through them to accomplish His will for mankind.  They would be His people, special to Him and precious.  It was a covenant with David and his descendants and with the priestly tribe of Levi, along with the rest of the Jews, to make them as numerous as the stars and as measureless as sand.  It was a covenant God entered into with Abraham on the basis of Abraham’s faith.

The question is:  would God keep His end of the covenant?  Could God become unfaithful to what He had promised?  What if the Jews were unfaithful to their part of the covenant, would that cause God to back out on His part, too?

God, through Jeremiah, provided the answer to that question.  God declared that His part of the covenant was as sure as day and night.  When the Jews learned to shut the sun off during the day so that it becomes night and to make the sun shine during the night so that it becomes day, then God would break His covenant!  The point is – that’s impossible!  The Jews -- or any individual human or group of humans -- could never turn night to day or day to night.  And as impossible as that is – that’s how impossible it is for God to break His word!

The Jews could count on what God promised!  So can you!  God ALWAYS keeps His word!

His, by Grace,

Steve

Monday Thought -- January 23, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it -- the LORD is his name:  ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’” (Jeremiah 33:2-3)

“Call to me and I will answer.”

What a marvelous promise that is from the Lord.  He created everything that exists.  He made it like it is and He keeps it operating.  He is the Lord, the ruler of all that is.  Yet, He has time for you and me.  When we call to Him, He hears and He answers.  He’s never too busy for us.  He’s never involved in such important work that He cannot be disturbed or interrupted to hear our plea.  He’s there for us, whenever we call to Him.

He promises to answer and to answer with things we cannot figure out for ourselves.  His will is beyond discerning on our own, but when we call to Him, He will reveal it to us.  His plan of salvation is a mystery, beyond human comprehension, but when we call to Him, He makes it known to us.  We don’t seek after God until we find Him.  God finds us.  He pursues us, He convicts us, He touches our heart, and then when we call to Him, He opens Himself up to us to reveal Himself.

Call to Him and He will answer.  That is God’s promise!

His, by Grace,

Steve

Friday Thought -- January 20, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm.  Nothing is too hard for you.” (Jeremiah 32:17)

Leprosy was the most dread disease of Bible days.  It was the cancer or the AIDS of that day.  When a person contracted leprosy, life was over for them.  They were made outcasts and lost all hope of ever reentering life.  They were doomed to a slow and painful and very lonely death.  But God is more powerful than leprosy.  He proved it when Jesus touched the lepers and they were healed.  Not even cancer or AIDS are too powerful for Him to overcome.

The forces of nature are beyond our control.  We’ve tried to make it rain when and where we need it, but have basically been failures at it.  We’ve studied tornadoes, but can do nothing to diminish their power.  We know all about earthquakes, but we cannot control them.  But God is more powerful than the forces of nature.  He proved it when Jesus walked on water and calmed the storms.  No force of nature is too powerful for Him to overcome.

And then there is death.  There is no power that causes greater terror than death.  There is nothing we can do to keep the relentless march toward death from happening.  There is little we can do to slow its progress.  Stop smoking, watch your diet, and get some exercise and life may be a few years longer, but death inevitably comes calling.  But God is more powerful than death, too.  He proved it when Jesus called out Lazarus’s name and he walked out alive from his grave.  He proved it when Jesus Himself left the tomb empty!  Not even death is too powerful for Him to overcome.

Nothing is too hard for Him.  Not even the greatest miracle is too hard for Him -- the miracle of transforming your life by His grace!!!

His, by Grace,

Steve

Thursday Thought -- January 19, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

The majority of Jeremiah’s prophecy was gloom and doom for the people of Judah.  The land was to be invaded by Nebuchadnezer and conquered by him.  The people were to be carried into captivity.  But it wasn’t all negative, there was a hopeful word in his prophecy, too.  One day the people would return.  They would come back to the Lord and He would then bring them back to their land.  But it promised to be a long time before the people would be restored to the land.

It wasn’t too hard to see that troubled times were ahead.  The nation had been in a downward spiral for many years.  There were probably many who weren’t prophets who were giving similar messages of gloom.

Then God gave a strange instruction to Jeremiah.  Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me:  Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, because as nearest relative it is your right and duty to buy it.’  Then, just as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.  Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.’  I knew that this was the word of the LORD; so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels of silver.” (Jeremiah 32:6-9)

If destruction was coming, why would anyone buy a field?  This was not the time to be making investments, but to be getting rid of them for whatever you could get out of them.  But God’s instruction was to buy a field and Jeremiah obeyed.

God’s instruction was a statement that He was indeed bringing His people back to the land.  Jeremiah’s obedience was an act of faith.  Even when it didn’t look like it was a smart move, Jeremiah did what God told him to do and trusted God with the future.

It’s hard enough to say that we trust God with the future.  Like Jeremiah, do we have enough faith to ACT on what we believe?

His, by Grace,

Steve

Wednesday Thought -- January 18, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“‘The time is coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.  It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,’ declares the LORD.  ‘This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,’ declares the LORD.  ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.  No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, “Know the LORD,” because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,’ declares the LORD.  ‘For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.’” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

Jeremiah prophesied of a day that was in the future from where he stood.  It sounds like a marvelous day.  It was a day of a new covenant that he proclaimed.  The old covenant was an external, imposed law.  The new covenant was to be a relationship from within, implanted in the hearts of those with whom God entered the new covenant.  It was to be a day of close relationship with God.  It was to be a day of “knowing the Lord” and not needing priests and intermediaries to make Him known.  It was to be a day of forgiveness and grace, a day in which sin would be dealt with and forgiven.

It sounds like a marvelous day.  And we live in that day!!!  It is not future to us.  It is not something that needs to be prophesied of the future.  Jeremiah saw it from hundreds of years before it happened.  He saw it only in prospect, only from a distance.  We see it up close.  We live it.  We enjoy it.  It is God’s gift to us.

A day of close relationship with Him.

A day of God implanting Himself within us.

A day of “knowing Him.”

A day of forgiveness.

A day of grace.

The day of Christ.  The day in which we are blessed to live!!

His, by Grace,

Steve

Tuesday Thought -- January 17, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“This is what the LORD says:  ‘When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.  For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and will bring you back from captivity.  I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.’” (Jeremiah 29:10-14)

Seventy years is the time God had decreed that His people would be in captivity in Babylon.  Why 70 years?  For reasons only God knows.  God set that time before the people ever were defeated by Nebuchadnezer.  At the end of the 70 years, God promised to bring them back home to the land of Israel.

The 70 years would be a difficult time for the people of Judah.  They would be living as an oppressed people, pressed into the service of foreigners.  But the difficult time was not to be the end for them.  God’s plans did not end with their oppression.  God’s plans never end with His children in pain and suffering.  God’s plans always contain a future.  God’s plans always contain a hope.  God’s plans are never designed to hurt, always designed for the ultimate good of His purposes and of His children.

That’s easy to forget in the midst of the pain.  It would have been easy for the people of Judah to forget in the midst of their pain.  That’s why God had Jeremiah speak these words.  I would think these words would have been memorized by every Jew in Babylon and repeated daily.  A time was coming when things would change.  God would bring them home to Him and home to their own land.

I know that this world often brings pain – deep and difficult seasons.  In the midst of the pain, don’t forget the future, don’t forget the hope, don’t forget we’re going home!  Here’s a promise from Jesus to you and me that we all would do well to memorize and repeat daily:  “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:3)

His, by Grace,

Steve

Monday Thought -- January 16, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“‘Am I only a God nearby,’ declares the LORD, ‘and not a God far away?  Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?’ declares the LORD.  ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 23:23-24)

God was banishing His people to a far land.  That was the word from God that Jeremiah brought to the people of Judah.  And when they got there, the people would be tempted to feel that God had abandoned them, that they were too far from God for Him to notice them or for Him to do anything to help them.

That would not be true!  God spoke these words before the people were taken away, so that when they were away they might remember them.  The message:  there is no place too far away from God.  No matter how far away from God they were, God would see them and He would be ready to respond when they reached out to Him for help.

That message is still true.  It’s not a far country to which people are banished, like Judah was.  A sinful and wicked heart, a heart full of guilt, drives people away from God, far away.  But no one is too far away from God for Him to see them.  And no one is too far away from God for Him to respond when they reach out to Him for help.

Those people around you that seem to be so far away from Him, they aren’t too far.  Maybe you’re the one God can use to help them reach out to Him!

His, by Grace,

Steve

Friday Thought -- January 13, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.  In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety.  This is the name by which he will be called:  The LORD Our Righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23:5-6)

In the midst of Jeremiah’s dire predictions for Judah, comes this prophecy of hope.  Judah would be conquered by Nebuchadnezzar and its people would live in terror for some time.  But God has not given up completely on His people.  Another King is being promised who will bring hope and help to the people who will follow Him.

Of course, the prophecy of Jeremiah is about the coming of the Messiah, Jesus.  Note the characteristics of Him and His coming:

He will be a branch of David.  And so, from the family tree of David, Jesus was born.

He would be a King.  But no ordinary King.  We know that His kingdom would not be of this world.  It would be a heavenly kingdom -- and an eternal kingdom.

He will be known for His wisdom.  This prophecy might have raised images of days gone by and the reign of Solomon, but the coming King would be far wiser than Solomon.

Justice and righteousness will characterize His kingdom.  There need be no fear that He will be unfair or in any way wicked.

Salvation and safety will be His gifts.

Judah could look only into the dim future for the coming King.  Rejoice that we live in His day and be patient as we await His final coronation.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Thursday Thought -- January 12, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“‘Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar?  Did not your father have food and drink?  He did what was right and just, so all went well with him.  He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well.  Is that not what it means to know me?’ declares the LORD.  ‘But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion.’” (Jeremiah 22:15-17)

By what criteria should we judge a king?  Obviously, Americans don’t live in a land with a king.  Instead, we have a president, governors and other elected officials.  But I would think that the same criteria for judging their leadership would apply.  What makes a leader a good leader – that’s the question?

There are ways the world judges a man’s power, position, and value.  The question in Jeremiah’s day was, “How much cedar does a king have?”  That question about a king’s material wealth, the grandeur of his palace and the other buildings by which the king is known.  Wealth, titles, the ability to command others, the ability to get things done, the power of the king’s army … those are all criteria that are used to judge the success of a leader.

But none of those are God’s criteria – and none should be ours when we look at the success of a leader.

“He defended the cause of the poor and needy.”  That’s the criteria that Jeremiah sets forth as the criteria by which we should determine the success of a king – a leader.  That is what God has called all who know Him to be doing – and that is the charge that God has given to kings and presidents and governors.  Take care of those who cannot take of themselves – the defenseless, the poor, the widows, the disabled, the needy.

By that criteria – how is America doing?  How are our leaders doing the job that God has called them to do?  And how about you and me – are we fulfilling that aspect of God’s call on our lives?

His, by Grace,

Steve

Wednesday Thought -- January 11, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“O Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.  Sing to the Lord!  Give praise to the Lord.  He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of wicked men.” (Jeremiah 20:12-13)

Jeremiah served the Lord with his whole life.  God had commissioned him to bring His message to the people of Israel.  But the message God asked Jeremiah to bring was not a message the people of Israel wanted to hear.  They responded in ways that made Jeremiah’s life miserable.  They didn’t listen to him, rejecting the counsel he brought them from the Lord.  They mocked and ridiculed him.  They persecuted him.  Jeremiah paid a high price for doing what God wanted him to do.  He lived a life that was not what he would have dreamed of when he was a young man!

How do you respond when people do not respond well to you?  Not everyone responds well to us – that’s always true when we represent the Lord.  Some people just ignore us and don’t want to hear what we say about the Lord.  Others mock and ridicule us.  They say we “need a crutch” or that we are religious fanatics.  And for some, the response gets even more negative than that.  Our faith may cost us our jobs, our friends, it could even cost our lives.  There are places around the world where people respond to the message of the Gospel by persecuting and killing the messengers!

The question is:  how do you respond when people do not respond well to you?

Jeremiah responded by turning the situation over to the Lord.  In other words, he didn’t respond.  He didn’t fight back.  He didn’t try to defend himself.  He didn’t strike out to hurt those who were hurting him.  He asked the Lord to be his defender.  He asked the Lord to provide whatever response was needed.  Instead of striking back at those who hurt him, he turned in praise to the Lord!

Now that’s a powerful example for us!

His, by Grace,

Steve

Tuesday Thought -- January 10, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed.  I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me.  Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction.  So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long.  But if I say, ‘I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones.  I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.  I hear many whispering, ‘Terror on every side!  Report him!  Let’s report him!’  All my friends are waiting for me to slip, saying, ‘Perhaps he will be deceived; then we will prevail over him and take our revenge on him.’  But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.  They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten.” (Jeremiah 20:7-11)

The message God gave Jeremiah to preach was not a pleasant one.  It was not one that the people to whom he was preaching wanted to hear.  When Jeremiah preached it, the people turned against him.

Being faithful to God’s message is not always easy.  In fact, it rarely is.  God’s message is judgment upon sin.  God’s message is to turn away from the wickedness that overtakes the human heart so easily.  People don’t often want to hear that!

So, why share God’s message with others?  Jeremiah had no choice.  It is what God had called him to do.  The message of God burned in Jeremiah’s heart like a fire.  He could not keep it in.

God calls us to the sharing of His message, too.  We have no choice.  It is what God has called us to do.  When we fully grasp it, it burns like a fire in our heart, too.  It must be shared with those around us.

And when we do, God will be with us.  He will not abandon us.  Like a mighty warrior, He will be with us.  In the end, He will win, and those with Him will win, too!

His, by Grace,

Steve

Monday Thought -- January 9, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the chief officer in the temple of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the LORD’s temple.  The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, ‘The LORD’s name for you is not Pashhur, but Magor-Missabib.  For this is what the LORD says:  “I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends.”’” (Jeremiah 20:1-4)

It’s always interesting to see the Lord give new names to people to reflect something about them or their future.  Abram became Abraham.  Sarai became Sarah.  Jacob became Israel.  Cephas became Peter.  Those are just a few examples.  And Jeremiah provides another one:  the priest Pashhur became Magor-Missabib.

Pashhur sounds unusual enough, but Magor-Missabib is really strange.  It means “terror on every side.”  That doesn’t prophesy a very good future for Pashhur!  The new name God selected says a great deal about Pashhur’s character.

Have you ever wondered what name God would give you to describe your character?  It’s an interesting exercise.  As you review your life, what character traits seem most dominant to you?  If God gave you a name to reflect those traits would you be proud of it or ashamed of it?

What changes do you need to make in order to be called by the kind of name you would be pleased with?

His, by Grace,

Steve

Friday Thought -- January 6, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“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:  ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?’ declares the LORD.  ‘Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.’” (Jeremiah 18:1-6)

Israel was to be clay in the hands of the Potter.  God wanted them to allow Him to mold them into what He wanted them to be and use them for what He wanted to use them for.  Of course, Israel wasn’t always willing.  In fact, it seems as though Israel wasn’t often willing!  They had their own ideas about what they wanted to do.  They weren’t into allowing anyone else to shape them, not even the Lord.  They went their own way --and suffered the consequences of doing so.

It remains God’s desire to use those who are His in the way He chooses and to make them what He desires them to be.  There are some He molds to be preachers and some He molds to be singers and some He molds to be administrators and some He molds to be servers.  Some He wants to use to show how to handle success with faith.  Some He wants to use to show how to handle failure with faith.  Some He wants to use in health.  Some He wants to use in sickness.  Some He wants to use through a long life.  Some He wants to use in a few short years of life.  Each is important to God because each accomplishes a piece that fits into His plan.

Sometimes I don’t like the way that God wants to use me.  Sometimes I don’t like the molding process that He wants to take me through to make me what He wants me to be.  But -- He is the Potter and I am the clay!

His, by Grace,

Steve

Thursday Thought -- January 5, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“This is what the LORD says:  ‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.  He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes.  He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.  But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.  He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.’” (Jeremiah 17:5-8)

The question is:  where will we put our trust?

We can trust in our own intelligence, our own abilities, our own efforts.  God will allow us to trust in those things.  But that is a very short-sighted choice.  It may get us what we think we want out of life:  wealth, success, pleasure, fame, security.  But it will ultimately leave us empty and dry.

Or we can choose to trust in the Lord.  In that choice alone is ultimate satisfaction.  It is that choice which leads to a security that cannot be altered by what happens in this world.  It is that choice which does not experience terror when things turn sour in this life.

So, where will we put our trust?

His, by Grace,

Steve

Wednesday Thought -- January 4, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

Jeremiah said, “When your words came I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty.  I never sat in the company of revelers, I sat alone because your hand was on me and you had filled me with indignation.” (Jeremiah 15:16-17)

Jeremiah got pleasure from the Lord and His Word.  God’s Word wasn’t available to Jeremiah in the same way it is available to us.  It is so easy for us to pick the Word up off our desk or bookshelf and read and meditate upon it.  The Jews had the scrolls that contained the books of the Old Testament that had been written to that point in history, but they were kept in the Temple and used by the priests.  The people had little access to them except through what the priests read for them.

But Jeremiah had another source for God’s Word:  God spoke directly to him.  When God spoke, Jeremiah listened.  He took what God spoke and ate it, he made it a part of himself.  He meditated on it and followed it.  And in doing that he found great joy.

That was a choice Jeremiah made.  Others took their joy in the things of the world, but Jeremiah took his joy in the things of the Lord.  It was a choice to sit apart from the world rather than join and be a partaker of the pleasures that were available.

Although the Word of God is more easily available to us than it was to Jeremiah and others in his time, do we take advantage of it and take it in and make it a part of ourselves?  OR do we leave it sitting on the table or gathering dust on the bookshelf and rarely lift it up to read?

And when we read, is it duty and drudgery or is it joy and delight?  What does our response to God’s Word say about our hearts?

Where do you take your pleasure?  What choice have you made?

His, by Grace,

Steve

Tuesday Thought -- January 3, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“I said, ‘Ah, Sovereign Lord, the prophets keep telling them, “You will not see the sword or suffer famine.  Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.”’  Then the Lord said to me, ‘The prophets are prophesying lies in my name.  I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them.  They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries, and the delusions of their own minds.’” (Jeremiah 14:13-14)

We all like to hear good news.  We want to hear messages about peace and prosperity.  When economic times are tough, we listen for the economists who will tell us the bad times are ending and good times are just around the corner.  We like hearing that terrorism is under control, that safety has returned.  We like hearing about good things and predictions of more good things to come for us and those around us.  So did Israel in Jeremiah’s day.

Jeremiah told them that judgment was around the corner.  He told them that God was angry and His patience had run out.  And the people didn’t want to listen to him.  They mocked him and abused him and turned away from him.

Other prophets told the people of Israel what they wanted to hear.  They reminded them that they were God’s special people.  They told them that God would rescue them from any danger and protect them from any attacks – like He had done in the past.  And the people listened to them.  They were rewarded with popularity and praise and prosperity for themselves.

The problem was that Jeremiah was speaking truth and those who prophesying good times ahead were lying!

Which would you prefer to hear --- good news that is a lie or hard news that is true?

“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

His, by Grace,

Steve