Friday, March 14,
2014, 8:30 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Give God the Glory.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Jeremiah 6 (NIV).
Take Warning
“To
whom can I speak and give warning?
Who will listen to me?
Their
ears are closed
so they cannot hear.
The
word of the Lord is offensive to them;
they find no pleasure in it.” V. 10
There are many people living in this world today – both the (professed)
saved and the unsaved – who find the truths (or some) of scripture, and the
truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ offensive to them. They get no pleasure in
hearing that, although man was originally created in God’s image, he fell into
sin, and since then all of mankind has been born with a sin nature, bearing the
image of Adam, separated by sin from their creator, and destined to die in
their sins, without hope, if they do not choose to believe in Jesus Christ as
Lord and Savior of their lives. This is reality! Parts of this are surely not
pleasant, but ignoring it or changing the message to suit what we would like to
hear does not make it go away.
Apart from genuine faith in Jesus Christ – a faith which
submits to the cross and to the Spirit’s work of transforming our hearts away
from sin and self, to a walk of faith in Christ’s righteousness and holiness –
we are destined to die and to suffer eternal punishment in hell without God.
Not Serious?
…“From
the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets
and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
They
dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
‘Peace,
peace,’ they say,
when there is no peace.
Are
they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush.” Vv.
13-15a
Many preachers and teachers, prophets and/or priests who are
purportedly ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and/or who are leading and
teaching men and women about God/Jesus, and about how to discover who we are in
relation to God, what we are made of, and concerning how our lives can be lived
in peace and harmony with Almighty God, practice deceit. They lie to the people
with stories they make up out of their own imaginations. They treat the serious
wound of sin as though it is not serious.
Some of them even go so far as to not even mention sin, the
sin nature, the fall of man and man’s hopeless state and ultimate destiny of
eternal damnation, even while trying to help all people discover who they are
and where they come from, and even while they try to help them discover what
possibilities for their future are available to them. Yet, what they give the
people is a false hope, because they don’t tell them the truth about their
sinful condition, and because they fill their minds with false messages and with
scripture which is twisted to suit their own beliefs, often taken out of
context and completely misused.
The Ancient Paths
…This
is what the Lord says:
“Stand
at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask
where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls. V.
16
A crossroads is a junction; intersection; decision; crisis;
turning point; moment of truth; a time when an important decision must be made;
a place where two or more roads meet or cross each other (Encarta Dictionary
& MS Word Thesaurus).
At the crossroads we have a decision to make; a path to
choose. The Lord Jesus is asking that we stand back and look at our lives from
his perspective, I believe, and to honestly look at where we have come from and
where we are headed, according to his word; to look at what options are before
us, and then for us to ask for or to seek after the path of righteousness and
holiness that the saints of old followed after; the path which God provided for
us via the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins, and which follows
after God Almighty, allowing us to walk in his ways and in his truth. Only through
faith in Christ Jesus will we find rest for our souls and the answers to our
questions concerning who we are, why we are here, and what the future holds for
us. All other paths lead to hell.
So, the Lord Jesus, I believe, is saying that mankind is at
a crossroads right now, i.e. humankind is at a point of decision. We can either
choose to continue on in sin, following after those who would tell us lies, or
we can choose to submit to the cross of Christ in our lives, dying to the sin
which once enslaved us, via God’s Spirit and his saving grace; allowing the
Holy Spirit of God to give us new lives in Christ, “created to be like Christ
in true righteousness and holiness” (See Eph. 4:17-24).
To a certain extent, I believe this also applies to the
believer who has gotten off the path of righteousness and has been following
after the ways of the flesh, and after the gods of this world, and after
teachers who say what their itching ears want to hear. God is calling out to
his idolatrous and adulterous church to return to the “ancient path” of walking
in Christ’s righteousness and holiness, completely free in lifestyle from the
enslavement of sin. Then they will know his peace, and will find their fulfillment
only in Jesus Christ, their Lord.
Disaster Awaits
But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
I
appointed watchmen over you and said,
‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But you said, ‘We will not listen.’
Therefore
hear, you nations;
you who are witnesses,
observe what will happen to them.
Hear,
you earth:
I am bringing disaster on this people,
the fruit of their schemes,
because
they have not listened to my words
and have rejected my law.” Vv. 16c-19
I believe God is sounding the trumpet loud and clear. He is
letting humankind know that they must make the decision to receive Jesus Christ
as Lord and Savior of their lives, or else they risk the danger of death
outside of faith in Christ and eternity in hell. Yet, I believe he is also
sounding the trumpet for his adulterous bride to wake up from her slumber and
to choose to walk in the way of his righteousness and holiness instead of to
walk in the ways of this world. He is not interested or pleased with what we
think we are doing for him if our lives are not surrendered to him and
following him in the way he is leading us (v. 20).
We know from reading the prophets of old, as well as from
reading the whole of the New Testament, including about half of what Jesus
taught us, that God is going to send judgment upon this earth one day. I happen
to believe we may already be seeing parts of that divine judgment in some
sections of the world today, and for some time now, and that it is soon to come
to America. I believe not only that God is judging (or will judge) the people
of this world for their unbelief, but he is also judging and/or will judge his
complacent, adulterous, idolatrous, and/or lukewarm church, as that is what the
word teaches in Isaiah, in particular, and in Revelation (and in other books in
the Bible).
So, what will your answer be to God’s call today? The world
is at a crossroads. Which path will you choose? Will you choose the “good way”
of faith in Jesus Christ and in walking in his holiness, righteousness and
purity in the power and working of the Holy Spirit within you? Or, will you
choose to continue going your own way; the way of man; and the way of sinful
flesh? It is your choice, but know the consequences of choosing the wrong path
and the rewards of following the right path, because your choice is going to
matter for your eternity.
Give God the Glory
/ An Original Work
Based off Psalm 19 /
March 10, 2014
All of creation now
proclaims:
“Give God the glory;
honor His name!”
Each day the stars in
heav’n above
Show forth His wisdom;
tell of His love.
They do not speak.
They have no voice.
Yet, they declare we
have a choice:
“Worship the God of
heav’n above;
Believe in Jesus;
trust in His love.”
God’s word is perfect,
just and good,
Refreshing souls who
trust in the Lord;
Makes wise the simple;
radiant -
Lighting our lives
with God’s righteousness.
Joy to the heart His
words now speak;
Pure and enduring, now
we seek.
They are more precious
than our gold;
Sweeter than honey; never
grow old.
Keeping the word
brings great reward.
By the word Jesus
speaks and He warns,
Convicting hearts of
all their sin;
Forgiving all who call
upon Him.
Praying You keep me,
Lord, from sins.
May they not rule my
life again.
Then will I walk in
all Your ways,
Following Jesus all of
my days.
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