Will You Follow Jesus?

Wednesday, June 22, 2011, 8:18 a.m. – When I woke this morning, the song, “First Things First,” was playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Jeremiah 7:1-29:

False Religion Worthless
1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 “Stand at the gate of the LORD’s house and there proclaim this message:
“‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD. 3 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. 4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!” 5 If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever. 8 But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.

9 “‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things? 11 Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.

12 “‘Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. 13 While you were doing all these things, declares the LORD, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. 14 Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your fathers. 15 I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your brothers, the people of Ephraim.’

… 21 “‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! 22 For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. 25 From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. 26 But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their forefathers.’

27 “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer. 28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips. 29 Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.

My Understanding: I know that this was written at a specific time in history to a particular people and that literally it is to be applied to that time period and to those people, and yet the Bible tells us that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). What this means, I believe, is that there are Biblical principles throughout the entire Bible, that are in agreement with New Testament teachings, that can be taught and applied to our lives, even today. So, I believe the Lord, today, would have me make that application of this passage in Jeremiah to his church today, in particular to the church in the USA, which is where I live and know.

I believe God is saying to his church (his people) today that we should reform our ways and our actions. We should change our behaviors and our attitudes to be in conformity with God’s word and his moral principles, which he clearly defined for us throughout the whole of scripture. We are not to trust in deceptive words which say, “God will not judge us because we are his church and/or because we live in America.” The New Testament clearly teaches that God judges, punishes, disciplines and corrects those who are his. He is saying to his church that if we really (truly) change our ways and our actions; if we do not oppress others less fortunate than us; if we do not shed innocent blood; and if we do not follow after other “gods” to our own harm, then he will bless us as a people of God and as a nation.

Yet, we are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless and that tell us that repentance (turning away from our sins) and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ (following him with our lives and making him our master) are not necessary for salvation, that “belief” is all that is required, but “belief” is not clearly defined, that God is pleased with us no matter what we do, that God will no longer punish or judge disobedience now that we are under his grace, and that all we have to do is to pray a “sinner’s prayer,” and we have our ticket into heaven, whether or not we repent and obey. It is astounding to me the number of pastors and church leaders and professing Christians who are espousing this doctrine and belief.

Yet, the New Testament teachings refute this false teaching over and over again. Jesus called us to repent and to believe. Peter’s first message of the gospel at Pentecost called the people to repent and to believe. The necessity of repentance is taught throughout the New Testament. The books of I John and James refute this false doctrine, as well, when they teach us that if we do not turn from our sins and we continue in them willfully in lifestyle, if we do not obey the commands of the Lord, and if our “faith” is words only with no action to show we have genuine faith, then our faith is worthless, i.e. it is dead faith, which is no faith at all. Many, many New Testament passages teach that turning from our sin and obeying our Lord are necessary for salvation.

This is not works-based salvation. This is the working of the Holy Spirit within us in cleansing us from sin, in purifying us, in making us holy, and in conforming us into the image of Christ, and transforming and renewing our minds, as we cooperate with him and allow him to make these changes within our hearts. This also does not constitute sinless perfection nor does it mean you lose your salvation every time you sin or go through a period of rebellion against God, but what it does mean is that we must most certainly enter into relationship with Jesus Christ via repentance and via a heart commitment to walk with him and to live for and to obey him and his teachings, and we must continue in him. If we enter into relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ just to get our “get out of jail free card,” then we are following a false belief, which is no gospel at all. There must be a heart change.

Then, the Lord deals with the subject of hypocrisy. He asks if we will steal, murder, commit adultery (lusting in our minds and pornography included here) and follow after “other gods” of fame, fortune, entertainment, careers, sports, people, friendships and acceptance of man, and/or anything which, or anyone who replaces or takes the number one spot of God in our lives in our devotion, emotion, passion, desire, time, attention, affection and obedience, and then come before him in our times of personal worship and the study of his word and prayer, and act as though everything is right between us and God and that he should hear us and should bless us, thinking that because we are now under grace that we are free to continue in our sins and still have the blessing of God. Oh, how utterly wrong!

Then, God lets the people know that he is watching them. Just because we are under grace through Jesus’ shed blood for us on the cross for our sins and via our faith in Jesus Christ, it does not mean God has stopped caring what we do or that he is not pained and grieved by our sins. He cares very much and he is very grieved when we give lip service only but our hearts are hardened against him and against the truths of his word. And, he is still speaking to our hearts, and he is still calling us to repent and to turn from our sins.

Yet, so many are not listening because they think they don’t have to because they have their ticket to heaven, as though God owes them this and that he requires nothing of them. Oh, how utterly shameful! What a mockery of what Jesus Christ did for us in taking upon himself all our sins so that we could be free from the penalty, control of and bondage to sin. He is calling, but many, many are not paying any attention and thus they are not answering his calls. Therefore, what God has done previously to his rebellious people, at sundry times throughout history, he will do to us (his church), too, if we do not repent and we do not turn from our wicked ways. He is a loving Father and he will discipline those he loves.

God gave his people then a command and he gives the same command to his people, his church, today: “Obey me and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you.” John 14:23 says: Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” John 15:10 says: “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” Acts 5:32 says: “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” Heb. 5:9 says: “…and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him…” And lastly, Rev. 3:3 says: “Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.” This is not optional. Repentance and obedience are necessary. And, God is calling us to wake up!

God gave us his God-breathed word to teach us. He gave us his One and Only Son, God the Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins so that we could go free from the penalty of sin (eternity without God and eternal punishment in hell); free from bondage to sin; free from the control of sin over our day-to-day lives; and free to walk in obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ via the working of the Holy Spirit within us. He sent His Holy Spirit to live within us to purify our hearts, to counsel, teach, guide, convict and to lead us, and he has given us his church, the body of Christ, with all its various gifts and members which and who are to be used to edify us (inform, educate, instruct, teach and improve us spiritually in our walk with the Lord each day), and yet many of God’s people, his church, are not listening, are stiff-necked and are refusing to repent.

God will bring revival to his church, I believe, even if it means using divine correction to bring us back into a right relationship with him. So, if you identified with any of this, my prayer is that you make your heart right with God today, that you repent of your sins, and you choose to obey him always, making Jesus Christ your Lord, Savior and Master.

First Things First / An Original Work / April 27, 2011

First things first! Last things last!
Will you be the first to love others?
Will you follow Jesus, the Lamb?
Will you witness, dispelling darkness?
Will you be the light to the world?
Show the world how much Jesus loves them.
That’s why He died for their sins.

I love God! He loves me!
I will follow Him where he leads me.
Where He goes, I’ll go with Him
Into valleys, grief stricken trials,
Or on mountain tops, peace within.
There is not a challenge He can’t meet
If we but trust in Him.

First things first! Last things last!
Loving God means He is in first place.
He is King; He’s Lord of my world.
I give Him the glory and honor;
Magnifying the great I AM!
He is worthy of all my worship.
He deserves all of my praise.

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Song

Who Will Listen?

Tuesday, June 21, 2011, 6:42 a.m. – When I woke this morning, the song, “Tick Tock,” was playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Jeremiah 5-6 (quoting 6:10-21):

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.
11 But I am full of the wrath of the LORD,
and I cannot hold it in.

“Pour it out on the children in the street
and on the young men gathered together;
both husband and wife will be caught in it,
and the old, those weighed down with years.
12 Their houses will be turned over to others,
together with their fields and their wives,
when I stretch out my hand
against those who live in the land,”
declares the LORD.
13 “From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
14 They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say,
when there is no peace.
15 Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when I punish them,”
says the LORD.

16 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.
But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 I appointed watchmen over you and said,
‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But you said, ‘We will not listen.’
18 Therefore hear, O nations;
observe, O witnesses,
what will happen to them.
19 Hear, O 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.
20 What do I care about incense from Sheba
or sweet calamus from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;
your sacrifices do not please me.”

21 Therefore this is what the LORD says:

“I will put obstacles before this people.
Fathers and sons alike will stumble over them;
neighbors and friends will perish.”

My Understanding: In these two chapters of Jeremiah is found a description of God’s people who are living in open rebellion against God by their attitudes, their behaviors and their life choices. They are a people who have refused God’s correction and who have refused to repent of their sins. Even their leaders, in one accord, have broken off covenant with Almighty God. The people and their leaders are rebelling greatly against God, and their backslidings are many. They have forsaken the Lord, their God, and have followed after “other gods” that are not gods. They have committed spiritual adultery against God and have thronged to the “houses of prostitutes.” They are utterly unfaithful to the Lord.

They have lied about the Lord their God by saying that he is a “do nothing” God (he will not judge his people) and that his messengers are but wind. They are a foolish and senseless people who have eyes, but do not see, ears, but do not hear. They do not have the fear of God within them and they do not stand in awe or respect at his presence. They have stubborn and rebellious hearts which have turned away from God and have gone astray. They are full of deceit and they even deceive their own hearts into believing that they are ok. Yet, the word of God is offensive to them (the parts of it they don’t want to hear, that is), and they find no pleasure in the parts that speak to their spiritual condition and that call them to repentance.

The leaders of the flock are greedy for gain, they practice deceit, they put Band-Aids over people’s serious spiritual wounds, which are oozing with puss from the deep infection of sin, telling them to be at peace, when the seriousness of their wounds shouts loudly and clearly that a Band-Aid is not going to heal wounds that are festering with rot and decay and infection. Yet these leaders have no shame. They speak the words that the “itching ears” of their people want to hear so that they will gain the people’s approval, and so that their numbers will increase. They appeal to the flesh of man to attract man to “church” and to “the gospel,” but that is no gospel at all if it leaves people in their sins and it tells them that they don’t have to repent and they don’t have to obey, and that God is pleased with them no matter what they do. These leaders are giving out a false gospel and a false hope to people who are expecting to go to heaven one day because they have been given that false promise of eternity with God in heaven absent of repentance, obedience and true faith in Jesus Christ.

The Solution

First of all, God is sending out his servants to sound the trumpet call to the church to repent, and to warn of impending judgment of God if the people of the church do not repent of their ways and they do not turn their hearts back to faithful obedience to their Lord Jesus Christ. God will punish his church. He will give her a serious dose of divine discipline and correction. This is not just Old Testament teaching. This is New Testament teaching, too. Judgment begins with the family of God (I Peter 4:17). The letters to the churches in Revelation let us know that God will judge the churches which are living in rebellion, apathy, lukewarmness, spiritual adultery, and idolatry, et al. When we come to communion, we are to examine our own hearts and to judge ourselves so that we don’t come under God’s judgment (I Corinthians 11:31). God has appointed watchmen to give warning and to sound the trumpet, but the problem is that the people are saying, “We will not listen!”

Second of all, God is appealing to the people to consider the ways of truth that have been tested and tried by those who have gone before them in faith and practice and faithfulness, and to follow their example by walking in the “good way,” i.e. the ways God has laid out for his people to follow. We will find rest for our souls when we know we are walking in faith and obedience to the Lord Jesus. We are never at peace when we are rebelling against God or we are living out of fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ by our unfaithfulness, i.e. when we have thrown off the yoke of our covenant relationship with Jesus Christ. Rest for our souls is only found when we take Jesus Christ’s yoke upon us, when we learn of him at his feet, when we walk in fellowship with him, when we obey his words and our heart’s desire is for him and not for our “other gods.” Yet, the situation and problem presented here is that the people are saying, “We will not walk in the good way!”

The Judgment

One day God is going to judge the people of his church and of the world and he will bring disaster on the people who claim to be his yet have not listened to his words found in the Holy Bible (Genesis-Revelation). God is not interested in what we do for him or what we give to him in the way of sacrifice or offerings if our hearts are not in the right place and we are not living in obedience to him. Imagine a marriage in which one partner decides to live independent of his or her spouse in decision-making, in living as though he or she is still single, and in emotional and/or physical adultery, and yet the spouse does “good things” for his or her spouse and thinks that his or her spouse should be happy with his or her “offerings.” It doesn’t work that way, though. The spouse wants his or her partner’s heart, devotion and faithfulness, not his or her “good deeds.” God is just like that. He is a jealous God, and he desires that our hearts be his and his alone and that we not come to him in falseness, thinking that God should be happy with what we choose to offer to him while we hold back our hearts and obedience. Our “good deeds” are not acceptable to God if they are not accompanied by truth, humility, repentance, faith and obedience to God/Jesus Christ. In other words, God is NOT PLEASED with us no matter what we do!

The purpose and goal of God’s judgment is to bring his people back into right relationship with him. God is a loving God, patient, compassionate, merciful, and slow to anger, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. He is not quick to come to this decision to judge his people. He grieves greatly over our sin and rebellion and he longs to be gracious to us because he loves us so much. Yet, he is a loving Father who will bring divine correction and discipline upon those he loves. So, if this description describes where you are in your life and you know you are not in a right relationship with God, then I pray you will consider these words prayerfully, that you will be willing to examine your heart before God to see where God is not pleased with you, that you will repent (turn from your sin) and that you will walk humbly in obedience to God for your sake, for the sake of God’s holy name, and for the sake of eternity with God.

Tick Tock / An Original Work / May 1, 2011

Tick tock, tick tock, time is a passing.
The time on the clock keeps ticking
While the church is fast a-sleeping.
Satan’s on a rampage
‘Cause his time is running out.
Will you worship God the Father,
God the Son and Holy Spirit?
Will you obey all of His
Commands for you today?
Jesus died to pay your ransom,
So that you could be forgiven.
Won’t you come to Him in truth
And penitently pray to Him?

Tick tock, tick tock, time is a wasting.
The cross of our Lord awaits you.
Won’t you come and share His table,
Drink the cup and eat the bread
In memory of Him?
Take a heart examination,
And accept our God’s salvation.
Humbly bow in adoration
And proclaim His name.
He wants for you to believe in
Him who interceded for you
When He died for your sins
And He rose from death in victory.

Tick tock, tick tock, time’s end is nearing.
How He longs to take and keep you,
In His arms He wants to hold you,
If you will but come to Him
And call on Him today.
His desire is that you please Him
In all of your life’s ambitions;
Be a living sacrifice
And be transformed today.
Let Christ’s love and grace sustain you,
And His promises prepare you
For His soon return to earth
To gather all His saints to Him.

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Song

In Your Ways

Monday, June 20, 2011, 12:30 a.m. – I woke up and could not fall back asleep. The song, “Teach Me, Lord,” was playing through my mind, so I got up to hear from the Lord. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Jeremiah 4:

“If you will return, O Israel,
return to me,”
declares the LORD.
“If you put your detestable idols out of my sight
and no longer go astray,
2 and if in a truthful, just and righteous way
you swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’
then the nations will be blessed by him
and in him they will glory.”

3 This is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem:

“Break up your unplowed ground
and do not sow among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,
circumcise your hearts,
you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem,
or my wrath will break out and burn like fire
because of the evil you have done—
burn with no one to quench it.

…7 A lion has come out of his lair;
a destroyer of nations has set out.
He has left his place
to lay waste your land.
Your towns will lie in ruins
without inhabitant.
8 So put on sackcloth,
lament and wail,
for the fierce anger of the LORD
has not turned away from us.

9 “In that day,” declares the LORD,
“the king and the officials will lose heart,
the priests will be horrified,
and the prophets will be appalled.”

10 Then I said, “Ah, Sovereign LORD, how completely you have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ when the sword is at our throats.”

11 At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, “A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; 12 a wind too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments against them.”

13 Look! He advances like the clouds,
his chariots come like a whirlwind,
his horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us! We are ruined!
14 O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved.
How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?

…18 “Your own conduct and actions
have brought this upon you.
This is your punishment.
How bitter it is!
How it pierces to the heart!”

… 22 “My people are fools;
they do not know me.
They are senseless children;
they have no understanding.
They are skilled in doing evil;
they know not how to do good.”

…30 What are you doing, O devastated one?
Why dress yourself in scarlet
and put on jewels of gold?
Why shade your eyes with paint?
You adorn yourself in vain.
Your lovers despise you;
they seek your life.

31 I hear a cry as of a woman in labor,
a groan as of one bearing her first child—
the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands and saying,
“Alas! I am fainting;
my life is given over to murderers.”

My Understanding: The Lord Jesus, our God, creator of all things and sustainer of all things, has been calling out for some time now to his idolatrous and adulterous church to return to him and to put her detestable idols out of his sight and to no longer go astray. He is calling out to her collectively, and individually - to believers who are following after other gods and who have forsaken their first love, Jesus Christ, to come to him in truth and in repentance (turning from sin) and to return to him with her whole heart. Then he will restore her to a right relationship with him and she will enjoy intimate fellowship with him once again. Then, the Lord will pour his Spirit upon her and will bless her with spiritual blessings from above. Then the people will be called “The Righteous Ones” because they will have put their faith and trust in their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and in him alone.

God/Jesus is calling out to his church to repent of her sins. Ground that is unplowed is not useful for planting seeds or for producing a harvest. The way we break up our own “unplowed ground” in our hearts is through prayerful heart examination before the Lord in truth and we turn from our sin, forsaking, reprioritizing and/or throwing off anything that is leading us into sin or that has become the object of our affection over and above or in place of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Physical circumcision involves the cutting away of flesh so to circumcise our hearts involves the cutting away of our fleshly appetites and desires that stand in opposition to our holy God and to his will for our lives. So, God is calling out to his church to come to him in humility, to allow the Holy Spirit to examine our hearts and to put his finger on areas of our lives that are sinful and that we know are against God’s will for our lives, and then for us to turn from our sin and turn to walk in obedience to Christ.

If the church does not repent of her sin, a day is coming, and may have already begun, when God will judge his people for their rebellion, their idolatry and their spiritual adultery. God is calling to his servants today to announce to the church that God is not happy with those who are living in rebellion and are who are following after other gods (anything that takes the place of God in our hearts in passion, desire, obedience, time and affection), and he will judge her. His servants are to announce to the idolatrous church that she needs to flee from following after her own selfish desires and from following the ways of this world and she needs to seek refuge in her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through repentance and obedience, because God is going to bring disaster and terrible destruction one day upon this earth, and we cannot rest in the hope of a pre-trib rapture thinking that just because we prayed some prayer at an altar, or we call ourselves Christians, or because we live in America that we will escape God’s divine correction and discipline.

I believe that we are living in the last days before the return of our Lord Jesus Christ and that my generation will see his return. This is my personal belief. I know people have been saying this for generations, and I also know that we will not know the day or the hour of Christ’s return, but we are supposed to know the season by the signs of the times. I also believe that the beast of Revelation is already forming and is busily preparing for this one world government under which all people will be forced to bow or to face certain death and that the reality of that is not that far off. That is why I believe God is calling out to his church to repent and to return to him so vehemently in these final days before judgment hits the earth because Jesus is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. We serve an awesome God who is very patient, loving, kind, compassionate and tenderhearted, yet he is also a jealous God who desires very much that we be married to him and to him alone, and God the Father is a loving parent who will correct and punish those who are his in order to bring them back into a right relationship with him.

So, God is asking his church what they are doing remaining in their slumber, their rebellion, their disobedience, their idolatry and spiritual adultery. He is asking why they continue to live this way and why they continue to go after other “lovers” who do not love them. He is appealing to his church today to wake up, to examine their hearts, to look at where they are heading and the futility of it all, and then to repent and return to God and to allow our Lord Jesus and his Holy Spirit to lead us, to guide us, to teach us to walk in his ways and his truth, to obey him, and to be his servants and witnesses to a world in need of a Savior.

Teach Me, Lord / An Original Work / June 12, 2011

Teach me, Lord, to walk in Your ways,
And observe all You command.
May I ever hasten to You,
And desire to not offend.
Teach me how to follow Your steps,
Gently guiding me each day.
May I love and serve You always,
Loving others, this I pray.

Teach me, Lord, to listen to You
Speaking Your words to my heart.
May I never stray from Your truth,
And from Your law ne’er depart.
Teach me how to instruct others
In the way that we should go,
Leading them by my life witness,
So that Jesus they should know.

Teach me, Lord, to be a light in
This dark world of grief and sin.
May I always care for others;
Share their burdens; help to mend.
Teach me how to share with them that
Jesus came to set them free,
So that they could be forgiven;
Live with Christ eternally.

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Song

If the Shoe Fits

Sunday, June 19, 2011, 2:24 p.m. – The song, “Thank You, Lord,” was playing over and over again in my mind, so I inquired of the Lord if he had something he wanted to say to me. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Jeremiah 3 (quoting 1-18):

“If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him and marries another man,
should he return to her again?
Would not the land be completely defiled?
But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers—
would you now return to me?”
declares the LORD.
2 “Look up to the barren heights and see.
Is there any place where you have not been ravished?
By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers,
sat like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the land
with your prostitution and wickedness.
3 Therefore the showers have been withheld,
and no spring rains have fallen.
Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute;
you refuse to blush with shame.
4 Have you not just called to me:
‘My Father, my friend from my youth,
5 will you always be angry?
Will your wrath continue forever?’
This is how you talk,
but you do all the evil you can.”

Unfaithful Israel
6 During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there. 7 I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. 8 I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. 9 Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. 10 In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares the LORD.
11 The LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah. 12 Go, proclaim this message toward the north:

“‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD,
‘I will frown on you no longer,
for I am merciful,’ declares the LORD,
‘I will not be angry forever.
13 Only acknowledge your guilt—
you have rebelled against the LORD your God,
you have scattered your favors to foreign gods
under every spreading tree,
and have not obeyed me,’”
declares the LORD.

14 “Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. 15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. 16 In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the LORD, “men will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. 18 In those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your forefathers as an inheritance.

My Understanding: The Lord is talking here about his children, Israel. Today, since Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and we entered into a new covenant with God, we, the church, are God’s children, his chosen people Israel through faith in Jesus Christ. So, this passage of scripture can well be applied to us now today, if the shoe fits.

God is describing here his people who were faithless and who prostituted themselves with other lovers, i.e. they went after “other gods” and followed men and man-made things more than or in place of following God with their lives. They relied upon men and man’s provisions in place of or over and above God and his provisions. So, God is addressing those of his, or those who at least claim to be his, and he is speaking to them, and now to us, if the shoe fits, concerning their (or our) “prostitution” and their (or our) idolatry.

God had to bring divine judgment on the people because of their idolatry and their refusal to repent and to even blush with shame. In other words, they didn’t even feel a twinge of guilt over their sins of idolatry and spiritual adultery. Yet, they called God their Father and friend from their youth, and they asked him if he will be angry forever. They claimed that they had an intimate relationship with the Lord and perhaps even claimed to be faithful to him as a faithful wife, and yet they were doing all the evil they could, while still asking for God to lift his hand of judgment from them. They talked as though they had a right relationship with God, but it was all talk with no action, and the only action, apparently, was to do all the evil they could all the while pretending to be something or someone else.

God had hoped (though he knew differently) that Israel would return to him, but she did not. Israel’s immoral lifestyle appeared to matter little to her. Her unfaithful sister, Judah returned only in pretense, but not in heart. I wonder how many of today’s “believers” in Jesus Christ are right where Israel and Judah were at the time of this writing.

If you are among those who are claiming intimate relationship with Jesus Christ all the while you are involved in willful sin, or you have replaced God in your heart with people, things, activities, etc., knowing that God is not truly Lord of your life, and/or if you have made only a pretense of returning to him, but you have not truly repented, then God is calling out to you today to return to your Lord and he will be merciful, only acknowledge your guilt and your rebellion against God and the fact that you have not been walking in obedience to him. Jesus Christ is calling you to return to him, for he is your husband, if you have made that decision to make him your Lord and Savior but have since strayed away from him.

God is saying here that there will be a remnant who will return to him and then God will give them shepherds after God’s own heart who will lead them in knowledge and understanding. I don’t know if we can apply that part of this passage to us today, but I do believe God is going to bring revival to his church, and if the church refuses to repent, he will do it through divine judgment, and I do know that God is calling his people to return to him as their first love, if the shoe fits.

Thank You, Lord / An Original Work / May 19, 2011

Thank You, Lord, for saving me;
From my sins set free.
Crucified and risen Lord,
They hung on a tree.
They thought they had finished You.
You came back to life;
Triumphed over hell and sin;
You gave eternal life.

Thank You, Lord, for victory
Over all my sin,
So that I might live with You;
You cleansed me within;
Filled me with your love and pow’r;
Give me strength each day,
So that I might live for You,
To love You and obey.

Thank You, Lord, for your return.
Soon You will arrive
To receive Your bride to You;
Meet You in the sky.
You’ll wipe away all our tears;
Free us from our fears;
Crown our heads in victory.
We’ll praise You with our cheers!

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Song

Grief Over Sin

Sunday, June 19, 2011, 7:04 a.m. – I woke around 5 a.m. with the song, “Awestruck Grief,” going through my mind. When I awoke again at 7:00 a.m., and I came out to the living room to have my quiet time with the Lord, the same song was playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Jeremiah 2 (quoting vv 1-13):

The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem:
“‘I remember the devotion of your youth,
how as a bride you loved me
and followed me through the desert,
through a land not sown.
3 Israel was holy to the LORD,
the firstfruits of his harvest;
all who devoured her were held guilty,
and disaster overtook them,’”
declares the LORD.

4 Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob,
all you clans of the house of Israel.

5 This is what the LORD says:

“What fault did your fathers find in me,
that they strayed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols
and became worthless themselves.
6 They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD,
who brought us up out of Egypt
and led us through the barren wilderness,
through a land of deserts and rifts,
a land of drought and darkness,
a land where no one travels and no one lives?’
7 I brought you into a fertile land
to eat its fruit and rich produce.
But you came and defiled my land
and made my inheritance detestable.
8 The priests did not ask,
‘Where is the LORD?’
Those who deal with the law did not know me;
the leaders rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
following worthless idols.

9 “Therefore I bring charges against you again,”
declares the LORD.
“And I will bring charges against your children’s children.
10 Cross over to the coasts of Kittim and look,
send to Kedar and observe closely;
see if there has ever been anything like this:
11 Has a nation ever changed its gods?
(Yet they are not gods at all.)
But my people have exchanged their Glory
for worthless idols.
12 Be appalled at this, O heavens,
and shudder with great horror,”
declares the LORD.
13 “My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

My Understanding: There are some things that never change, one of which is human nature. So, although this was written at a specific time to a particular people, there are many Biblical principles here that are a theme throughout the whole of scripture and that describe God’s people, the church, even today.

When we first came to faith in Jesus Christ, for those of us who genuinely were converted to faith in our Lord Jesus, we were excited about our new relationship with Jesus Christ, as a young man or woman is excited about his first love, or as a new bride or groom is enthralled with his or her new spouse, and with the prospect of married life. We were devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ and desired to follow him and to serve and obey him. We loved our times of fellowship with the Lord in the reading of his word and in prayer and our times with his other children in fellowship and the hearing and the study of God’s word. We were passionate about witnessing and telling others about Jesus Christ and about our faith in him. And, we knew the saving grace, peace, joy, provisions and protection of our Lord.

Yet, over time, some of us may have drifted from that pure devotion to the Lord Jesus. The cares of this world, busyness with life’s activities, job responsibilities, laziness, apathy, self-fulfillment and self-desires began to take over and to rule our hearts. The temptations of this world, “idols” of men and of the things of this world began to take God’s place in our hearts. So, our pure devotion to God and our excitement for our Lord Jesus began to fade into the background. Our quiet times with God each day became shorter and shorter until they became non-existent. We would use the excuse that we don’t have time, and yet we had time for what we wanted and desired that pleased our flesh and our own selfish wills. As a result of all this, we forgot about our God. We forsook our Lord Jesus Christ, though not completely. We became lukewarm Christians whose passion and desires were more for the things of this world than they were for the things of God.

If any of us are still in this state of apathy, lukewarmness, neglect, rejection, and/or rebellion against God, because we are still following after our own idols of men or are following our own selfish desires over and above devotion to our Lord Jesus, then God is saying that he has two things against us:
• We have forsaken God, the spring of Living Water
• We have dug our own water sources that are broken and cannot hold water

In other words, we have rejected our One and Only true God, holy, maker of all things, who designed us, and provided salvation for us so that we could be free from sin (idolatry; selfish wills; adultery; etc.), and we replaced him and his Living Water with man or with man-made vessels that do not contain the Holy Spirit of God and that do not provide for us the spiritual things of God that are given to us for our strengthening, guidance, direction, peace, joy, etc. Men and man-made idols have faults, weaknesses and cracks in them and therefore are leaky and perishable and they cannot fill our hearts with the peace, joy, and freedom in Christ from sin that only Christ and his Living Water can offer us.

Throughout scripture, including in the New Testament, God promises or warns of judgment (divine discipline and correction) if we continue in our rebellion and we continue to stray from him and to follow after other gods and our own selfish desires. God says that our wickedness will punish us and that our backsliding will rebuke us. In other words, to some extent, our own sins will backfire on us and we will suffer natural consequences for our sins of rebellion against God because we will not have his protection, peace, joy and security. Yet, God also promises and warns of his divine correction, as well, if we do not repent.

He is asking us to consider and to realize how evil and bitter it is for us when we forsake our Lord God and we have no awe of him. We can sing with great gusto all the praise and worship songs we want, but if we are not walking in obedience to our Lord and we are following in our own rebellious ways, instead, then we have no awe and worship of God, because the kind of worship that God desires of us is that we give ourselves to him as living sacrifices, no longer conformed to the pattern of this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds. This is our good and acceptable worship and awe of God.

He is saying to those who are still walking in rebellion against him and who have refused to repent that they have broken off their relationship with Jesus Christ (their yoke and bonds) and have said to God, “I will not serve you.” I think that many of us who are there or who have been there may not say that consciously or even think that is where we are, but when we make choices, by our lifestyles, that choose “other gods” and our own selfish wills over and above the will of God for our lives, and we don’t listen to God’s voice and we don’t obey him, we are, in essence, telling God that we will not serve him.

He is also saying to us that, although we may have an outward appearance of spiritual cleanliness, the stain of our guilt is ever before God because he keeps calling to his church to repent and he keeps warning them not to follow after “other gods.” Yet, by their life choices they are, in essence, saying to God “It’s no use! I love my foreign gods and I must go after them” (v. 25). So, instead of turning her face to God to hear from him and to obey him, the church has turned her back to God and has chosen to go her own way instead. Yet, when she is in trouble, or when individual believers in this spiritual condition are in trouble, they call on God to save them. Oh, what a slap in the face to God it is when we choose to go our own way and then turn around and call on God when we need something, thinking he is our genie in a bottle there to serve us and to fulfill our wishes and desires and that we don’t have to pay him attention, we don’t have to repent of our sins and we don’t have to obey him. God is appalled at such hypocrisy.

Lastly, in this passage of scripture, God’s rebuke against his people is that they did not respond even to divine correction, and they still chose to follow their own ways. Yet, in spite of all that has been charged against them, they still claim to be innocent and to feel as though God is not angry with them. And, this is being taught today in our churches, that “faith” in Christ means that God is pleased with us no matter what we do and we are now innocent because of Jesus shed blood for us on the cross. It is true that we are cleansed and that we are saved and that we are reconciled with God because of Jesus blood sacrifice for us when we come to our Lord and we make him our Lord and Savior, yet many “believers” continue in their sin and have no feeling of guilt of further sin because they feel it is all covered and so it is ok. Many are teaching that repentance and obedience are not necessary for salvation, so, in essence, they are saying that they are innocent and that God is pleased with them so it doesn’t matter what they do, but it does, and God will judge us.

God is calling out to us, his church, to repent of our sins of idolatry and spiritual adultery, to return to our first love, to leave our lives of sin behind us, and to walk in faith and obedience to him and to his will for our lives. May we all walk humbly before him.

Awestruck Grief / An Original Work / April 21, 2011

When in awestruck grief o’er my sins, Lord, I bow,
Will You hear me, Lord, and forgive me just now?
I am so amazed that You could love me so.
Yet, Your love and kindness ever fill my soul.

Lord, You are amazing, and gracious and kind
To have offered Yourself for us when we’re blind.
You were crucified on that hill, Calvary,
When they hung Your body to die on a tree.

Now that You’ve redeemed us and, thus, set us free,
I pray, Lord, for all on this earth to believe
In Your sacrifice, Lord, cleansing all our sin,
So that we can live for You, and die within.

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Song

The Feet of Those

Saturday, June 18, 2011, 7:20 a.m. – When I woke this morning, the song, “How Beautiful,” was playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Jeremiah 1:

The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. 2 The word of the LORD came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, 3 and through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.

The Call of Jeremiah
4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

6 “Ah, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.”

7 But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD.

9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

11 The word of the LORD came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?”

“I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied.

12 The LORD said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.”

13 The word of the LORD came to me again: “What do you see?”

“I see a boiling pot, tilting away from the north,” I answered.

14 The LORD said to me, “From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. 15 I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms,” declares the LORD.

“Their kings will come and set up their thrones
in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem;
they will come against all her surrounding walls
and against all the towns of Judah.
16 I will pronounce my judgments on my people
because of their wickedness in forsaking me,
in burning incense to other gods
and in worshiping what their hands have made.

17 “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. 18 Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD.

My Understanding: This is one of my most favorite passages of scripture in the Bible, and one the Lord has used in my life many, many times to encourage and to strengthen me in ministry. Although Jeremiah was a prophet of God who spoke God’s exact words to the people as God-breathed words (scripture), and even though this is an Old Testament book concerning the Jewish people and events of Jeremiah’s time, still there is much truth here that can be applied to our lives today that should bring much encouragement and hope.

The Call

As believers in Jesus Christ, we are all called of God to service, to be his servants and messengers, to live holy lives pleasing to God, to be his witnesses, and to be lights in this dark and sinful world for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Before God even formed us in the wombs of our mothers, he knew us, and he had a plan and a purpose for our lives. I believe with all my heart that God had planned for me to do exactly what I am doing now even before he created me, and that I was set apart by God for this very purpose which he is now fulfilling in my life. We, as believers in Jesus Christ, all have the Holy Spirit of God within us, and we have all been given spiritual gifts and natural abilities and talents to be used of God for his glory and for his service. As parts of the Body of Christ, we all have a part that we were designed by God to fill in order to complete the Body and to make it work like it is supposed to function with all its parts working and none rejected. So, all believers in Jesus Christ are called of God and all of us have been given an assignment.

The Challenge

Jeremiah felt as though he was not up to the task. He knew what it would mean for him to be a prophet of God. He did not feel his speech was mature enough for him to be God’s messenger. Moses had the same problem, only Moses took it to the extreme and asked God to “Please send someone else.” It is an awesome task to be one of God’s messengers, and there is always the underlying fear that we won’t say things the right way or that we don’t have enough knowledge to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. And, the biggest hindrance, I believe, is the fear of the rejection of people. I think most people want to be loved and liked. Most people want to have friends and acceptance. Most people, I believe, do not speak words they know will get them rejected because they crave rejection and negative attention. So, to say “Yes” to Jesus to be among those whose feet are beautiful because they bring the Good News, means denying ourselves and taking up our cross and following Jesus, even knowing that we might be hated, rejected, falsely accused, mocked, forsaken, and/or abandoned for the sake of Christ and the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Assignment

Jeremiah was to go to everyone God sent him to and he was to say whatever God commanded him to say. He was not to be afraid of the people. He was appointed by God to be a messenger of judgment of God on the people, yet he was also to bring the Good News of salvation through the One and Only true God. He was to tell the people what they were doing wrong and how they were displeasing their holy God, and he was to warn of coming judgment, yet his messages also were messages of hope, healing and restoration to those who were willing to repent of their sin and to turn to God in faith, obedience and surrender of their wills to the will of God for their lives. This is truly the “Good News.”

It is not good news if we are left in our sins because no one is willing to let us know that Jesus came to set us free from bondage to and the control of sin over our lives and that he daily calls us to repent, to obey and to submit to him and to his will. The “Good News” is not just that Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we could escape hell one day and so we could go to heaven when we die. The “Good News” is that we no longer need to be captive to sin’s dark sway while we are still on the face of this earth, but Jesus came to set us free – free to not sin, and free to obey, honor and serve God/Jesus Christ with our whole hearts and to be in fellowship with him. So many preachers of the “gospel” today are watering down the message, are removing the words “sin” and “repent” and “obey” and are telling people that repentance and obedience are not necessary for salvation, so the “good news” they are bringing is no good news at all, because it still leaves people hopelessly bound in sin.

The Provision

God said that he would be with Jeremiah and that he would rescue him. He did not promise to rescue Jeremiah from the rejection of the people, but that God’s love and grace to him would sustain him and would deliver him from the fear of the people and their reaction to him and to his words. I have seen God do that in my life so many, many times. We serve an awesome God! He is able!! We don’t ever have to fear man or what man might do to us or say about us, because, if we know we are in the center of God’s will and we are doing exactly what he has called us to do, we can be at peace even when people are warring against us, because they don’t like the messages. God also told Jeremiah that he would put his words in his mouth. The Lord Jesus and his Holy Spirit within us will also give us words to speak. We don’t have to fret about what we are going to say or how to say it. It is good to be prepared, i.e. to have knowledge of the word of God and to be practicing what knowledge we do have, but one of the greatest testimonies I know of is that of the blind man that Jesus healed. He didn’t have book smarts or a lot of knowledge about Jesus Christ, but one thing he knew, “Once I was blind, but now I see.” Our personal testimonies of what Jesus Christ did for us in saving us is one of the best testimonies for Jesus we have.

The Preparation

Jeremiah was to get himself ready for the task before him and he was to stand up and say whatever God commanded him to say. The preparation could have involved Biblical study of what scripture was available to Jeremiah at that time, but I sense that most of his preparation was spent at the feet of his Lord God, listening to what God had to say to him, and him preparing his heart to receive what the Lord had for him, getting ready spiritually, mentally and emotionally for the difficult task before him. To stand means to be strong in the faith and in the knowledge of God and in the task God has assigned us to do and to not have weak knees to where we vacillate back and forth and we give no clear message to the people. He had to be willing to hang tough and to say whatever God gave him to say even in the face of much opposition and rejection of the messages by the people. That’s a tough place to be, but that is where God has called all of us to be to where we choose to obey God above our own comfort level, above personal acceptance of people, and above our own personal interests and pleasures. We must be totally abandoned to Jesus Christ and to obedience to his will for our lives if we are to be effective ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, not vacillating or swaying in opinion depending upon the audience.

If we give in to fear and we fail to give out the messages God has given us to give, then fear will control us and we will live fearful lives. I know. I did that many years. When I finally understood the absolute sovereignty of God over my life and his plan and purpose for my life and that he can handle anything that comes my way, then I was willing to say “Yes” and to not turn back, and I would never go back to living by fear ever again. Too much is at stake. I will face rejection (“they will fight against you”), but that’s ok as long as I know I am following the Lord Jesus and that I am obeying his calling upon my life. The only way man can overcome me is if I give in to fear of man and I let man overpower me. I must be loving and kind, gracious and compassionate, as was/is the Lord Jesus, but I must also give out the whole gospel message, holding nothing back, and giving to my Lord the responses of the people to the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, trusting the Lord, too, with my reputation and with my level of social acceptance and all my relationships with people. And, I must go forward in his love, in his compassion, and in his will to do what he has called me to do, without giving in to the fear of man, and out of a heart of love for my God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

How Beautiful / An Original Work / May 27, 2011

How beautiful the feet of those
Who bring to us Good News.
Their voice has gone to all the earth,
So all the world could choose.
They tell the story of Christ’s love;
He died on Calvry’s tree.
He took our sins upon Himself,
So from sin we’d be free.

How beautiful the saints of God
Who join in holy prayer
To offer up to God requests,
To meet them in despair.
They’re burdened for their loved ones’ need
To know the Lord above;
To trust upon His saving grace,
And know His wondrous love.

How beautiful the servants of
Our Lord and Savior, King.
They sit at Jesus’ feet each day
To hear the words He brings.
They love their Lord and Master, friend.
He’s first love of their lives.
They wait for His return one day;
They’ll meet Him in the skies.

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Song

Feed My Sheep

Thursday, June 16, 2011, 6:55 a.m. – When I woke this morning, the song, “If You Love Me,” was playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Isaiah 66:

Judgment and Hope
1 This is what the LORD says:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house you will build for me?
Where will my resting place be?
2 Has not my hand made all these things,
and so they came into being?”
declares the LORD.

“This is the one I esteem:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit,
and trembles at my word.
3 But whoever sacrifices a bull
is like one who kills a man,
and whoever offers a lamb,
like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
whoever makes a grain offering
is like one who presents pig’s blood,
and whoever burns memorial incense,
like one who worships an idol.
They have chosen their own ways,
and their souls delight in their abominations;
4 so I also will choose harsh treatment for them
and will bring upon them what they dread.
For when I called, no one answered,
when I spoke, no one listened.
They did evil in my sight
and chose what displeases me.”

5 Hear the word of the LORD,
you who tremble at his word:
“Your brothers who hate you,
and exclude you because of my name, have said,
‘Let the LORD be glorified,
that we may see your joy!’
Yet they will be put to shame.
6 Hear that uproar from the city,
hear that noise from the temple!
It is the sound of the LORD
repaying his enemies all they deserve.

7 “Before she goes into labor,
she gives birth;
before the pains come upon her,
she delivers a son.
8 Who has ever heard of such a thing?
Who has ever seen such things?
Can a country be born in a day
or a nation be brought forth in a moment?
Yet no sooner is Zion in labor
than she gives birth to her children.
9 Do I bring to the moment of birth
and not give delivery?” says the LORD.
“Do I close up the womb
when I bring to delivery?” says your God.
10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her,
all you who love her;
rejoice greatly with her,
all you who mourn over her.
11 For you will nurse and be satisfied
at her comforting breasts;
you will drink deeply
and delight in her overflowing abundance.”

12 For this is what the LORD says:

“I will extend peace to her like a river,
and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;
you will nurse and be carried on her arm
and dandled on her knees.
13 As a mother comforts her child,
so will I comfort you;
and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”

14 When you see this, your heart will rejoice
and you will flourish like grass;
the hand of the LORD will be made known to his servants,
but his fury will be shown to his foes.
15 See, the LORD is coming with fire,
and his chariots are like a whirlwind;
he will bring down his anger with fury,
and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For with fire and with his sword
the LORD will execute judgment upon all men,
and many will be those slain by the LORD.

My Understanding: Stephen, in Acts 7, in his speech prior to him being stoned to death as a martyr for his faith in Jesus Christ, quoted this passage of scripture from Isaiah 66:1-2 in saying to his listeners, “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men.” I believe the point of what God is saying here is that we cannot contain God or think we can build something with our own human hands that would contain the whole of God within its walls or borders. We are not more powerful than God to think God needs us to build a house for him. He created all things, and God cannot be enclosed by human knowledge, wisdom or the works of man, for he created our knowledge, wisdom, and hands, too.

So, we should not take pride in our edifices, as though God needs them or as though they are somehow holy or sacred, because, as Stephen said, God does not live in houses made by men. Paul also stated, in the book of Acts, that God no longer dwells in buildings. God dwells in heaven and he dwells in human hearts of those who have come to him in repentance and faith (obedience) by his grace.

No building is a “church.” And, no human sanctuary is the sanctuary of God, and church buildings are not God’s house where he dwells. When we enter a building, we are not entering into the presence of a holy God. We, the people of God, are his temple and he lives within us and that is where his sanctuary resides, i.e. the holy of holies is now within us, and that is where we go to meet with God in our times of prayer, communion and fellowship with him daily in the reading of his word, in hearing his voice speak to our hearts and then in walking in obedience to what he teaches us each day as we lay our lives on the altar as living sacrifices no longer conformed to the pattern of this world, but in being transformed in the renewing of our minds so that we can live lives pleasing to God.

God said the one he esteems is the one who is humble and contrite (repentant) in spirit and who trembles (has respect, awe, and seriousness of heart and mind) at his word, to obey it. He is not impressed by outward shows of piety and religious activity. He is not impressed by our buildings, programs, and/or performances. He is not moved in spirit by how many books we have read or how much theology we know and can pontificate. He is not even captivated by our church attendance or our “good deeds” and church ministries if they are done in the flesh and/or we are choosing how we want to serve God without inquiring of him as to what he desires from us, thinking that we are somehow pleasing him because of what we do for him with little actual regard for him, for his ways, his thoughts, and for spending time listening to him and obeying him. He doesn’t want what we can do for him. He wants us as living sacrifices, repentant, obedient and submissive and loving servants who will do what he says and who will take pleasure in doing what pleases him.

God is against all those, even those who profess his name, who are idolaters and who follow after “other gods” of fame, fortune, reputation, entertainment, careers, sports, hobbies, personal success and achievements, education, etc. with the enthusiasm, heart devotion and sacrifice of time and energies that should be given to God first and foremost. If we have made man, man-made things, personal achievement, careers, and entertainment, et al, our “gods,” signified by the time, energies, thoughts, devotion, emotion, passion, etc. that we give to men or man-made things or activities over and above time, energy, emotion, devotion, allegiance and obedience to Jesus Christ, then my prayer is that we would do a heart examination before Almighty God, seeking his face in humility and repentance, inquiring of him as to what pleases or displeases him, and then that we would choose to get rid of anything out of our lives that is taking the place of God or that is getting top billing over and above God in our hearts and/or that is contrary to his nature and teachings. And, I pray that we, instead, would begin to seek God with all our hearts, minds, and emotion and that we would get passionate about serving him and about obeying what he teaches us.

God is still calling out to his children to hear his voice speaking to their hearts, to repent of their sins, and to walk humbly and obedient before him as his servants, living to please their Master, Jesus Christ. Yet, many are closing their ears to his voice so that, although he is calling, they are not answering his call, and although he is speaking, they are not listening to what he is saying, because they have chosen their own path and have chosen to go their own way and think that they can give lip service to God and can acknowledge him outwardly while denying him inwardly by how they live their lives each and every day. Many of these who give lip service only hate their brothers and sisters who are humble and repentant in spirit, excluding them from fellowship and service within the body of Christ, even, because they, the humble and contrite, perhaps, serve as a threat to the false security that is being taught in many of our churches via false (watered down) gospel messages. Yet, God has planned a day of judgment for all who give lip service only but whose hearts are far from God and for those who reject and mistreat his true servants, too.

Yet, I believe that God will bring revival out of judgment and that a time is coming when we will see a massive outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit once again on the church and that from that revival the true gospel of Jesus Christ will go throughout the world and that we will have so many “fish” that our “boats” (facilities) will not be able to contain them all. Jesus Christ will make his bride ready for his return and for her marriage with her husband. God will restore his people to a right relationship with him, and they will be comforted once again by his love as a child is comforted by the nurturing and love of a mother (or grandmother). And, even though there will be great distress in judgment and much sorrow over the devastation and loss of life that will ensue, God will comfort our hearts and we will be comforted in seeing revival and the salvations of souls take place. We will rejoice in changed lives and new believers in Jesus Christ and the increase of God’s true church. God will be gracious to those who are his true servants, i.e. to those who listen to him and who obey what he says.

The call of God, I believe, to the church today, is in asking us the same questions that Jesus Christ asked Peter. Peter had denied Christ Jesus three times at Jesus’ arrest and subsequent crucifixion. Jesus had predicted this, but Peter did not think he would ever deny Christ, yet he did, and when he realized what he had done, he was sorrowful and repentant. Jesus Christ forgave him and he restored him, and part of that restoration was to ask Peter if he truly loved the Lord. Jesus was asking Peter if he loved him with a god-like (agape) love, yet Peter responded each time that he loved Jesus with a friendship love. On the third time, Jesus asked Peter if he loved him with a friendship love. Peter reaffirmed his love for Christ three times as he had denied him three times previously. Jesus’ response, then, to Peter’s reaffirming of his love for the Lord was to tell him that if he loved him, he was to feed his sheep. The words “I love you” can be cheap if we do not follow them through with action as God desires of us, and he desires that we obey him and that we serve him.

If You Love Me / An Original Work / May 6, 2011

If you love Me, why not serve Me?
If you love Me, why not serve Me?
If you love Me, why not serve Me?
Won’t you feed My sheep?
Tell the world that Jesus loves them.
He died for their sins.

If you love Me, why not trust Me?
If you love Me, why not trust Me?
If you love Me, why not trust Me
To do what I say?
Give your lives to Jesus only.
Serve Him as your King.

If you love Me, I will bless you.
If you love Me, I will bless you.
If you love Me, I will bless you.
I’ll give you a crown.
When I come I will receive you
As My very own.

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Song