Jeremiah 29: 1, 5, 6, 7, 10-14
The Prophet Jeremiah sent a letter from Jerusalem to the rest of the leaders among the captives. He also sent it to the priests, the prophets, and all the people that Nebuchadnezzar took away as captives from Jerusalem to Babylon.
Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat what they produce.
Get married and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons, and let your daughters get married so they can have sons and daughters. Grow in number there, don't decrease.
Work for the good of the city where I have taken you as captives, and pray to the Lord for that city. When it prospers, you will also prosper.
This is what the Lord says: When Babylon's 70 years are over, I will come to you. I will keep my promise to you and bring you back to this place.
I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope.
Then you will call to Me. You will come and pray to Me, and I will hear you.
When you look for Me, you will find Me; when you wholeheartedly seek Me, I will let you find Me, declares the Lord.
I will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the Nations and places where I've scattered you, declares the Lord. I will bring you back from the place where you are being held captive.
There are several things here.
Jeremiah was still in Jerusalem, after most of the people had been carried away and deported to this far-away foreign place.
God told Jeremiah to tell the people to settle down there, in that different culture that would surround them. They were to marry, have children and grandchildren, and grow their numbers. They were to plant and plan to eat what grew. They will be there a long time.
They were even to pray for the prosperity of this pagan city. Here's a principle that is repeated in the New Testament: to pray for the political officials who govern the city where you live. And the reason why is right here: When it prospers, you will also prosper.
Even today we are to seek the welfare and well-being of the secular society we live in, because when they prosper, we will also prosper. And we are also to pray for the officials by name, that they would come to know the Lord. If they do know the Lord, then to grow in their faith, and implement their godly world view into their governing.
In our American society, we have a particular responsibility--to cast our vote for the best candidate who will govern according to God's ways. That means we need to get to know the people who are running, what their beliefs are about governing, and their character.
God had Jeremiah tell them that they would be in Babylon for 70 years. This is very specific. Several generations later, Daniel would read this letter Jeremiah had written, and realize that the 70 years were almost over, and he sought the Lord, which prompted him to write his scroll (see Daniel 9:2-3).
God always says what He means, and He means what He says, just as He says it. He said, "70 years" and it was a literal 70 years, just as God said. And he did bring a remnant of Israel back to the Land of Israel then.
I think the most important thing we need to implement here is to seek the Lord with all our heart. This is a promise. He always keeps His promises, we can bank on it. And when we really, sincerely, honestly want to know our God, He wants us to know Him, so He will reveal Himself to us as much as we can stand.
And He will still bring all Israel back to that same Land He promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. From all over the World. That's a promise He will keep, too.
So we would do well to be pro-Israel in our political climate today, even when the World will turn against them--God is still for them. And we want to be on God's side. With Him, we win in the end! I know, I've read the last chapter!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, June 7, 2018
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Search Me
Proverbs 20: 27
The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the innermost parts of his being.
So the Lord uses a man's spirit in him to shine into all his innermost parts, revealing what is hidden there.
So David could say,
Psalm 139: 1
You have searched me and known me.
And he could also ask,
Psalm 139: 23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
David knew that God knew him intimately, so he asked Him to reveal whatever was in David's being that was hidden away from himself (in denial) so he could deal with it and do right (the "everlasting way").
O my Father, I also pray with David; please search me, too, and show me whatever is in my being that is not in accordance with Your thinking processes and attitudes and character. Help me to face these things and deal with them by replacing them with Your ways, Father, Your everlasting way.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the innermost parts of his being.
So the Lord uses a man's spirit in him to shine into all his innermost parts, revealing what is hidden there.
So David could say,
Psalm 139: 1
You have searched me and known me.
And he could also ask,
Psalm 139: 23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
David knew that God knew him intimately, so he asked Him to reveal whatever was in David's being that was hidden away from himself (in denial) so he could deal with it and do right (the "everlasting way").
O my Father, I also pray with David; please search me, too, and show me whatever is in my being that is not in accordance with Your thinking processes and attitudes and character. Help me to face these things and deal with them by replacing them with Your ways, Father, Your everlasting way.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
The Mind Of Christ
Luke 5: 16
But He Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.
Luke tells us at least ten times when Jesus went off by Himself to pray (2:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18; 10:21; 11:1; 22:39-46; 23:24, 46; 28:29).
So if Jesus needed to commune privately with His Father so often, that shows me how much more I need to pray continually!
I know that my thoughts don't always agree with His thoughts for me, so I need to be in His Word and talking with Him every day, even all day.
I want the Mind of Christ.
Even so, come Lord Jesus!
But He Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.
Luke tells us at least ten times when Jesus went off by Himself to pray (2:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18; 10:21; 11:1; 22:39-46; 23:24, 46; 28:29).
So if Jesus needed to commune privately with His Father so often, that shows me how much more I need to pray continually!
I know that my thoughts don't always agree with His thoughts for me, so I need to be in His Word and talking with Him every day, even all day.
I want the Mind of Christ.
Even so, come Lord Jesus!
Monday, June 4, 2018
Unintentional
Leviticus 5
This chapter deals with unintentional sins.
V. 2: If a person touches anything ceremonially unclean ... even though he is unaware of it, he has become unclean and is guilty.
V. 3: ...touches human uncleanness, even though he is unaware of it, when he learns of it he will be guilty.
V. 5: ...in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned.
V. 7: If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord's commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible.
God holds us responsible for anything we do or say that is not according to His ways for us, even if we're not even aware of it!
Why is this? Is God unfair for punishing us when we don't even know we've done something wrong? Never! God has told us what we need to know about what is right and wrong, and when we do wrong it not only is against Him, it is also damaging to ourselves and one another.
God wants us to know to do right, because He loves us and wants us to enjoy the bounty He has placed in this Earth for us. But even when we inadvertently do something awry, we will suffer the consequences. This is not God punishing us, because He put all our punishment on Jesus on the Cross. This is merely our reaping what we sow, to put it in an agrarian form.
Even when we have confessed the sinfulness of our sin, and He has forgiven us, we may still face the consequences in this World.
Even when we have offended another person, even without realizing it, we still need to apologize and ask their forgiveness.
How much more do we need to confess to God and seek His forgiveness.
When Jesus died on the Cross, His precious Blood had power enough to pay for all the sins of everyone who has ever or will ever live. So He's already forgiven all of our sins today, even before we were born.
So why do we need to confess? For our own good. For our own frame of mind, to think the way He thinks and follow His ways.
That is the only way to align our lives to the way He designed this World to operate. We need to love God with all our heart, mind, will, and strength, and we need to love one another in the same intimate way we care for ourselves. This is how God loves us. He knows us intimately, and wants the very best for each of us. And we need to know one another well enough to realize what they need that we can help them with.
God put us in societies, because we need one another. He has gifted us all differently, so that everything will get done, as we help and serve one another.
So let us all get to know God better, love Him more, and serve one another effectively today and every day. To show His character to the World so they will be able to get to know Him also.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
This chapter deals with unintentional sins.
V. 2: If a person touches anything ceremonially unclean ... even though he is unaware of it, he has become unclean and is guilty.
V. 3: ...touches human uncleanness, even though he is unaware of it, when he learns of it he will be guilty.
V. 5: ...in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned.
V. 7: If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord's commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible.
God holds us responsible for anything we do or say that is not according to His ways for us, even if we're not even aware of it!
Why is this? Is God unfair for punishing us when we don't even know we've done something wrong? Never! God has told us what we need to know about what is right and wrong, and when we do wrong it not only is against Him, it is also damaging to ourselves and one another.
God wants us to know to do right, because He loves us and wants us to enjoy the bounty He has placed in this Earth for us. But even when we inadvertently do something awry, we will suffer the consequences. This is not God punishing us, because He put all our punishment on Jesus on the Cross. This is merely our reaping what we sow, to put it in an agrarian form.
Even when we have confessed the sinfulness of our sin, and He has forgiven us, we may still face the consequences in this World.
Even when we have offended another person, even without realizing it, we still need to apologize and ask their forgiveness.
How much more do we need to confess to God and seek His forgiveness.
When Jesus died on the Cross, His precious Blood had power enough to pay for all the sins of everyone who has ever or will ever live. So He's already forgiven all of our sins today, even before we were born.
So why do we need to confess? For our own good. For our own frame of mind, to think the way He thinks and follow His ways.
That is the only way to align our lives to the way He designed this World to operate. We need to love God with all our heart, mind, will, and strength, and we need to love one another in the same intimate way we care for ourselves. This is how God loves us. He knows us intimately, and wants the very best for each of us. And we need to know one another well enough to realize what they need that we can help them with.
God put us in societies, because we need one another. He has gifted us all differently, so that everything will get done, as we help and serve one another.
So let us all get to know God better, love Him more, and serve one another effectively today and every day. To show His character to the World so they will be able to get to know Him also.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, June 3, 2018
The Father Of Light
James 1: 17
...The Father of Light, with Whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.
God is Light, all light comes from Him, there is no other light to shine on Him. Our eyes see shadows. It is the shadows, the shading, that allows us to see the contours, the shape of everything. A drawing with no shading looks flat, and even the pencil or ink casts a shadow our eyes can see.
So we cannot "see" God with these eyes, there are no shadows to define His shape; and the Light that is Him is so purely bright that its power would destroy our human eyes, it would blind us.
He made the Sun a light-holder to hold a portion of His Light to give life to this Earth, and we cannot even look at it without going blind.
So He will give us new eyes in our resurrected bodies, and we will also be "beings of light," shining like the Sun.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
...The Father of Light, with Whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.
God is Light, all light comes from Him, there is no other light to shine on Him. Our eyes see shadows. It is the shadows, the shading, that allows us to see the contours, the shape of everything. A drawing with no shading looks flat, and even the pencil or ink casts a shadow our eyes can see.
So we cannot "see" God with these eyes, there are no shadows to define His shape; and the Light that is Him is so purely bright that its power would destroy our human eyes, it would blind us.
He made the Sun a light-holder to hold a portion of His Light to give life to this Earth, and we cannot even look at it without going blind.
So He will give us new eyes in our resurrected bodies, and we will also be "beings of light," shining like the Sun.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, June 2, 2018
The End Of This Earth
Revelation 20: 9, 11
Fire came down from Heaven and devoured them.
Then I saw a Great White Throne and Him Who was seated on it. The Earth and the Heavens fled from His presence, and there was no place for them.
II Peter 3: 10-11
The Heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the Earth and everything done in it will be burned up. Everything will be destroyed in this way.
After Jesus' thousand-year reign on this Earth, when Satan is released from the bottomless pit and deceives the Nations to attack the Holy City (Jerusalem); that's when the whole Earth will explode, the whole Universe will implode, and Jesus will "make all things new."
This "old order of things will pass away." (Revelation 21:4.)
This whole order of existence will be done away with permanently, and all the knowledge we have of how this order runs and works--science--will be obsolete (I Corinthians 13:8, Knowledge will pass away.)
Then Jesus will build a whole new Earth-like planet, suitable for us to live there in our new Resurrection bodies, all based on a new order of existence.
While all this is being done, He will sit on the Great White Throne judging everyone who ever lived.
Then we will live with Him and reign with Him forever and ever!
Knowing that this is the future of the whole Universe, how are we to live our lives today? According to His rules for our World, of course. When the nobleman went on a journey, he left his servants to "occupy" until his return (Luke 19:12-13). That means that they were to be busy living their lives, conducting business, and loving one another--not just sit around and wait for his return.
So we must do what we can each day to love God, love one another, and follow His example. When we're walking in His footsteps, we will do what He has planned for each of us, as part of His great Plan of the Ages, to further His Kingdom; and as we "obey His commandments" we will experience the result, and be successful in our endeavors.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Fire came down from Heaven and devoured them.
Then I saw a Great White Throne and Him Who was seated on it. The Earth and the Heavens fled from His presence, and there was no place for them.
II Peter 3: 10-11
The Heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the Earth and everything done in it will be burned up. Everything will be destroyed in this way.
After Jesus' thousand-year reign on this Earth, when Satan is released from the bottomless pit and deceives the Nations to attack the Holy City (Jerusalem); that's when the whole Earth will explode, the whole Universe will implode, and Jesus will "make all things new."
This "old order of things will pass away." (Revelation 21:4.)
This whole order of existence will be done away with permanently, and all the knowledge we have of how this order runs and works--science--will be obsolete (I Corinthians 13:8, Knowledge will pass away.)
Then Jesus will build a whole new Earth-like planet, suitable for us to live there in our new Resurrection bodies, all based on a new order of existence.
While all this is being done, He will sit on the Great White Throne judging everyone who ever lived.
Then we will live with Him and reign with Him forever and ever!
Knowing that this is the future of the whole Universe, how are we to live our lives today? According to His rules for our World, of course. When the nobleman went on a journey, he left his servants to "occupy" until his return (Luke 19:12-13). That means that they were to be busy living their lives, conducting business, and loving one another--not just sit around and wait for his return.
So we must do what we can each day to love God, love one another, and follow His example. When we're walking in His footsteps, we will do what He has planned for each of us, as part of His great Plan of the Ages, to further His Kingdom; and as we "obey His commandments" we will experience the result, and be successful in our endeavors.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, June 1, 2018
Cheering His Victory
Isaiah 55: 12
For you will go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
Wow! The mountains and hills and trees will cheer and applaud our victory, just like (or even more than) the fans cheer and applaud their sports team!
Whatever great accomplishment we think we can do, God can always do better—He gave us the abilities we have to do whatever we’re good at. He is the Source.
He is the progenitor of all life, and He is the Designer and Planner of the Universe. He loves us and wants us to do well and succeed in our lives, just as every parent wants for his children. He has made this Earth for us and put in it everything we need for happiness and success. And He gave us all the rules and precepts that govern how the World operates.
That’s why He wants us to obey His commands. When we live our lives in agreement with His ways, then we are able to experience the bounty He put here for us.
But so many people just don’t understand how much God loves them and have chosen instead to believe the lies of the devil. The devil is our enemy and always tries to convince us that we’re smart, we can make our own decisions, no one can tell us what to do. We are our own god.
When Jesus returns, He will bring with Him “all His holy ones,” all the holy angels and all the saints He has called out of the World. Then He will win the final victory over evil, all the evil people that have opposed Him, and our victory with Christ will prompt the cheering and applause of the Earth that this verse speaks of. His victory will be our victory.
Then He will allow us to help Him set up His Kingdom and rule with Him. And He will fulfill all the rest of the prophesies that have been given to us, to let us know what will happen, and deepen our faith and trust in Him.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
For you will go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
Wow! The mountains and hills and trees will cheer and applaud our victory, just like (or even more than) the fans cheer and applaud their sports team!
Whatever great accomplishment we think we can do, God can always do better—He gave us the abilities we have to do whatever we’re good at. He is the Source.
He is the progenitor of all life, and He is the Designer and Planner of the Universe. He loves us and wants us to do well and succeed in our lives, just as every parent wants for his children. He has made this Earth for us and put in it everything we need for happiness and success. And He gave us all the rules and precepts that govern how the World operates.
That’s why He wants us to obey His commands. When we live our lives in agreement with His ways, then we are able to experience the bounty He put here for us.
But so many people just don’t understand how much God loves them and have chosen instead to believe the lies of the devil. The devil is our enemy and always tries to convince us that we’re smart, we can make our own decisions, no one can tell us what to do. We are our own god.
When Jesus returns, He will bring with Him “all His holy ones,” all the holy angels and all the saints He has called out of the World. Then He will win the final victory over evil, all the evil people that have opposed Him, and our victory with Christ will prompt the cheering and applause of the Earth that this verse speaks of. His victory will be our victory.
Then He will allow us to help Him set up His Kingdom and rule with Him. And He will fulfill all the rest of the prophesies that have been given to us, to let us know what will happen, and deepen our faith and trust in Him.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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