Jeremiah 5:24-25
They do not say to themselves, "Let us fear the Lord our God, Who gives autumn and spring rains in season, Who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest." Your wrongdoings have kept these away; your sins have deprived you of good. --
So much of the troubles and problems of our lives, our families, our towns and cities and our Nation have been the result of our deliberately ignoring the principles God has devised to run things of this world according to how He designed it to run. So we have instead decided that we're smart, we're our own gods who can decide for ourselves how we want to run things. But it is our Maker Who provides the means for our well-being, according to How He designed it.
When we humble ourselves to listen to His Word and obey His rules of conduct in our attitudes and our relationships, then God will see to it that things run for us according to His order. But when we decide to take matters into our own hands, then the chaos that results makes for brokenness in our relationships, our finances and in our Nation. We need to return to the Lord.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Saturday, July 30, 2016
The Prudent And The Naive
Proverbs 27:12
A prudent man sees evil and hides himself, the naive proceed and pay the penalty. --
All the preppers and contrarians "see" so much "evil" around us and recommend that we "hide" ourselves by taking care of our families "off the grid," or invest our money in ways that do not conform to the majority of investors.
Some people see demons everywhere, and others contend that everything's okay and what's problematic will take care of itself.
I want to find that middle ground, that sees clearly what evil will harm, and act accordingly, not going overboard either left or right. I am looking to discern what is truth in all the chatter out there.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
A prudent man sees evil and hides himself, the naive proceed and pay the penalty. --
All the preppers and contrarians "see" so much "evil" around us and recommend that we "hide" ourselves by taking care of our families "off the grid," or invest our money in ways that do not conform to the majority of investors.
Some people see demons everywhere, and others contend that everything's okay and what's problematic will take care of itself.
I want to find that middle ground, that sees clearly what evil will harm, and act accordingly, not going overboard either left or right. I am looking to discern what is truth in all the chatter out there.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, July 29, 2016
The Lord Be Magnified
Psalm 35:27-28
Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication; --
May the people who are glad that God has caused His Truth to win out on my behalf tell of it out loud.
And let them say continually, "The Lord be magnified" --
May they constantly remember that God is the One Who designed how this world is to run, and makes sure that His order prevails over the chaos.
"Who delights in the prosperity of His servant." --
Prosperity: (Hebrew, shalowm; [total] welfare, in [good] health, [financial] prosperity, and [national/political] peace.)
God smiles when His people do things the way He designed in obedience to His rules, and reap the benefits in this world.
And my tongue shall declare Thy righteousness and Thy praise all day long. --
And whenever I realize that the "good life" I am experiencing here is the result of following God's instructions in my daily life and thinking processes; then I will also say out loud to whoever will listen that God is good, every day, to all He has made and everyone who wants to know Him and His ways.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication; --
May the people who are glad that God has caused His Truth to win out on my behalf tell of it out loud.
And let them say continually, "The Lord be magnified" --
May they constantly remember that God is the One Who designed how this world is to run, and makes sure that His order prevails over the chaos.
"Who delights in the prosperity of His servant." --
Prosperity: (Hebrew, shalowm; [total] welfare, in [good] health, [financial] prosperity, and [national/political] peace.)
God smiles when His people do things the way He designed in obedience to His rules, and reap the benefits in this world.
And my tongue shall declare Thy righteousness and Thy praise all day long. --
And whenever I realize that the "good life" I am experiencing here is the result of following God's instructions in my daily life and thinking processes; then I will also say out loud to whoever will listen that God is good, every day, to all He has made and everyone who wants to know Him and His ways.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, July 28, 2016
"Filthy Rags"
Isaiah 64:6
All of us have become like one who is unclean, --
Someone who had touched a dead body was considered to be contaminated by it and was required to go through a process of cleansing to prevent the spread of disease.
and all our righteous acts --
All the best things we can do, even when we try our hardest to be good and do right.
are like filthy rags; --
These filthy rags are actually putrid, uncleanable menstrual cloths; the most disgusting thing Isaiah could think of.
This means that even the best, most noble, fine things we can do are still contaminated by uncleanness and unacceptable to God. This uncleanness is our fallen human nature; that's why Jesus said we must be "born again" (John 3:3ff).
We all shrivel up like a leaf, --
Like a fall leaf looses its chlorophyll (that gives it its green color, revealing the fall color) and then looses all its moisture and dries up and crumbles; we all "shrivel up" with wickedness and old age.
and like the wind our sins sweep us away. --
Then like the wind blows away the leaf, so our sins (iniquities; twisting the Truth) cause us to "twist in the wind," the way we twist God's good rules that are meant for our good, by "re-interpreting" them to mean something else that they're not. And we end up "blown away" from the prosperity and peace we used to know, when we acknowledged God.
Wake up, people. Do what God has enabled you to do. I know you're just one person, but it takes every one of us to constitute that "moral majority" that used to be talked about. All together we can do it, with God's help & in His strength. Persevere. Occupy until He returns, don't bury your talent by sitting on your hands.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
All of us have become like one who is unclean, --
Someone who had touched a dead body was considered to be contaminated by it and was required to go through a process of cleansing to prevent the spread of disease.
and all our righteous acts --
All the best things we can do, even when we try our hardest to be good and do right.
are like filthy rags; --
These filthy rags are actually putrid, uncleanable menstrual cloths; the most disgusting thing Isaiah could think of.
This means that even the best, most noble, fine things we can do are still contaminated by uncleanness and unacceptable to God. This uncleanness is our fallen human nature; that's why Jesus said we must be "born again" (John 3:3ff).
We all shrivel up like a leaf, --
Like a fall leaf looses its chlorophyll (that gives it its green color, revealing the fall color) and then looses all its moisture and dries up and crumbles; we all "shrivel up" with wickedness and old age.
and like the wind our sins sweep us away. --
Then like the wind blows away the leaf, so our sins (iniquities; twisting the Truth) cause us to "twist in the wind," the way we twist God's good rules that are meant for our good, by "re-interpreting" them to mean something else that they're not. And we end up "blown away" from the prosperity and peace we used to know, when we acknowledged God.
Wake up, people. Do what God has enabled you to do. I know you're just one person, but it takes every one of us to constitute that "moral majority" that used to be talked about. All together we can do it, with God's help & in His strength. Persevere. Occupy until He returns, don't bury your talent by sitting on your hands.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Does A "Fool" Rule Over Us?
Isaiah 32:6
For a fool speaks nonsense, --
A "fool" is a vile person who is morally deficient and without good character. He speaks nonsense, villany (Hebrew for nothingness, no substance).
and his heart inclines toward wickedness, --
This word wickedness is "hypocrisy" (moral filth, hypocrisy).
to practise ungodliness --
His programs are based on ungodliness or wickedness, the word here is "iniquity" (twisting, bending); in presenting himself as a good, moral person who wants to help, but promoting a deceptive world-view of scarcity.
and to speak error against the Lord,
He thereby speaks error against our Lord God Who has blessed this Earth with His riches in glory to provide over-abundantly for everyone in the whole world with much more than we need.
(In order) to keep the hungry person unsatisfied and to withhold drink from the thirsty.
This scarcity view promotes the welfare state, in providing the poor only enough to sustain life but never allowing them to get ahead. This has resulted in many families being kept poor for generations, deceived by the lie that those who worked for and accumulated an abundance must have "stolen" it all from the poor, creating class-envy resulting in class-warfare.
This is a wake-up call to all God's people who know His ways. There is still hope for us, if we will acknowledge our Lord God in our public life and turn from all our wicked ways and call upon His Holy Name to help us, then He will hear from Heaven and forgive our sins and heal our land. This applies to all His people everywhere, in every Nation.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
For a fool speaks nonsense, --
A "fool" is a vile person who is morally deficient and without good character. He speaks nonsense, villany (Hebrew for nothingness, no substance).
and his heart inclines toward wickedness, --
This word wickedness is "hypocrisy" (moral filth, hypocrisy).
to practise ungodliness --
His programs are based on ungodliness or wickedness, the word here is "iniquity" (twisting, bending); in presenting himself as a good, moral person who wants to help, but promoting a deceptive world-view of scarcity.
and to speak error against the Lord,
He thereby speaks error against our Lord God Who has blessed this Earth with His riches in glory to provide over-abundantly for everyone in the whole world with much more than we need.
(In order) to keep the hungry person unsatisfied and to withhold drink from the thirsty.
This scarcity view promotes the welfare state, in providing the poor only enough to sustain life but never allowing them to get ahead. This has resulted in many families being kept poor for generations, deceived by the lie that those who worked for and accumulated an abundance must have "stolen" it all from the poor, creating class-envy resulting in class-warfare.
This is a wake-up call to all God's people who know His ways. There is still hope for us, if we will acknowledge our Lord God in our public life and turn from all our wicked ways and call upon His Holy Name to help us, then He will hear from Heaven and forgive our sins and heal our land. This applies to all His people everywhere, in every Nation.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
A Sin-Sick Nation
Isaiah 1:4-6
Alas, sinful nation, --
Any nation that has "missed the bull's eye," an archery term.
People weighed down with iniquity, --
This is a word for "twisting" and "bending" the Truth into unrecognizable monstrosities that weigh us down.
Offspring of evildoers, --
Like your parents who taught you to be harmful, injurious to yourselves and others.
Sons who act corruptly! --
Children who cause the good to putrefy!
They have abandoned the Lord, --
In preferring these twisted and corrupt ways, they have abandoned the pure right ways of the Lord.
They have despised the Holy One of Israel, --
They abhor the Holy One's goodness and deliberately provoked Him to anger.
They have turned away from Him. --
They've turned their backs on how He has designed this world to work, considering that God is not worth their attention; in their pride they consider themselves gods who know better.
The result is this:
Where will you be stricken again, as you continue in your rebellion?
We've had so many problems and troubles, financially, socially, relationally, even terroristically; what will happen next to tear down and destroy our society?
The whole head is sick, --
All our thinking processes have been infected.
And the whole heart is faint. --
There is no more hope for times to get any better, only despair.
From the sole of the foot even unto the head --
The whole body, every limb, every organ.
There is nothing sound in it, --
Nothing is healthy.
Only bruises, welts and raw wounds, --
The "open sores" of all our problems staring us in the face.
Not pressed out or bandaged, nor softened with oil.
All the "remedies" and "reforms" the sick government provides do no good at all to actually solve any of the problems we have but only to benefit themselves and the Big Corporations who are in partnership with them, off the backs of the poor and sick that they are keeping poor and sick.
We have become a "sinful nation" that has gotten sick, and the moral sickness has infected every part of our national body: our federal, state and local governments; our seats of learning and education; our healthcare and hospital systems; our businesses and corporations, our insurance and other "helping" institutions; and even our churches.
We need real solutions to solve our problems at the root, to return to the common-sense, Biblical ways we learned from our Manufacturer's Instructions; and seek God's people to lead us back into His righteousness, before the end.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Alas, sinful nation, --
Any nation that has "missed the bull's eye," an archery term.
People weighed down with iniquity, --
This is a word for "twisting" and "bending" the Truth into unrecognizable monstrosities that weigh us down.
Offspring of evildoers, --
Like your parents who taught you to be harmful, injurious to yourselves and others.
Sons who act corruptly! --
Children who cause the good to putrefy!
They have abandoned the Lord, --
In preferring these twisted and corrupt ways, they have abandoned the pure right ways of the Lord.
They have despised the Holy One of Israel, --
They abhor the Holy One's goodness and deliberately provoked Him to anger.
They have turned away from Him. --
They've turned their backs on how He has designed this world to work, considering that God is not worth their attention; in their pride they consider themselves gods who know better.
The result is this:
Where will you be stricken again, as you continue in your rebellion?
We've had so many problems and troubles, financially, socially, relationally, even terroristically; what will happen next to tear down and destroy our society?
The whole head is sick, --
All our thinking processes have been infected.
And the whole heart is faint. --
There is no more hope for times to get any better, only despair.
From the sole of the foot even unto the head --
The whole body, every limb, every organ.
There is nothing sound in it, --
Nothing is healthy.
Only bruises, welts and raw wounds, --
The "open sores" of all our problems staring us in the face.
Not pressed out or bandaged, nor softened with oil.
All the "remedies" and "reforms" the sick government provides do no good at all to actually solve any of the problems we have but only to benefit themselves and the Big Corporations who are in partnership with them, off the backs of the poor and sick that they are keeping poor and sick.
We have become a "sinful nation" that has gotten sick, and the moral sickness has infected every part of our national body: our federal, state and local governments; our seats of learning and education; our healthcare and hospital systems; our businesses and corporations, our insurance and other "helping" institutions; and even our churches.
We need real solutions to solve our problems at the root, to return to the common-sense, Biblical ways we learned from our Manufacturer's Instructions; and seek God's people to lead us back into His righteousness, before the end.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, July 25, 2016
Sabbath Rest
Mark 6:31-32
And He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest a while." (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves.
Gordon MacDonald said, "We do not rest because our work is done; we rest because God commanded it and created us to have a need for it."
When Jesus and His disciples went through a very busy time, He instructed His friends to come away with him on a vacation to rest and be able to relax. When God gave the Ten Commandments He included one that demanded we "rest" one day every seven, and not do our regular work that day. When He created the whole world and everything in it, He "rested" from creating anything more, as an example to us. God doesn't need to "rest," as He never grows weary. But He made us to need a break from our everyday work. He made us to need a time of "getting away" from time to time to relax and refocus. Then we can return to our regular lives with new enthusiasm and fresh perspectives, and avoid "burning out."
He is so good to us, He gave us a "Sabbath rest" for our own well being and good health. Jesus even said that "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." He meant that we have the Day of Rest for our good, not just another obligation.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest a while." (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves.
Gordon MacDonald said, "We do not rest because our work is done; we rest because God commanded it and created us to have a need for it."
When Jesus and His disciples went through a very busy time, He instructed His friends to come away with him on a vacation to rest and be able to relax. When God gave the Ten Commandments He included one that demanded we "rest" one day every seven, and not do our regular work that day. When He created the whole world and everything in it, He "rested" from creating anything more, as an example to us. God doesn't need to "rest," as He never grows weary. But He made us to need a break from our everyday work. He made us to need a time of "getting away" from time to time to relax and refocus. Then we can return to our regular lives with new enthusiasm and fresh perspectives, and avoid "burning out."
He is so good to us, He gave us a "Sabbath rest" for our own well being and good health. Jesus even said that "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." He meant that we have the Day of Rest for our good, not just another obligation.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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