I know this post won’t make me popular with some, but the correlation and lesson just jumped out at me as I was reading the following that I couldn’t help but write out my thoughts…popular or not…
“Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we.10 Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.” Exodus 1:8-10
History should be our teacher! Whenever leaders begin to appeal to the negative aspects of nationalism bad things happen!
Listen to what this new king is saying and tell me if any of it sounds familiar:
History should be our teacher!
Why aren’t there more Christian voices…why aren’t there more Adventist voices speaking out LOUDLY against such rhetoric?
Nationalism over humanitarianism has never worked well in history and it won’t this time around either!
Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Samuel 16-20
“For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.” -1 Corinthians 12:14-16
A word we need to hear! Every person that has by the grace of Jesus been attached to His church, His body is a “member” of that body. In other words they have a role. This means that the member that sneaks out during the last song who doesn’t support God’s body with their treasures and in the utilization of their time and talents is in no less way a member of the body, “‘I am not a part of the body,’ it is NOT FOR THIS REASON ANY THE LESS a part of the body.” That individual is still part of the body, just a dysfunctional part of the body and injured a crippling part of the body. The result then of this is not that these members only effect themselves…no quite the opposite…
“if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it” -1 Corinthians 12:26a
Each person whom God has put in a church that chooses to not engage, not support, not give of treasure, time, and talent is causing the entire body, the entire church to suffer at some level.
Our decisions are about more than just us!
Engage today!
Tomorrow’s Reading: Exodus 1-4
There are some very powerful insights in this reading from the book of Jeremiah. It begins with a beautiful call upon Jeremiah’s life.
The best line in the calling is,
“Do not say, ‘I am a youth.’ -Jeremiah 1:7a
This line does not just apply to youth’s it applies to all people. Replace the word, “youth” with whatever your excuse is, my excuse is and it applies to us all…
It is a call for us all!
Chapter 2 and verse 5 is a powerful question!
“What injustice did your fathers find in Me,
That they went far from Me
And walked after emptiness and became empty? -Jer. 2:5
Israel has sinned and God through Jeremiah is asking them to give them evidence for what cause they had to pursue anything in life other than God.
What evidence do we have against God for our wanderings away?
I know I have none!
Several times throughout these 6 chapters we are reminded that the judgments that are coming upon Israel and Judah are a result of her own choosing. They have nothing to do with God’s choosing.
“Have you not done this to yourself
By your forsaking the Lord your God
When He led you in the way?” -Jer. 2:17
And it is not even just because they sinned. We are sinners, God understands that…listen to why the judgment is coming upon them…
“Behold, I will enter into judgment with you because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’ -Jeremiah 2:35b
We should all remember that the final judgment is not God saying “I can’t forgive sin,” it is God allowing the consequences of sin we have not asked Him to remove to destroy us.
Yes God was upset by their sin, but judgment came not because of sin, but their unwillingness to recognize they had sinned. We see this restated in chapter 3…
“‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord;
‘I will not look upon you in anger.
For I am gracious,’ declares the Lord;
‘I will not be angry forever.
13 ‘Only acknowledge your iniquity,
That you have transgressed against the Lord your God
And have scattered your [j]favors to the strangers under every green tree,
And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the Lord.” -Jeremiah 3:12 & 13
“For I am gracious…ONLY acknowledge your iniquity…”
Why in part did the people not acknowledge their sin? The leaders of the people…
“They have lied about the Lord
And said, “Not He;
Misfortune will not come on us,
And we will not see sword or famine.” -Jeremiah 5:12“An appalling and horrible thing
Has happened in the land:
31 The prophets prophesy falsely,
And the priests rule on their own authority;
And My people love it so!
But what will you do at the end of it?” -Jeremiah 5:30, 31“For from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is greedy for gain,
And from the prophet even to the priest
Everyone deals falsely.
14 “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
But there is no peace.” -Jeremiah 6:13, 14
Some may ask why are the people punished due to the wicked guides?
Notice in that middle passage…
“And My people love it so!”
The people were not without blame because they embraced the excuse for their sinful ways. They wanted a rationalization and their spiritual leaders gave it to them.
The last quote Jeremiah 6:13, 14 hits too close to home in our modern world. There is too much superficial healing going on in the spiritual world when disaster and great trial are just around the corner.
And we can see in our world as in the world of Jeremiah. We see it currently with those who are embracing candidates that should make us blush. We see it in the TV we watch that should make us blush. The war we hear about that should make us aghast. We are becoming a society like that in the day of Jeremiah…
“They were not even ashamed at all;
They did not even know how to blush.” -Jeremiah 6:15b
We’ve become so acculturated to sin we almost don’t even know “how to blush” anymore.
Jesus come soon!
Tomorrow’s Reading: Mark 5 & 6
What can I say about this reading other than the chapters were short? 🙂
There was one phrase that I loved after Job’s explanation of God’s works,
“Behold, these are the fringes of His ways;
And how faint a word we hear of Him!
But His mighty thunder, who can understand?” -Job 26:14
I love that first line,
“Behold, these are the fringes of His ways”
I think when I question what God is doing it would be good to go out look up at the stars (harder to do here in the DC area 🙂 ) and remember “these are the fringes of His ways” and then just trust!
Tomorrow’s Reading: Jeremiah 1-6
Oh that I could go back and advise my teenage self of this and he would listen,
“Be not envious toward wrongdoers…Trust in the Lord and do good;
Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.” -Psalm 37:1b, 3, 4
I know I did and many others are envious towards wrongdoers because they believe the wrong is what will ultimately give them the desires of their hearts. Oh how mistaken I was!
How true this is…
“Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.” Psalm 37:8b
Psalm 38 has some interesting lines and it shows that yes the righteous, the saved, those that walk with God still struggle with sin…
“For I am ready to fall,
And my sorrow is continually before me.
18 For I confess my iniquity;
I am full of anxiety because of my sin.” -Psalm 38: 17, 18
But then…
“But my enemies are vigorous and strong,
And many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20 And those who repay evil for good,
They oppose me, because I follow what is good.” -Psalm 38:19, 20
So which is it?
Sinner or you follow what is good?
Maybe both.
And now a quick music video from my youth based on Psalm 36
Tomorrow’s Reading: Job 25 & 26
I wonder what the time frame was of the stories in 1 Samuel 11 to 1 Samuel 13 because Saul went from,
“But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has accomplished deliverance in Israel.” -1 Sam. 11:13
to this,
Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lordyour God, which He commanded you, for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lordcommanded you.” -1 Sam 13:13,14
Very quickly it seems by the narrative.
Saul illustrates how quickly power can corrupt. He went from a man that didn’t even want the position to a man that felt he could pick and choose which parts of God’s instruction were absolutely necessary…he went from a man giving God all the credit to a position of not even realizing when he was making himself god over God!
Tomorrow’s Reading: Psalms 36-38