SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/27/2014
8:32 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT -2 of
Message about Judah’s Sin
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Jeremiah 17:5-10
Message
of the verses: We move into the
second of six parts that Jeremiah preaches to the people of Judah, telling them
of the sins that they have committed against the Lord.
Unbelief (Jeremiah 17:5-10): “5 Thus says the LORD, "Cursed is the
man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns
away from the LORD. 6 “For he will be like a bush in the desert And will not
see when prosperity comes, But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, A
land of salt without inhabitant. 7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD.
8 “For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a
stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And
it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit. 9 “The heart is more deceitful
than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? 10 “I, the LORD, search the
heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways,
According to the results of his deeds.”
I can think of two different Psalms
that speak of the same things that Jeremiah is writing about in this small section
of Scripture. Verses 7-8 goes along with
the following verses from the first Psalm and verses “3 He will be like a tree
firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And
its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked
are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Next we look at
verse ten and it goes along with Psalm 139:23-24 “23 Who remembered us in our
low estate, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, 24 And has rescued us from
our adversaries, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
I have not posted any of my studies
from 1Kings, 11Kings, 1 Chron. or 11 Chron., but in those books we will see
that Judah and also Israel did not trust the Lord, but trusted in foreign
powers to help them out of trouble and it got them in a lot of trouble, for the
nations they trusted ended up conquering them in some cases. I think of the godly king Hezekiah who put
his trust in the Lord and the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrians who were trying to
conquer Judah, and this was the exception to what most of the kings of Judah
were doing. Jeremiah compares two
different plants to illustrate the difference from depending upon the Lord and
other nations in verses 6-8.
In verse nine we see the truth about
the heart, for the heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and
Jeremiah makes this clear in verse nine, for all men’s hearts are corrupt and
this happened as a result of the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden. God is the only one who knows our hearts, for
we don’t know our own hearts like the Lord knows it, for God knows all things
and we surely do not.
It was because the hearts of the
leaders was turned away from the Lord that caused all of the problems in the
land of Judah. The leaders had the
problem of unbelief, the same problem that plagued Israel since God brought
them out of Egypt. Numbers 13-14 tell of
the unbelief that kept the first generation out of the Promised Land. Unbelief caused them to worship idols which
invited them to be disciplined by the Lord all through the book of Judges. And as we have mentioned it was unbelief in
the times of the kings that caused Israel to sin against the Lord by again
worshiping idols and trusting in other nations.
Would it be fair to say that they
did not listen to what Solomon and others wrote about godly wisdom? I think so and so I want to take a moment to
write a bit about God’s Wisdom and most of what I am going to write comes from
the book “The Joy of Knowing God” by Richard L. Strauss.
“When applied to God, wisdom seems
to refer to His establishing the best goals and choosing the best and most
effective means to accomplish them.
“Wisdom is mental excellence in its
greatest sense, more comprehensive and far-reaching than mere knowledge. Knowledge is an awareness and understanding of
the facts. Wisdom is the ability to
adapt those facts into accomplishing a desired end. God knows all the facts, but also has the
ability to work everything He knows into a perfect plan that accomplishes His
perfect purpose. Wisdom implies a final
end or goal.
“His
(Gods) chief end must there be to bring glory to Himself. He has the skill to weave everything there
ever was or ever will be into the ultimate accomplishment of His glory.”
“The Enjoyment of Wisdom”
‘For the Lord gives wisdom’ (Proverbs 2:6) But how do we get it. There are several basic prerequisites.” I am only going to list them without going
into the details.
“The first is to admit our need.”
“The second prerequisite is to fear the Lord.”
“The third prerequisite is to study God’s Word.”
“The final prerequisite is to pray.”
“The Recognition of God’s Wisdom”
“How do we know whether the wisdom we are exercising is
from God or from men, whether it is divine wisdom or human wisdom? One way will be to compare it to the truth of
God’s Word. His wisdom will always be
consistent with all of His Word. But
there is one special passage in the Word that tells us particularly how to
identify God’s wisdom: ‘But the wisdom
from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and
good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy’ (James 3:17). Here is the acid test.
“First, God’s wisdom is pure, unmixed with error, untainted by immorality, unclouded by
selfish motives, cleansed of all personal ambition. If we are looking out for our own interests,
we are probably operating by man’s wisdom rather than God’s. Secondly, God’s wisdom is peaceable, not
quarrelsome, contentious, or cutting, but promoting the harmony and peace that
draws people together. If our words or
actions are arousing antagonism in others, we are probably operating by man’s
wisdom rather than God’s. Thirdly, God’s
wisdom is gentle, that is, fair,
moderate, forgiving, forbearing, and considerate in the demands it puts on
others. If we are putting pressure on
others to conform to our way of thinking, we are probably operating by man’s
wisdom rather than God’s. Fourthly, God’s
wisdom is reasonable, easy to be
entreated, not stubborn or inflexible, but pliable and willing to listen to reason. If we have already made up our minds and
refuse to be influenced by any more acts, we are probably operating by man’s
wisdom rather than God’s.
“Fifthly, God’s wisdom is full of mercy and good fruits.
It shows genuine concern and extends practical help toward others in
need, even when they have wronged us. Sixthly,
God’s wisdom is unwavering, not
hesitant or vacillating, but standing firm on Biblical principles, undivided in
allegiance to God and consistent from day to day. And finally, God’s wisdom is without hypocrisy. When we are operating by God’s wisdom we do
not wear masks, play roles, or deceive people by putting on a good front. We do not try to conceal our true thoughts,
feelings, or motives in order to make ourselves look good or to accomplish our
own ends. We are open, honest, and
straightforward.
“Here is God’s standard for measuring His wisdom. When we begin to get our wisdom from Him, our
homes will be happier, our lives more effective, and our God greatly
glorified. And there is really no time
to lose. As the Psalmist put it, ‘So
teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom’ (Psalm
9-:12 KJV).”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I don’t want to be like the leaders of Judah
in Jeremiah’s day, but I do want to learn about and practice God’s wisdom in my
life.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Proverbs 3:5-6.
Memory verses for the
week: Philippians 2:5-10
5 Have this attitude in
yourself which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form
of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied
Himself, taking on the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness
of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a
man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death
on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God
highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10
so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven
and on earth, and under the earth,
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Jerusalem” (2 Kings 22:1).
Today’s Bible
question: What queen came from a long
distance to visit Solomon?”
Answer in our next SD.
3/27/2014 9:58 AM
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