More on Jeremiah's Strange Conduct from Jeremiah 16:10-13, 16-18

SPIRITUAL DIAYR FOR 3/23/2014 8:36 AM

My Worship Time                                          Focus: More on Jeremiah’s Strange Conduct (PT-2)

Bible Reading & Meditation                                   Reference:  Jeremiah 16:10-13, 16-18

            Message of the verses:  In today’s SD we will look at the second sub-point which is a part of chapter sixteen of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah’s Explanation (Jeremiah 16:10-13, 16-18):  “10 ‘Now when you tell this people all these words, they will say to you, ’For what reason has the LORD declared all this great calamity against us? And what is our iniquity, or what is our sin which we have committed against the LORD our God?’ 11  "Then you are to say to them, ’It is because your forefathers have forsaken Me,’ declares the LORD, ’and have followed other gods and served them and bowed down to them; but Me they have forsaken and have not kept My law. 12 ’You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, you are each one walking according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me. 13 ’So I will hurl you out of this land into the land which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers; and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will grant you no favor.’

“16 “Behold, I am going to send for many fishermen," declares the LORD, "and they will fish for them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks. 17 “For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes. 18 “I will first doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and with their abominations.’”

            As I read over this passage of explanation as to why the Lord is going to do what He says He will do I can see some of God’s attributes here.  God speaks about the fact that the children of Israel have forsaken Him and gone after other gods, and this speaks of the Jealously of the Lord.  He also speaks of knowing where all of these people are and this speaks of His omnipresence.  He talks about His judgment upon these people for not obeying His Law and this speaks of His justice, and perhaps His wrath. 

            The people of Judah ask what sin they have committed against the Lord and this does seem a bit strange, but they had been led astray by the false prophets, and also the corrupt priests who taught them that God would never allow the city of Jerusalem to be defeated.  This speaks of why it is so important for believers to understand the Word of God and to not be led astray by false teachers even in our day and age.  There is much false teaching about how old the earth is, and many Christians believe this lie.  Some think that this does not matter, but believe me it does for the enemy has crept in and is trying to make something in the Word of God not believable.  If he can do this on this truth what will be next?

            Someone has said when talking about history is that people continue to make the same mistakes that people in the past have made and expect the results to be different.  This is true of the people of Judah as they were making the same mistakes that their forefathers were making and expect that God will treat them different than He did them.

            I see another disturbing statement from the Lord in this section of Scripture “I will grant you no favor.”  We saw yesterday that God was going to take His peace from them and not He will grant them no favor.  We can never think that God is vindictive, for He is not as He does not enjoy punishing the wicked, but because of His covenant with them His has to do what is right for this is a part of His character and a part of His attributes. 

You can read the metaphors described in this section which speak of how the Lord was going to judge the people of Judah.  “The Babylonians would cast out their nets and catch the Jews (Ezekiel 12:13), and not one ‘fish’ would escape. If anyone tried to hide in the hills, the fishermen would become hunters and track them down. Why?  Because the nation owed a great debt to the Lord for the way they had treated His Law and His land.  Now the note was due.  ‘I will repay them double for their wickedness and their sin’ (Jer. 16:18 NIV) means that God’s judgment would be ample and complete.”  (Warren Wiersbe)

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Even though God does not enjoy judging and disciplining His people He will for His names sake.

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 has 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:  “In the Holy place” (Exodus 37:25-28)

Today’s Bible question:  “What is the fruit of the Spirit described in Gal. chapter five?”

Answer in our next SD.

3/23/2014 9:34 AM

 

A Message about Jeremiah's Strange Conduct PT-1 (Jer. 16:1-9)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/22/2014 9:13 AM

My Worship Time                             Focus:  A Message about Jeremiah’s Strange Conduct PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Jeremiah 16:1-9

            Message of the verses:  In today’s SD we begin looking at the third main point from Warren Wiersbe’s outline by looking at the first sub-point “Jeremiah’s prohibitions.”

            In light of some of God’s prophets doing strange things in order to get the attention of the people we will see Jeremiah doing some strange things, similar to the action sermons that he has already done.

            Jeremiah’s Prohibitions (Jeremiah 16:1-9):  “1The word of the LORD also came to me saying, 2 “You shall not take a wife for yourself nor have sons or daughters in this place." 3 For thus says the LORD concerning the sons and daughters born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bear them, and their fathers who beget them in this land: 4 “They will die of deadly diseases, they will not be lamented or buried; they will be as dung on the surface of the ground and come to an end by sword and famine, and their carcasses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth." 5 For thus says the LORD, "Do not enter a house of mourning, or go to lament or to console them; for I have withdrawn My peace from this people," declares the LORD, "My lovingkindness and compassion. 6 “Both great men and small will die in this land; they will not be buried, they will not be lamented, nor will anyone gash himself or shave his head for them. 7 “Men will not break bread in mourning for them, to comfort anyone for the dead, nor give them a cup of consolation to drink for anyone’s father or mother. 8 “Moreover you shall not go into a house of feasting to sit with them to eat and drink." 9 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I am going to eliminate from this place, before your eyes and in your time, the voice of rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride.”

            I can only say that this is a very depressing way to wake up on a Saturday morning, but it is a part of God’s Word, and justice and wrath are a part of God’s attributes, so I guess the best thing to do is to try and understand what we have read in this paragraph from the book of Jeremiah.

            There are three things that God forbid Jeremiah to do, things that were normal and expected for him to do, and they were getting married, mourning for the dead, and attending feasts.  Dr. Wiersbe points out that the Pharisees pronounced a curse on any who refused to marry and to have children.  I suppose that the point in all of this, at least one of the points, is that when people would ask Jeremiah why he did not get married or go to where people mourned for the dead, or not go to feasts, he could reply why he was not doing these things and perhaps the people would understand that the Lord was about to judge Judah. 

            One of the things that is very depressing from this passage is found in verse five where the Lord is saying “for I have withdrawn My peace from this people.”  Whenever we look at many of Paul’s letters to different churches or people we read “grace and peace,” early in the letters.  I don’t think that we as believers truly understand the meaning of grace and peace and since we are also studying the book of 1 Thessalonians I thought that I would quote from the writing of John MacArthur on what he has to say about grace and peace:  “Grace is God’s undeserved favor to the sinner in the form of complete forgiveness of sin and the granting of eternal life, and peace is the result of that amazing gift of love.  Paul desired that the Thessalonians would continually experience the fullness of God’s grace.  The would then possess not only an unending peace with God, but an experience of peace in their hearts that always surpassed their human understanding (Phil. 4:7).  Grace and peace are Christians’ daily portion—every day they receive divine grace to cover their sins and divine peace to assuage their guilt.”  In order to have salvation from the Lord we must experience peace with God and in order to walk in a way pleasing with the lord we must experience the peace of God.  I remember my first “real” pastor would say that there is a verse, the only verse in the Bible that has both peace and blood in it:  “Col 1:20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”  This little phrase found in the 5^th verse of Jeremiah 16 seems very important to me, for peace from God is something that I need every day of my life, and for God to take away His peace from the people of Judah was something very important for us to understand.

            We see not only did God remove his peace from Judah but He also tells them that judgment was coming to them, judgment that would be very harsh, and for that matter a part of this judgment is still going on to the people of Israel as we have seen in our study of the book of Daniel.

            Judah’s judgment was going to be so harsh that they would not even be able to get married or to bury their dead and this is a very harsh judgment God is about to put on them.  Jeremiah would live through this judgment and write about it both in the book of Jeremiah and also the book of Lamentations.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful for the peace of God and also having peace with God through the blood of His cross.  I never want to forget this, and always praise the Lord for it.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Remember the great salvation that the Lord has provided for me, and be thankful for it.

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 2:5-9

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 Hi the name which is above every name,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “The northern kingdom (Israel).”

Today’s Bible question:  “Where in the tabernacle was the incense altar placed?”

Answer in our next SD.

3/22/2014 10:04 AM

Jeremiah's Response to the Lord's Message (Jeremiah 15:10-21)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/21/2014 9:17 AM

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Jeremiah’s Response to the Lord’s Message

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Jeremiah 15:10-21

            Message of the verses:  “10 Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me As a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land! I have not lent, nor have men lent money to me, Yet everyone curses me. 11 The LORD said, "Surely I will set you free for purposes of good; Surely I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you In a time of disaster and a time of distress. 12 “Can anyone smash iron, Iron from the north, or bronze? 13 “Your wealth and your treasures I will give for booty without cost, Even for all your sins And within all your borders. 14 “Then I will cause your enemies to bring it Into a land you do not know; For a fire has been kindled in My anger, It will burn upon you."

    “15 You who know, O LORD, Remember me, take notice of me, And take vengeance for me on my persecutors. Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away; Know that for Your sake I endure reproach. 16  Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts. 17 I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers, Nor did I exult. Because of Your hand upon me I sat alone, For You filled me with indignation. 18 Why has my pain been perpetual And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will You indeed be to me like a deceptive stream With water that is unreliable? 19 Therefore, thus says the LORD, "If you return, then I will restore you- Before Me you will stand; And if you extract the precious from the worthless, You will become My spokesman. They for their part may turn to you, But as for you, you must not turn to them. 20 “Then I will make you to this people A fortified wall of bronze; And though they fight against you, They will not prevail over you; For I am with you to save you And deliver you," declares the LORD. 21 “So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked, And I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent.’”

            After the book of Jeremiah he writes Lamentations, a book where he laments over what happened to Judah and to Jerusalem, however we also find laments in the book of Jeremiah, and we are looking at the third one that has been recorded. 

            Remember back in chapter twelve where the Lord told Jeremiah that he would have to begin running with the horses, well he is now running with the horses.  Jeremiah is seen as a traitor to the people of Judah, but they were the ones who were traitor to the Lord.  

            We see in our previous SD on the beginning verses of this chapter that the mothers would weep over their fallen soldiers, but Jeremiah’s mother had more reason to weep over what was happening to Jeremiah.  God had promised to preserve Jeremiah, but he did not promise to protect him from all of the persecution he was going to go through.

            As we look back at the events of the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians from the books of history we see that the Lord had told the people of Judah not to resist the coming of the Babylonians for this was God’s plan for them.  The people did not listen, as Jeremiah was the one who was telling them this very unpopular message, but to no avail.  This reminds me of when the children of Israel went into the Promised Land to fight against the people who were living there after they had sinned against the Lord by believing ten of the spies who told them to go into the land for the Lord would provide the victory for them.  Those who went in after being told no to were killed, as least a great majority of them.  The people of Judah would have been far better off by listening to the message of Jeremiah, unpopular as it was.

            “15 Then I said, “LORD, you know what’s happening to me.  Please step in and help me. Punish my persecutors! Please give me time; don’t let me die young.  It’s for your sake that I am suffering. 16 When I discovered your words, I devoured them.  They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God of Heaven’s Armies. 17 I never joined the people in their merry feasts.  I sat alone because your hand was on me.  I was filled with indignation at their sins. 18 Why then does my suffering continue?  Why is my wound so incurable? Your help seems as uncertain as a seasonal brook, like a spring that has gone dry.’”  (Jeremiah 15:15-18 NLT)

            Dr. Wiersbe writes that these verses are truly what is in the heart of the prophet, and verse sixteen is a verse that I memorized when I was a very young believer, and it is not the only place in the Word of God that speaks of eating His Word.  Dr. Wiersbe writes in an endnote on this subject the following:  “On eating the word (Jer. 15:16); see Ezekiel 3:-13; Revelation 10:9-10; Job 223:12.  Unless the Word becomes a vital part of our inner being, we can’t receive nourishment and grow in the spiritual life.  This is what Jesus had in mind when He spoke about eating His flesh and drinking His blood (John 6:51-58).  As we receive the written Word within, we are also, receiving the living Word (1:14) and feeding on Christ.”  “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

            “After Jeremiah affirms the Lord’s long-suffering and his own faithfulness to the Word, the next minute he was crying out with pain because of the suffering of his people and the difficulty of his work.  He even suggested that God had lied to him when He called him and that God was ‘like a deceptive brook, like a spring that fails (v. 18, NIV; see Job 6:15-20).”

            I truly believe that the Lord appreciates this kind of talk that Jeremiah was saying to Him, for Jeremiah was a human being and was only saying to the Lord what was on his mind as he honestly admitted his failing to the Lord.  Jeremiah did not cover up his feelings, trying to hide them, but poured out his heart to the Lord.  Here is the shocking answer the Lord gives to Jeremiah “19  Therefore this is what the LORD says: "If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman. Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them.”  (NIV)  Most versions use the word return here and not repent, but the word means to return to where you were.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “Because of his attitude toward God and his calling, Jeremiah was about to forfeit his ministry!  In some ways, he was mirroring the words and attitudes of the people of Judah when they questioned God.”  Perhaps I was wrong when I said that God does not mind the fact we question Him.

            Let’s now look at verse twenty “20 They will fight against you like an attacking army, but I will make you as secure as a fortified wall of bronze. They will not conquer you, for I am with you to protect and rescue you.  I, the LORD, have spoken!”  (NLT)  God is balancing rebuke with reassurance to the prophet.  Jeremiah is learning that it is difficult to run with the horses.  Jeremiah needs to walk by faith and this meant obeying God’ Word no matter what his feelings were.  “When God called Jeremiah he never promised that his job would be easy, but He did promise him all that he needed to do his work faithfully.”

            As we read through the Word of God we will see that many of God’s servants became discouraged.  I can think of Moses, and Elijah who are prime examples of becoming discouraged while doing the work of the Lord.  Jonah is another example.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “God doesn’t want us to ignore our feelings, because that would make us less than human, but He does want us to trust Him to change our feelings and start walking by faith (see 2 Cor. 1:3-11).”  “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4  who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. 6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; 7 and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort. 8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; 9 indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; 10 who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, 11 you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am so glad for Dr. Wiersbe’s endnote from Jeremiah 15:16 and the fact that he brings up John 6:51-58.  I knew that the passage in John did not refer to the Lord’s Supper, but was not exactly sure what it meant.  I understand it better now and for that I am thankful.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Proverbs 3:5-6

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 2:5-9

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,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Ruth or Orpan” (Ruth 1:4).

Today’s Bible question:  “In which kingdom did Elijah and Elisha appear?”

Answer in our next SD.

3/21/2014 10:27 AM

10th Characteristic "Looking for the Return of Christ" (1 Thess. 1:10)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/20/2014 9:30 AM

My Worship Time                                                            Focus:  Looking for the Return of Christ

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  1 Thess. 1:10

            Message of the verse:  In today’s SD we will be looking at the tenth characteristic of the elect which is the expectant looking for the return of Christ.  I have mentioned in an earlier SD that Paul mentions the return of our Lord in each chapter of both Thessalonian letters, and as we will learn each time it is mentioned does not always mean what we call the Rapture of the Church.

            As we begin to look at this tenth characteristic of the elect that Paul describes in the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians we see that it is a familiar one for true believers as the return of Jesus Christ is a very important doctrine that the church has.  Let us first of all look at the book of Acts and see how Dr. Luke describes the return of Christ to heaven and also what the apostles learned from this:  “6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." 9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. 11 They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."  John MacArthur writes “The reference to the Resurrection establishes the ground for the return of Jesus Christ.  God raised Him from the dead because He  was pleased with His sacrifice for sin and because He wanted to exalt Him to the heavenly throne  from which He will return to exercise His sovereign right to rule as King of Kings.”

Jesus was taken up to heaven from the Mount of Olives and it is this same place that He will return.  Warren Wiersbe writes the following on the return of Christ to the earth:  “Two aspects of the Lord’s return must be distinguished.  First, Jesus Christ will come in the air for His Church (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).  This will usher in a period of Tribulation on the earth (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3).  At the close of the period, He will return to the earth with His church (2 Thessalonians 1:5-10; Rev. 19:11-21), defeat His enemies, and then set up His kingdom (Rev. 20:1-6).”  There have been volumes written about what this short paragraph says, but all of what the paragraph says is true. 

            1 Thessalonians was one of the earliest books that Paul wrote, as it is believed that Galatians was the first book that he wrote, and this means that there were still many people who had seen and heard firsthand the things that had happened with the Lord Jesus Christ.  As the centuries have past we must rely on the written Word of God and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to teach us from His Word in order to believe these things.  I can testify to the fact that it was this doctrine of the end times that the Holy Spirit used to bring me to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. 

            The return of Jesus Christ is the believer’s hope as Paul writes to Titus about “11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.”

            As believer of Jesus Christ we are a waiting people and Paul writes about this aspect of waiting much in his letters to the Thessalonians. The theme of this section is “An Expectant People.”  Dr. Wiersbe writes the following on how a local church should live expectantly:  “A local church that truly lives in the expectation of seeing Jesus Christ at any time will be a vibrant and victorious group of people.  Expecting the Lord’s return is a great motivation for soul-winning (1 Thess. 2:19-20) and Christian stability (1 Thess. 3:11-13).  It is a wonderful comfort in sorrow (1 Thess. 4:13-18) and a great encouragement for godly living (1 Thess. 5:23-14).  It is tragic when churches forget this wonderful doctrine.  It is even more tragic when churches believe it and preach it—but do not practice it.”

             I now want to look at which part of the return of Christ Paul was writing about in this verse.  John MacArthur writes “Rescues denotes the deliverance the Lord provides.  He is the Rescuer, Deliverer, and Savior of those otherwise headed for divine judgment and eternal punishment.  In the ancient world, the idea of divine wrath was accepted, but there was no genuine hope of rescue from it.  By contrast, in the postmodern world the idea of divine wrath is rejected, so the Rescuer is not needed or heeded.  Orge (wrath) describes God’s settled eternal judgment against sin.  Some believe the wrath to come refers to the Great Tribulation, and see this rescue as the promise of the pretribulation Rapture, expounded upon later in this epistle.  But the immediate context of Paul’s discussion of election and salvation rather than eschatology rules out temporal wrath and points to eternal wrath, as does the wrath mentioned in 5:9—“For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

            At this time I want to quote both John MacArthur and Warren Wiersbe in their end commentary on the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians.  MacArthur writes “These ten marks of the elect are true of every genuine follower of Christ.  But from time to time it is possible for even true believers to lose touch with those realities in their lives and to live sinfully inconsistent with their position in the body of Christ.  Peter urged his readers, ‘Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you’ (2 Peter 2:10).  It is not that they need to convince God—He already knows who constitutes the elect.  But there is nothing more assuring for those who profess faith in Christ than to know their true spiritual condition by means of these ten spiritual benchmarks.”

            Dr. Wiersbe writes:  “What every church should be is what every Christian should be:  elect (born again), exemplary (imitation the right people), enthusiastic (sharing the Gospel with others), and expectant (daily looking for Jesus Christ to return).

            “Perhaps it is time for an inventory.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I can’t help but think about what I quoted in our last SD from Richard Strauss on living a more simple life and to be more active in spreading the good news of the Gospel, and to be giving more funds to help those who are doing the same thing.  I believe with all of my heart that the Lord Jesus will return to the earth, first to the clouds above the earth to call His Church home to be with Him, and then to the Mount of Olives with His saints to stop the battle of Armageddon.  I want to live like I believe this.   

My Steps of Faith for Today:  1 Peter 3:15

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 2:5-9

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 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,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “The land of Nod” (Genesis 4:16).

Today’s Bible question:  “Nam a Moabite girl.” 

Answer in our next SD.

3/20/2014 11:17 AM  

9th Characteristic of the Elect (1 Thessalonians 1:9b)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/19/2014 11:18 AM

My Worship Time                                                    Focus:  A Total Transformation from Idolatry

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1 Thessalonians 1:9b

            Message of the verses:  “and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God.”

I posted something of Facebook this morning that goes along with what we are studying in this portion of 1 Thessalonians and would like to put it here, but first a little background on how I happened to read what I am about to quote.  Last night was one of those nights when I could not sleep as I was up to sometime after 3:00 AM.  I had read a little bit from the book that I have been reading “The Joy of Knowing God” right before I planned on going to sleep, but sleep would not come to me and so I finished the chapter before I finally went to sleep.  The book is about the attributes of God, and the attribute that I was studying last night was God’s Jealously.  Now how can the jealously and the study of turning from idols to serve the living God go together?  Well I hope the quote will explain that.  “If God, by virtue of His essential being, must be jealous for His uniqueness and His supremacy above all, then those who know Him and want to please Him should be just as jealous for Him.  If we are serious about our relationship with Him, we shall exalt Him above everyone and everything else in our lives; we shall be absolutely dedicated to living for His honor; we shall be zealously committed to doing His will.  The primary goal of our lives will be to show the world that our God is the one true and living God—that he alone makes life meaningful and worthwhile.

“We live in a pagan society where money is god and material possessions are the chief object of man’s worship.  We need people who will be very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, people who will stand alone if need be against this insidious and contagious brand of idolatry and show the world that the Lord is God, people who will adopt a simpler life style and use their resources for His glory rather than for their ow comforts and pleasures.”  (The Joy of Knowing God by Richard Strauss)

            I suppose that when we look at the last half of verse nine from 1 Thessalonians we think that we do not have the problems that those people had before they became believers, as we don’t bow down to idols like they did, but do we?  An idols is anything that keeps us from the true worship of God.  “1Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2  "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3  "You shall have no other gods before Me. 4  "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments (Exodus 20:1-6).”  This is the first of the Ten Commandments, so we must believe that the Lord had great reason to make this the first.

            This is the 9^th characteristic of the elect and it shows that the Thessalonian believers went from the worship of idols to the worship of God, for they had a new Master and it showed in their lives that they had a new Master.  Remember 2 Cor. 5:17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”  John MacArthur writes the following about the word “turned.”  Turned is from the verb epistrepho, which is used in the New Testament to indicate the fact that in the sinner’s conversion there is a turning in the absolute opposite direction.  (Acts 9:35; 11:21; 26:18; 2 Cor 3:15; cf. Luke 1:16; James 5:20).  Such conversion entails repentance, a turning from idols and in faith submitting to the Savior alone (Acts 20:21).  Such turning is far more than merely changing one’s belief about who Chris is—it is a complete reversal of allegiance, from idols to serve a living and true God.  The word Paul chose for serve (doleuein) means to serve as a bond-slave, which was the most demanding form of servitude.”  I can understand this turning and serving a new God from the time of my conversion in January of 1974.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  A desire to live a more simple life and to be able to give more to the cause of Christ, for that is the best investment one can make.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Allow the Holy Spirit to give me the grace to commit to serve Him and to bring honor to my Lord.

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 2:5-9

5  Have this attitude in yourselves 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 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.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Joshua” (Joshua 24:15).

Today’s Bible question:  “where did Cain go to live after killing Able?”

Answer in our next SD.

3/19/2014 12:10 PM

   

A Message about the Coming Captivity PT-1 (1 Samuel 15:1-9)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/18/2014 9:15 AM

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  A Message about the Coming Captivity PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Jeremiah 15:1-9

            Message of the verses:  We begin to look at chapter fifteen of Jeremiah in today’s SD.  We follow Warren Wiersbe’s outline and we are looking at the second main point from the fifth chapter of his commentary on Jeremiah.

          When Israel left Egypt it did not take them too long to sin against the Lord and to break the covenant that He made with them.  It was at Kadesh-Barnea that Israel decided to send out spies to spy out the land and ten of them came back with the wrong answer that God was looking at, for they came back with an answer that was void of faith in the Lord so God allowed all people who were over the age of twenty to die as Israel marched around the wilderness for forty years.  Before the entered the land forty years later Moses wrote the book of Deuteronomy, which means the renewing of the Law.  We read of the covenant that God made with Israel in chapter 28 , and in verses 63-68 we read “63  "It shall come about that as the LORD delighted over you to prosper you, and multiply you, so the LORD will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you; and you will be torn from the land where you are entering to possess it. 64 “Moreover, the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known. 65 “Among those nations you shall find no rest, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. 66 “So your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you will be in dread night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life. 67 “In the morning you shall say, ’Would that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ’Would that it were morning!’ because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you will see. 68  "The LORD will bring you back to Egypt in ships, by the way about which I spoke to you, ’You will never see it again!’ And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.’”  Verse sixty-eight was fulfilled after 70 AD when Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jews offered themselves as slaves, but no one would buy them.

            When Joshua and his generation all died the nation went into idolatry and God punished them by bringing nations into Israel to conquer them, however in Jeremiah’s day God would take them out of the land and send them to Babylon.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes:  “Two responses are recorded in this chapter: the Lord’s response to Jeremiah’s prayer (Jer. 15:1-9) and Jeremiah’s response to the Lord’s answer (vv. 10-21).”

The Lord’s Response to Jeremiah’s Prayer (vv. 1-9):  “1 Then the LORD said to me, "Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My heart would not be with this people; send them away from My presence and let them go! 2 “And it shall be that when they say to you, ’Where should we go?’ then you are to tell them, ’Thus says the LORD: "Those destined for death, to death; And those destined for the sword, to the sword; And those destined for famine, to famine; And those destined for captivity, to captivity."’ 3 “I will appoint over them four kinds of doom," declares the LORD: "the sword to slay, the dogs to drag off, and the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 “I will make them an object of horror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem. 5 “Indeed, who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem, Or who will mourn for you, Or who will turn aside to ask about your welfare? 6 “You who have forsaken Me," declares the LORD, "You keep going backward. So I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you; I am tired of relenting! 7 “I will winnow them with a winnowing fork At the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy My people; They did not repent of their ways. 8 “Their widows will be more numerous before Me Than the sand of the seas; I will bring against them, against the mother of a young man, A destroyer at noonday; I will suddenly bring down on her Anguish and dismay. 9 “She who bore seven sons pines away; Her breathing is labored. Her sun has set while it was yet day; She has been shamed and humiliated. So I will give over their survivors to the sword Before their enemies," declares the LORD.”

            I must say that we have looked at some very harsh words from two different sources in today’s SD, as we looked at the covenant in Deuteronomy and not looked at these verses from Jeremiah chapter fifteen.  I have mentioned many times before that I have read a number of books on the attributes of God and in one of  those books the author states that when we find out something about God we have to accept it.  The wrath of God and the justice of God are seen in this passage, along with the verses in Deuteronomy and we have to accept them.  There is no person who has ever been alive could ever be accepted by God without His attributes of wrath and justice.  Here is why:  When Jesus Christ was hanging on the cross and Jerusalem became dark it was so that no one could see God’s wrath and God’s justice being taken out on His Son.  It was because His wrath and justice were taken out on His Son that we can be born again, for Jesus paid it all while on the cross.

            God mentions Moses and Samuel in verse one, and we can remember that when both of these men interceded for Israel that God heard their prayers and did not destroy Israel, however this time was different for them as God would not allow anyone to intercede for them.  God’s mind was made up and judgment was coming for Judah. 

            As we read from this section we learn that the people faced four possible judgments: death from disease, war, starvation, or if they survived these calamities, exile in Babylon.  As we read these verse we understand that it was not a bright future for them, and as we have already read from Deuteronomy the Jews faced a difficult time from the time that they went into Babylon until the time when the Lord Jesus would return as described in the 19^th chapter of Revelations.  The movie “Fiddler on the Roof” is a movie that depicts how life would be for the Jews, and until May of 1948 Israel did not have a home of their own.  Even in the world of today we read that there are nations who do not recognize Israel as a state, including people from our country. 

            In Genesis 12:1-3 we see that God had chosen Israel to be a blessing to the nations, but because of sin they did not fulfill this.  However we know that it was through the Lord Jesus Christ that this prophecy is being fulfilled even today, for Israel gave us the Messiah, and also the Word of God, and these are blessings to all who live in the world today.

            Jer 15:4  "I will make them an object of horror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.”  Manasseh was born to Hezekiah, who was a great king, but Manasseh was not and we see from verse four that this was one of the reasons that God would judge Judah.  The interesting fact is that we read from 2 Chronicles that at the end of his life he became a believer, but the damage he did still caused Judah to be judged by God. 

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary on these verses by writing:  “We must not think that God enjoyed sending judgment to His people.  If He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:23, 32), He certainly has no pleasure in the death of His own people!  God is long-suffering, but when His people resist His gracious call and rebel against His will, He has no alternative but to send chastening.”    3/18/2014 10:00 AM

8th Characteristic of the Elect: Tell others about Christ (1 Thess. 1:8-9a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/18/2014 8:27 AM

My Worship Time                 Focus: 8^th Characteristic of the Elect: Telling others about Christ

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  1 Thessalonians 1:8-9a

            Message of the verses:  “8  For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. 9 For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you.”

            When we began to look at how the Thessalonians became believers we read from the 17^th chapter of Acts, and we learned that Paul had come from one direction and the Holy Spirit had prevented him from going in two other directions so he had to go into what is modern day Europe, into the providence of what is modern day Greece.  Now the place that Paul ended up was in Philippi and then after a short stay he was beaten and kicked out of Philippi, so he went on to Thessalonica.  Now we also learned that Thessalonica was strategically located for travel as it was on a bay and also was on the main East, West road of that day.  We see that Paul was not there too long either, but we have been learning that the Holy Spirit of God was working with the new believers so that when Paul wrote this letter he learned that they were really true believers and that when he begins his letter to them he speaks of ten characteristics that they had which were evidences of those who are elect of God.  We look today at the evidence of evangelism, and this is very important for new believers and all believers.  On a personal note I can vividly remember when I became a believer while on vacation in Florida and when I got home I was eager to tell my friends about what happened to me and desired to have that happen to them to so I told them how they, too could be saved.  There is great excitement when a person comes to know the Lord, so great an excitement that they want to tell others and this is what these young believers in Christ were doing as we see from our text today.

            John MacArthur explains the meaning of “Sounded forth (exechetai) is used only here in the New Testament and means ‘to blast forth’ or ‘to sound forth very intensely.’  Outside the New Testament, the term was used to refer to a blaring trumpet, or a rolling thunder.  The perfect tense form of exechetai indicates the church’s bold, continual trumpeting of the gospel message.”

            MacArthur writes “Their influence was so clear and extensive that Paul said he had no need to say anything.  In fact, news of the Thessalonians’ salvation and subsequent powerful witness was so convincing that Paul said the people who heard the testimony of the church could themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you.  Rather than Paul telling people he met in his travels about what God had done in that city, people were telling him what was becoming commonly known.  Every church could wish for such and impact and reputation.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It was a little over a month ago that we were privileged to be in the hospital when our seventh grandchild was born.  Olivia Grace came into the world on the 12^th of February and what a blessing it was for parents and grandparents.  Seeing the new birth is even more exciting, for when that happens we know that that person will live eternally with our Lord Jesus Christ. 

            While I was in Florida a number of years ago I was listening to Chuck Swindoll, and few people can tell a story like he can.  He was talking about an older lady who was in the office of a doctor who was a believer and when it came time for her to see the doctor he saw the lady talking to a person about the Lord and so he told his nurse not to bother her for she was giving birth.  There is nothing more exciting than seeing a person come know the Lord.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  1 Peter 3:15 “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.”

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 2:5-9

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 of 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,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “His only begotten Son” )John 3:16).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said, ‘But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord’?”

Answer in our next SD.

3/18/2014 9:04 AM