When Life Catches Up With You-Then What

"Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness....Great is Your faithfulness." (From Lamantations 3, (NASB) 

I recently finished Lamantations and Second Samuel.  There are some sobering lessons here.

David blew it.  He was a man of whom the Bible says, "had God's heart."  But maybe he thought he was special.  Maybe he thought he could get away with things others could not.  Or, maybe he just got careless, forgot, just for a moment, as Brother Lawrence described it, The Practice of the Presence of God.  Whatever happened it has always been a very sobering lesson to me.  You do not sin without consequences.  Now Nathan told David not to be discouraged, "The LORD also has taken away your sin."  Yet subsequent events reveal that David reaped what he sowed, "The sword shall never depart from your house."  This plagued David to the day he died.  Christian counselors do not what to deal with such messy business.

Some people mistakenly believe that forgiveness means cleaning up our mess.  It does not.  "Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap."  This is not just for ministry leaders to get more money out of you.  Life itself confirms the reality.  Now people will try to get counseling, try to pray, worship, fast, cast out, "agree as touching," do more and more good deeds, all in the attempt to prevent or destroy what was sown.  I heard a man once quip, "I sowed my wild oats and prayed for a crop failure."  Won't happen.  In His Cross and Precious Blood, however, Jesus "broke the power of cancelled sin."  Yes, and, "as far as the East is from the West, so far has He removed our transgressions from us"----------  but not the affects.   

The Bible says, "But there is forgiveness with You that You may be feared."  David experienced this; and when I become aware of just how much forgiveness, just how much mercy, Jesus extends to me, I become a "psalmist" also.  As with David's Uriah and Bathsheba, Paul's Stephen, and Peter's denial, we all carry scars of our sin.  The invitation of The Godhead today, though, is to pray with Jeremiah, "Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and bitterness.  Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me." Yet, "This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.  The LORD's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness."  

Father, in Jesus' Name, I don't fully comprehend how You do things----- or life------ or myself.  Oh, but how, "Great is Your Faithfulness, 'Lord unto me.'"  Amen.

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When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"

Hebrews 12:2

This is No Time For Devotionettes

"And he said to me, 'Son of man, eat whatever you find here.  Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel....Let all my words sink deep into your own heart first.  Listen to them carefully for yourself.'" (3:1, 10, ESV & NLT)

"Listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you" (NIV).  And here is the key to the malady which has plagued Christendom for centuries, perhaps from the beginning.  There has always been the battle between those who say, Well, I believe the Bible contains words of God, but not all of it is the words of God.  Picking and choosing what we want to receive, obey, and, "eat," has always been the temptation, a temptation which scholars, "falsely so called," have attempted to justify through the ages.

John related something in the Revelation which is perhaps related to contemporary Biblical indigestion.  "So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll.  He said to me, 'Take it and eat it.  It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.'"  There is a principle here which must not be ignored.  I have observed over the years that initial reaction to the things of God can indeed be, "as sweet as honey."  Later, however, when things settle down and settle in, when hype and flesh wane, we encounter in a somewhat greater way perhaps the depths and scope of what God was saying, making, "your stomach sour," maybe a little "nervous stomach?"-- certainly a God-fearer full of awe.

Current events are revealing more and more, "The end of all things is near," and, if we do not, "listen carefully and take to heart all the words [Jesus] speak[s] to you," we will miss what He is doing in these, "last days."  The prophets are prophesying, yes, and there are times when I have questioned some of the "prophecies."  When I have, people around me sometimes look at me as though, "How dare you?"  How dare I?  Well, the same way all Believers should, "How dare you?"  As Followers of Jesus Christ, full of His Words, full of the Holy Spirit, under Father's authority, we have responsibility to ourselves, the prophets, and the Church, so that, "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established," and, "Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said."  Oh, yes, and then there is always that pesky, "test the spirits."  

Salvation for the lost in these, "last days," will not come from the US Government, CNN, MSNBC, or FOX pundits.  It will come from, "the Church of the Living God, the pillar and ground of the truth"----------------- weighing, testing; I welcome it. 

Father, in Jesus' Name, I beseech You to "keep me near the cross," keep me in Your Words, keep me in You.  Amen.

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When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"

Hebrews 12:2

The Word Of God, Jesus Christ Says, "I Will,..I Will,..I Will...."

"Nevertheless, the time will come when I will heal Jerusalem's wounds and give it prosperity and true peace"-- "Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security."  (Jeremiah 33:6, NLT & ESV)

There is a very subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) temptation which comes to those who Follow Jesus Christ. We read His Words and are blessed, excited, full of praise for His, "exceeding great and precious promises"--- then we turn on the news, or listen to the conversation at the office and hear things which shout at us, "See, you thought God was going to.............  Well, look at that development; look at everything which is saying this is going very wrong for everything you thought the Word of God said."  This is particularly true regarding current events in the Middle East, especially Israel, and more especially Jerusalem.  This truth, however, will never change--- "This is Jerusalem; I have set her at the center of the nations, with lands around her" (Ezekiel 5:5, NASB). 

One statement in the "God-Breathed" Word which I discovered during the summer our oldest son left this life.  "Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven," or, "Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens."  Our Lord Jesus Christ affirmed this to His disciples, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away."  This is true of, "everything that proceeds out of the mouth of God."  No matter what that friend of yours might say, Thus saith the Lord Jesus Christ of Glory, "'This is Jerusalem;' be assured, 'I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security.'"  Now some will argue as to who are, "My people."  Go ahead.

Father, in Jesus' Name, You are my news; CNN and Fox are not.  Amen.
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When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"

Hebrews 12:2

Beware, "Kitchen Religion, A Potluck Religious Stew"

"I've made myself available to those who haven't bothered to ask.  I'm here, ready to be found by those who haven't bothered to look.  I kept saying 'I'm here, I'm right here' to a nation that ignored me. I reached out day after day to a people who turned their backs on me, people who make wrong turns, who insist on doing things their own way.  They get on my nerves, are rude to my face day after day, make up their own kitchen religion, a potluck religious stew." (Is. 65, The Message) 

Recent devotionals have been from my General Epistles readings.  In light of the recent events in the Middle East, I want to look at some of the Old Testament writings which I have read in recent weeks.  

Today's text speaks to not only Jews, but also Gentile nations as well.  The Old Testament is not writings just to a "chosen people."  The Words of God are to all humanity.  Enoch and Noah were not Jews.  Abraham's descendants became a family, later called Jews, Hebrews, and Israel.  But it was never God's intent to just deal with Jews as a "race" or some isolated preferred people.  Perhaps failure to understand this could be partly the reason so much of Gentile Christianity fails to recognize the Old Testament just as central to present events as everything in the New Testament.  This is, "kitchen religion, a potluck religious stew."

"A nation that ignored me....kitchen religion, a potluck religious stew"----- This is modern America, maybe not so much in church meetings, conferences, seminars, etc., but in the market place, the schools, the government, Wall Street and media.  I never cease to be amazed at our government leaders, especially Presidents, who talk of being, "born again," photographed carrying their Bibles coming out of church meetings, even the current one claiming to be a believer in Jesus Christ, having been baptized, etc., yet advocates the murder of the unborn, approves homosexuality, and whose policy towards Israel is about as far from The Word of God as one can get.  He and his Secretary of State, "insist on doing things their own way."  I can hear God say, "they get on my nerves." 

How America, and all nations, deal with current events in the Middle East will determine their end.  "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.  All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides sheep from the goats."

Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray every day will be a day of "recipe" consultation.  Amen,   
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When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"

Hebrews 12:2            

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"That," My Friend, "Is What We Are!"

"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!  Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.  Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."  (1 John 3:1, 2)

What greeted me this very rainy Monday morning was the fresh affirmation that I am a child of the Living Triune God. 

Throughout human history, some have asked, Did God really want me here, was my birth His will or my parents will?  Now some would say right away, in their attempt to be "good Christians," Of course he wanted you here; everything that happens is his will.  Perhaps-- But one thing, however, is certain; to all who receive Jesus Christ, "He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:  who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."  It is clear from these words that there is a will of, "blood"; there is, "the will of the flesh"; and, there is, "the will of man," which stand in contrast to the greater, "will...of God."  One may wonder about their first birth. There should be, however, absolutely no debate about his second. 

I encourage those who question whether they were just, "born of blood," or, "of the will of the flesh," or, "of the will of man," to   begin today to accept the glorious fact that in Jesus Christ they have, or can have, a birth which is the will of none other than the Living Triune God of the Universe, "born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man----- but of God", Himself.

Whether a person is the product of an "illegitimate" relationship, unloving abusive parents, not "favored" by others, the great admonition today is to accept our Heavenly Father in Jesus Christ, "Who Himself bore our sins in His Own Body on the tree."  Rejoice today that, "You He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins," that, "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins."    

Our text says the reason, "the world does not know us is that it did not know Him."  It is the "world" in people which keeps them from understanding, or at least accepting the things of God.  It is, "the Christ," in us Who enables us to accept, through all the attempts of the Enemy to lie to us, "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!" (NIV) 

Father, in Jesus' Name, what wondrous love, "that is what we are!"  Amen.
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www.antipasprayerforce2.blogspot.com
www.apf327.blogspot.com

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"

Hebrews 12:2