"You have made the earth tremble; You have broken it; Heal its breaches, for it is shaking. You have shown Your people hard things; You have made us drink the wine of confusion." (Psalm 60:2, 3)
I cannot remember when I have read a Biblical text which describes the events of recent months. Let me illustrate.
To say that going into Iraq was a mistake because Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction is idiotic. How do they think he murdered thousands upon thousands of Kurds?!? I repeat; just because you don't find something doesn't mean it is not there. Now the Arab/Islamist/Terrorists (which is just redundancy) are taking over much of Iraq. America has become a nation more concerned about quitting wars than winning wars. With this philosophy, America could soon be finished. I promise you that you can count on one reality: The villains of history never quit. Edmund Burke said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." I pray regularly for world leaders that they either repent and come to Jesus Christ, or are embarrassed. The unbelievable number of children coming across America's southern border is an embarrassing situation. I read the other day that since we are doing nothing about illegal immigration, many South American countries are sending children to take advantage of America's spinelessness. The situation in Iraq, in Syria, in Afghanistan, and in our own nation is an embarrassment to the United States of America. Repent, America, or be embarrassed!
Our text is literally reading today's "paper." The Words of God always have been current, "now words." I have always been reluctant to use that phrase, because it implies the Bible is not "now." But the Bible is now, because, "The Word of God," Jesus, is Now. Never, ever think for one moment that any of God's Words are not now, not relevant, not "fresh." Any person who claims to be a Christian and lives in such an attitude will miss what Jesus Christ is doing in the Earth. Nothing and no one is more up-to-date, more relevant than Jesus and His Words. The NASB puts our text this way: "You have made the earth quake, You have split it open; Heal its breaches, for it totters. You have caused Your people to see hardship; You have given us wine of staggering." All this is for one reason: Mankind thought/thinks they can do life better than God. I pray, however, with the psalmist, "The earth---Heal its breaches...."
You and I have a calling, a mission, described in 2 Corinthians 10, which I read just the other day, " For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before (in) God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ..., being in readiness to punish every [insubordinate for his] disobedience, when your own submission and obedience [as a church] are fully secured and complete." (Amplified)
Father, in Jesus' Name, so equip me. Amen.
I cannot remember when I have read a Biblical text which describes the events of recent months. Let me illustrate.
To say that going into Iraq was a mistake because Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction is idiotic. How do they think he murdered thousands upon thousands of Kurds?!? I repeat; just because you don't find something doesn't mean it is not there. Now the Arab/Islamist/Terrorists (which is just redundancy) are taking over much of Iraq. America has become a nation more concerned about quitting wars than winning wars. With this philosophy, America could soon be finished. I promise you that you can count on one reality: The villains of history never quit. Edmund Burke said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." I pray regularly for world leaders that they either repent and come to Jesus Christ, or are embarrassed. The unbelievable number of children coming across America's southern border is an embarrassing situation. I read the other day that since we are doing nothing about illegal immigration, many South American countries are sending children to take advantage of America's spinelessness. The situation in Iraq, in Syria, in Afghanistan, and in our own nation is an embarrassment to the United States of America. Repent, America, or be embarrassed!
Our text is literally reading today's "paper." The Words of God always have been current, "now words." I have always been reluctant to use that phrase, because it implies the Bible is not "now." But the Bible is now, because, "The Word of God," Jesus, is Now. Never, ever think for one moment that any of God's Words are not now, not relevant, not "fresh." Any person who claims to be a Christian and lives in such an attitude will miss what Jesus Christ is doing in the Earth. Nothing and no one is more up-to-date, more relevant than Jesus and His Words. The NASB puts our text this way: "You have made the earth quake, You have split it open; Heal its breaches, for it totters. You have caused Your people to see hardship; You have given us wine of staggering." All this is for one reason: Mankind thought/thinks they can do life better than God. I pray, however, with the psalmist, "The earth---Heal its breaches...."
You and I have a calling, a mission, described in 2 Corinthians 10, which I read just the other day, " For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before (in) God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ..., being in readiness to punish every [insubordinate for his] disobedience, when your own submission and obedience [as a church] are fully secured and complete." (Amplified)
Father, in Jesus' Name, so equip me. Amen.
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
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
