"Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you." (Jeremiah 7:16)
As I have told you, I am reading straight through the Bible for this quarter, and not using my regular reading plan. There is something different about reading the Words of God this way. Though not as convenient as my plan, it tends to broaden the contextual expression of the message of Jesus, Who Himself is, "The Word of God," to humanity.
But can, "....do not pray for this people,.." possibly be? Our text is really sort of "shocking." Does a people really come to such a place in their sojourn? Is there a place of no return? "Later his disciples came to him and said, 'Do you know that the Pharisees are deeply offended by what you said?...'" Then Jesus said, "Let them alone. They are blind guides, and when one blind man leads another blind man they will both end up in the ditch!" The Pharisees were descendants of, "Therefore do not pray for this people...." Were they blind because of generations of eye-scale build up? Can a person walk in disobedience for so long that he will not or cannot recover from that blindness? "Therefore do not pray for this people...." Is there here a "too-late" syndrome?
Quite honestly, my friend, I am more and more considering the possibility that the United States of America is approaching, if not already there, "Therefore do not pray for this people...." Yes, I am still praying for America. It is more and more, however, a desperation prayer. The nation which has been given so much is yielding, at an alarming rate, that "much" to alien forces, forces which totally reject Jesus Christ and His "Law-Word." Those who read this in other nations do not have the beginning which has been America's; therefore, America will be judged all the more.
What about you, you may ask? How does this affect me? Well, whatever affects our cultures affects you and me. The Church is not an isolated institution. Yet many "church programs" are nothing but a me-centered approach to life. It is a fact that persecution comes when the majority of a culture is anti-Christ. Some may argue that "offenses must come." Indeed they "must." But what has the Church failed to do throughout the centuries to affect this? The reason America was brought forth under Judeo-Christian principles is that the Great Awakening brought a Christ-centered, Bible based, repentance-demanding Gospel to the shores of what was to become the United States of America. And I say without wavering that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is what gave birth to the United States. Followers of Jesus in the United States have by in large escaped the persecution face by the majority of God's people throughout history because of "the seed of [the] nation." Yet more and more, "The foundations have been destroyed; what has the righteous done?"
Yet the "fundamentals" still apply. Pray, obey the Scriptures, love others by serving them the Good News of Jesus, and vote for people who most reflect Jesus Christ and His Words. Perhaps we in America just may avoid, "Therefore do not pray for this people...."
Father, in Jesus' Name,....... Amen.
*************
I am planning to participate in "David's Tent," September 18-22
As I have told you, I am reading straight through the Bible for this quarter, and not using my regular reading plan. There is something different about reading the Words of God this way. Though not as convenient as my plan, it tends to broaden the contextual expression of the message of Jesus, Who Himself is, "The Word of God," to humanity.
But can, "....do not pray for this people,.." possibly be? Our text is really sort of "shocking." Does a people really come to such a place in their sojourn? Is there a place of no return? "Later his disciples came to him and said, 'Do you know that the Pharisees are deeply offended by what you said?...'" Then Jesus said, "Let them alone. They are blind guides, and when one blind man leads another blind man they will both end up in the ditch!" The Pharisees were descendants of, "Therefore do not pray for this people...." Were they blind because of generations of eye-scale build up? Can a person walk in disobedience for so long that he will not or cannot recover from that blindness? "Therefore do not pray for this people...." Is there here a "too-late" syndrome?
Quite honestly, my friend, I am more and more considering the possibility that the United States of America is approaching, if not already there, "Therefore do not pray for this people...." Yes, I am still praying for America. It is more and more, however, a desperation prayer. The nation which has been given so much is yielding, at an alarming rate, that "much" to alien forces, forces which totally reject Jesus Christ and His "Law-Word." Those who read this in other nations do not have the beginning which has been America's; therefore, America will be judged all the more.
What about you, you may ask? How does this affect me? Well, whatever affects our cultures affects you and me. The Church is not an isolated institution. Yet many "church programs" are nothing but a me-centered approach to life. It is a fact that persecution comes when the majority of a culture is anti-Christ. Some may argue that "offenses must come." Indeed they "must." But what has the Church failed to do throughout the centuries to affect this? The reason America was brought forth under Judeo-Christian principles is that the Great Awakening brought a Christ-centered, Bible based, repentance-demanding Gospel to the shores of what was to become the United States of America. And I say without wavering that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is what gave birth to the United States. Followers of Jesus in the United States have by in large escaped the persecution face by the majority of God's people throughout history because of "the seed of [the] nation." Yet more and more, "The foundations have been destroyed; what has the righteous done?"
Yet the "fundamentals" still apply. Pray, obey the Scriptures, love others by serving them the Good News of Jesus, and vote for people who most reflect Jesus Christ and His Words. Perhaps we in America just may avoid, "Therefore do not pray for this people...."
Father, in Jesus' Name,....... Amen.
*************
I am planning to participate in "David's Tent," September 18-22
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
