"....A Fatal Mistake...."

"Be sure of this: I warn you today that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the Lord your God and said, 'Pray to the Lord our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.'" (Jeremiah 42:19b, 20--NIV)

I'm not a Hebrew expert, but the NIV translation is not that different from other English translations,  "....you made a fatal mistake when you...said, 'Pray...for us....'"  It seems to me from the context that the, "fatal mistake," was wanting prayer to know, "....everything He says..," but not a willingness to obey, "....everything He says...."

Now, "fatal mistake," may seem a little too excessive.  How many of us, however, have made a "mistake" by getting a real "prophetic" person, i.e., someone who has no agenda but Jesus Christ's, to pray for us, or from whom we have asked advice or an "opinion?"  This is the reason too many church people go to the people and places which will tell them what they either want to hear, or will confirm what they believe to be, "everything He says," but, alas, make not be.

My parents were "fatal-mistake" personages.  I had coaches, scout master, teachers, and some friends who were also "fatal-mistake" people.  They were what some may call, "straight shooters," told me the truth, helped me face the reality of life, not some fantasy of life.  "A fatal mistake," that is, to our carnal "side," is to pray, "Thy Kingdom come.  Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven."  I can promise us all, both are happening and will continue so.  When someone prays, "The Word of God," get ready.  Some very likely "unexpected" things just may happen. 

Jesus Christ is fulfilling His Purposes in the Earth, and if we say to the "wrong" people, "Pray...for us..," we will encounter Jesus' Purposes, Jesus' Will.  If we don't intend to obey, "....everything He says..," it is better not to ask for the "wrong" people to pray for us.  We will then be held accountable and without excuse.

Our text at first seemed kind of "funny."  Yet the more I think about it, it is a solemn warning.  The NKJV says, "For you were hypocrites in your hearts when you sent me to the Lord.., saying, 'Pray for us...."  The NASB say, "For you have only deceived yourselves...."  We do not want that, do we?  We want to hear from The Blessed Trinity.  We want to know, "....everything He says."  And, equally, we want to obey.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I say, and believe, that I really want to know and hear, "everything [You have] to say...."  I only hope and pray I will obey.  Amen.
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Correction on Berlin Mission dates:       October 28-November 15, 2017

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.'"

Hebrews 12:2

"Expectations" And "Plans"

"But oh, that God would speak, and open His lips against you...."  (Job 11:5)

Another "friend" shows up in our text.  I wonder what the atmosphere would have been if sitting with Job for a week would have been accompanied by some hugs.

A I read again through the Book of Job, I am reminded again that Genesis to Revelation declares God to be a Good Father, Good Shepherd/Brother, Good Indwelling Holy Spirit to all who surrender to Him (Biblical "receive" is defined in surrender).  Job's life is perhaps summed up in Jesus' Words to us, "....every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit....Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me."  This is, "The Word of God," to all humanity, Adam, Nimrod, Job, Isaac, David, Ahaz, Nebuchadnezzar, the Caesars, kings, Tsars, Prime Ministers, Presidents.  This was/is not a religious dissertation.  These Words are from our Lord Jesus Christ, "The Word of God," Himself.  They are "invitation" Words.  They are Words for Job and his accusers---------------- for you, me. 

A Catholic priest, once closed a meeting with this blessing:  "May all of your expectations be frustrated; may all of your plans be thwarted; may all of your desires be withered into nothingness, that you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child in order that you may sing and dance in the compassion of God, Who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit."  This describes Job's journey.  The whole of the Bible concurs, as does  life itself.  So, my friend, "Sing and dance."  The reality, "Jesus is Lord," in part means that when we are frustrated, thwarted, and "withered to nothingness," as was Job, Jesus' grace, power and mercy shine forth in glorious splendor.  Consider Job. 

Father, in Jesus' Name, I so thank You for frustrating my expectations and thwarting my plans.  I only want Your plans.  Amen.
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* Berlin Mission:     October 28-November 1
* I received an appeal from an international ministry which said that just because they don't speak of their need, it does not mean they have what they need to continue.

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.'"

Hebrews 12:2

Job 10

"I will give full vent to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul....Let me know why You contend with me....According to Your knowledge I am indeed not guilty, yet there is no deliverance from Your hand...." (Job 10, NASB)

Notice the words, "complaint," and, "the bitterness of my soul."  Later in the chapter, as Job is expressing his confusion, he says something similar to what Jeremiah said, "Why then have You brought me out of the womb?  Would that I had died and no eye had seen me!.., carried from womb to tomb."  Modern charismata cannot handle this.

I find it interesting this time going through Job that Job laments his situation, his life, but at the end of the Book we know that The Blessed Trinity stills touts Job as a righteous man, that God rebukes his speculating "friends," yet not Job.  Jesus' response to Job's questions is only, "Where were You when I..."; perhaps an ancient version of, "You can't handle the truth."  I wonder if some of what we see in the Book of Job is akin to my analogy of the river and the banks of that river.  Is it okay to "pray" or wonder inwardly about one's life, one's trouble, a confusion about one's dilemmas?  Should we realize that the Lord Jesus Christ is the "banks" on/in our lives, and we are "swimming" in the currents, backwashes and eddies of history, and find ourselves in the reality of the Ecclesiastes statement, "all things come alike to all."  One more thought to consider: Could this reveal most powerfully what is central Biblical Theology that, as our Lord Jesus tells us, "out of the heart proceed..," that Job's friends hearts were "wrong," and Job's heart was right?

Much has been written about all of this throughout history.  But there is a certain truth that every life has a certain refrain in the song, "We must walk this lonesome valley, we have to walk it by ourselves, O, nobody else can walk it for us, we have to walk it by ourselves."  Now the "spirituals" will say that this is depressing melancholy, not a "faith statement."  Really?  Job's friends?  There is something I see in the Book of Job, Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs which tells me that if Christendom does not consider the whole of the, "God-Breathed," Words, it will continue on its downward spiral.  For those who relegate this devotional to, "O, that's Old Testament," I say that you will find "echos" and similar teaching of the "Wisdom Literature" in the Gospels, that is, if we do not look at the Gospels with prejudiced eye glasses.

Ecclesiastes 9 tells us, "So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God's hands....All share a common destiny-- the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean....As it is with the good, so with the sinful...."  I promise you that if church-goers do not at least take a prayerful consideration of this, their inward, secret life will be full of turmoil.  The difference between you and me and those who reject Jesus is Jesus Himself-------------- not that you will never get a cold.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I surrender anew today to You.  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.'"

Hebrews 12:2

"Wonderful Words of Life"

"His wisdom is profound, His power is vast.  Who has resisted Him and come out unscathed?...He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea....He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.  When He passes me, I cannot see Him; when he goes by, I cannot perceive Him.  If He snatches away, who can stop Him?  Who can say to Him, 'What are You doing?'...If it is a matter of strength, He is mighty!  And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge Him?...He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer Him, that we might confront each other in court."  (Job 9, NIV)

These Words are a little further glimpse into how Jesus saved my life in the Summer of '70, and how Jesus continues to save me.  "Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life, Let me more of their beauty see, Wonderful words of life....Beautiful Words, Wonderful Words, wonderful Words of Life."

These Words of God were among the rest of His, "God-Breathed," Words I read that summer of '70, Words which were, "a lamp to my feet and a light to my path," which, "....my feet and...path," had encountered------ destruction, desolation, emptiness, a landscape much as was Berlin's, 1945.  "But Jesus came, and He spoke my name, and whispered peace to me.  Now I've taken my harp down off the willow tree....Sorrow has gone, the glory has shone, and now I am free."  Well, truthfully, not the "sorrow" of the loss of our Stephen, but surely the "sorrow" of despair, hopelessness, of Job's wife's, "curse God and die!"  That "sorrow" is gone.

The Words of today's text, at least for me, need no preaching, teaching, exegeting.  They just are the impartation of Jesus, Himself, "The Word of God."  They literally brightened my day.  So I repeat the words of the old hymn, "Let me more of their beauty see, Wonderful words of life."

Father, in Jesus' Name, Your Words are, indeed, "medicine to my whole body."  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.'"

Hebrews 12:2

Late

"When your children sinned against Him, He gave them over to the penalty of their sin." (Job 8:4, NIV)

Okay, internet being worked on today (hence, delay), and this right after major sewer line replacement, gutters replaced, and found out today the roof is next.  Hey, what do you expect for a 96 year old house?  Sort of sounds like modern, aging humanity, e.g., organ transplants, knee/hip replacements, stints and by-pass.

My daily reading in the "Wisdom Literature" is now in Job.  Our text is a false religious platitude which was condemned by the Lord God at the end of Job.  I read this today, however, and remembered similar garbage which I have heard over the years.  One of the worst, which is manifest in the text, and manifest in "water cooler" theology is that if something bad happens to you, you must have done something wrong, lost the "favor" of God, have deep, abiding sin in your life.  Job nullifies this all.  Here was a man of whom it was said there was none like him, none who walked with the Living Triune God any "closer."  Yet..........  All I can say is to beware some "christian" television and other misleading religionists.

Every heartache imaginable happened to Job.  Perhaps there was another tragedy, however, which he experienced which was also very painful---- his "friends," and the young man who thought he knew more than them all.  They were classic, "....accuser of our Brethren...."  They literally came at Job with everything they had, every religious platitude they could think of.  Know those kind?

Beware of attempting to have an answer for everything, and equally, listening to someone who always has an answer for everything.  There are just some things in life to which no one knows the answer, if indeed there is an "answer."  The call to you and me today is the same as that to which the Book of James calls us, "As you know we count as blessed those who have persevered.  You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.  The Lord is full of compassion and mercy."  Our Lord Jesus Christ never changes, "His compassions they fail not."  You and I have a simple choice today.  We can count our maladies or we can count our blessings.  Choose wisely.

Father, in Jesus' Name, there is no reason for me to ever count anything but Your mercies which are, "new every morning."  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.'"

Hebrews 12:2