October 7, 2017
The LORD had revealed the coming destruction of Jerusalem to the prophet Jeremiah. He had called Jeremiah to warn the people of Judah of God’s coming judgment. Yet, such a calling and such foreknowledge was nearly more than Jeremiah could bear. He was heart broken over his people’s sin and rebellion. His sorrow was so deep that he wished for an unlimited supply of tears that he “might weep day and night” for his people. Yet, he was the only one weeping. The people continued going about their day to day tasks, as if no warning had been given. They scoffed at Jeremiah’s preaching and gathered to themselves false prophets who were saying, “‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace” (Jer. 8:11). To them, Jeremiah was just a gloomy, weeping prophet with nothing good to say.
However, Jeremiah’s tears came from the same source as his message, namely, the Lord. For the Lord was heartbroken over His people’s rebellion, which He called adultery because of their idolatrous ways. Jeremiah was surely feeling God’s grief just as he heard God’s words of wrath.
I wonder, who feels God’s grief for their people today? Who is weeping as Jeremiah did for the people of our cities, our nation, and our world to turn from their wicked ways, and turn to God through faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord?
October 7, 2017
Christ Jesus is “all” God and “all” man. This is a paradox, yet precisely what the Bible reveals. As the second person of the “Godhead,” which is the Trinity, He was, and is, absolute and perfect God. All the “fullness” of the essence of God is in Him “bodily.” As the apostle John wrote, “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14). Jesus is God in the flesh. When we receive Christ as Savior and Lord, He is the “Head” and we are members of His body. Having received Christ, we are “complete in Him.” There is nothing missing, nothing to be added. So, the apostle Paul argued against the Judaizers, who would require Gentile believers to be circumcised and follow Jewish laws, on this basis. In Christ, believers are “complete.” They are already “circumcised with the circumcision made without hands” (Col. 2:11) because they have been made “complete in Him.”
Dearly beloved, you are complete in Christ!
October 5, 2017
The psalmist wrote of a troubled and sleepless night when even his prayers were difficult to speak. Yet, he began to remember the mighty works of the Lord in days past and was determined to sing and meditate on them. He took advantage of his sleepless and troubled night to focus on God.
The 15th century writer, St. John of the Cross, referred to such times as a “Dark Night of the Soul.” He saw such a time as both a God-given trial and an opportunity to grow closer to the Lord.
The modern response to depression and sleeplessness is medication. We focus on alleviating the symptoms. I wonder, are we missing an appointment with God at such times? Perhaps it is as the psalmist surmised and it is the Lord Himself who is “holding our eyelids open.” What if God wants us to get out of the bed and talk with Him? Perhaps we should respond as Eli taught young Samuel, “Speak, for your servant hears” (1 Sam. 3:10).
October 4, 2017
In the heights where Israel had once committed idolatry, she now wept with prayers of supplication for God’s help. She had awareness of her own crooked ways and her failure to remember God first. Yet, God was still waiting for her to repent.
There is a difference between being sorry for our sins and repenting of our sins. Often we are more sorry for the consequences of sin, than the sin itself. We weep over the brokenness of our world and cry out to God, but we don’t repent. Repentance is more than sorrow. In repentance we simultaneously turn from sin and turn towards Christ by faith. It is the prayer of repentance that God answers.
There is much weeping in our country these days, but little repentance.
October 3, 2017
The Lord revealed to Jeremiah three spiritual realities concerning his prophetic calling that show us something about our relationship to God too.
1) He was known by God before his conception. If Jeremiah was known by God, then so are we. He knows us, even before we are formed, which speaks of God’s eternality and foreknowledge. It speaks of God’s relational intimacy with humanity. It also speaks to the sanctity of human life in the womb.
2) He was “sanctified,” set apart for special work, before he was born. God had a specific purpose in mind for Jeremiah. He wasn’t an accident of chance, but one born for a divine purpose. This has implications for all of us. If we are born with a purpose, shouldn’t we want to know it?
3) He was “ordained,” anointed by God with specific gifting to be God’s international representative. God had not only called Jeremiah with a specific purpose, He had anointed him with appropriate gifts. To who God calls, He also provides. If we have a sense of God’s calling, let us not worry that He will not also give us what we need to answer it.
Let us meditate on the intimate knowledge, purpose and gifting that God has for us.
October 2, 2017
The psalmist prayed that the Lord would “arise,” that He would make Himself known. Certainly, the Lord has answered this prayer over and over again, especially and ultimately in the revelation of His Son, Jesus Christ. Yet, the prayer implies that the psalmist has been pleading the Lord’s cause without result and would have the Lord’s help in it. Surely, the foolish ones who have rejected the gospel and rebelled against God’s name would be corrected, if the Lord would only intervene. And so, the psalmist prayed for a clear manifestation of God’s presence and power.
Let us join the psalmist in prayer. “Father, arise in me today. Show me where You are already at work that I might join You there. Accomplish Your own purpose in me and through me. Lord, arise in those around me today. Persuade those far from You to come near. Arise, O God, that we might see Your hand at work in our world. In Jesus Name, Amen.”
October 1, 2017
This is the problem with the idea that we can live a good enough life to please God and earn entrance into heaven–– “our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.” We make the mistake of comparing ourselves to those around us and concluding that we are as good as the next person, maybe better. We look at ourselves and feel that our good deeds outweigh the bad, but we miss the fact that even our good works are polluted by sinful attitudes and motivations. We know that we have sin areas, but we also dare to believe that we have good areas too. Yet from God’s perspective, our very best deeds and thoughts are like “filthy rags” (Literally, “menstrual pads” or “leper’s bandages”). We have chosen the wrong standard of righteousness for comparison. Only when we consider the righteousness of God as revealed in His Word, both written and incarnate, do we realize the vast chasm separating us. You see, it’s not only that He is without sin, but that His every word and deed shine as bright and pure as sunlight. It is this Light that reveals how truly we live in darkness. But God did not send His Son to condemn us, but that through faith in Him, we might be saved (John 3:17-21). When we come to Christ, we receive that which we could never earn, we receive His righteousness, a righteousness that fully pleases God.
September 30, 2017
Wisdom of God through the pen of Solomon, whose name was from the Hebrew word, “Shalom” (“Peace”).
Two imperatives are given:
1) “Deliver” – Rescue those who are being carried toward death.
2) “Hold back” – Actively persuade those who are stumbling, as if intoxicated, towards their own demise.
Certainly, this instruction might be applied to the gospel ministry, wherein we are to both care for the physical needs of the poor and at the same time, proclaim the good news about Jesus to them. But the application that seems most relevant to our day is that of the young woman with an unplanned pregnancy. How can we “deliver” the unborn child from being carried to death through abortion? The child’s mother and father are being “drawn toward death” by what the culture calls an inconvenience. Yet Scripture calls us to help rescue the innocent victim of this modern insanity. However, the baby isn’t the only victim, for the mother is the one “stumbling to the slaughter.” She has come under a strong delusion that abortion isn’t murder, but only a medical procedure. The truth is, she will be wounded by this choice in body and soul for the rest of her life. She needs someone to lovingly “hold her back” from “stumbling” towards death as her best choice. Wisdom chooses life. Folly draws us toward death.
September 29, 2017
The Lord promised that a “Redeemer” would come to Zion. In Hebrew, it is “Goel,” which is often translated “Kinsman-Redeemer,” as Boaz was to Ruth. Certainly, Jesus is our human “kinsman.” He is God with us, the Word made flesh, sharing all our condition, yet without sin. “Zion” is another name for Jerusalem or Israel, but points to the true spiritual Israel, which includes both Jew and Gentile, the latter being grafted in by faith. The apostle Paul interpreted this verse as taking place at the Second Coming of Christ, when the remnant of Israel would finally “turn from transgression” and turn to faith in Jesus as Messiah (Rom. 11:25-27). Jesus is our Redeemer. He has come and He is coming again.
September 28, 2017
David wrote this psalm as a prayer, asking the Lord to deliver him from his enemies. He expressed not only his request for a “deliverer,” but also his own personal state of poverty and need. His prayer was both dire and urgent. He cried out to the Lord to “make haste” and “not delay.” He did not ask for better weapons or a larger army. He did not ask for provisions, nor wealth. He asked for the Lord Himself. He declared, “You are my help.” You are “my deliverer.” David wanted no substitute, he wanted the Lord!
May David’s prayer guide our own today. May we ask for the Lord Himself!