Month: November 2021

This Parable that Jesus taught is a hyperbole to illustrate God’s long-suffering mercy, compassion, and forgiveness to us. The master had every reason to punish his servant…but he didn’t…instead he released him from the obligation of his huge debt…a debt so large there was no way the servant was ever going to pay it back. In the same way, God cancelled our debt and set us free by the blood of His Son Jesus Christ…our huge debt of sin voided and nailed to the Cross. But if you read the entire Parable you’ll see that forgiveness of others isn’t an option for us to choose to do or not. We are to forgive just like the Lord has forgiven us. Yes, it may be hard to forgive others who have hurt you. Our old self doesn’t want to forgive – we’d rather use it as ammunition in a future argument, gossip about it with others, or just dwell on it. But the Lord is quite plain, we must forgive our brother from our heart…all the while remembering what God has done for us.

Both Micah and Isaiah were ministering about the same time. When Isaiah answered the call and was commissioned by God he was instructed to go to a rebellious people who would not listen until, “the city lies in ruin, the houses deserted, the fields ravaged, and the land is utterly forsaken.” (Isaiah 6:11) This horrific event then took place during Jeremiah’s time, for he quoted Micah as he was observing the destruction of Jerusalem. (Jeremiah 26:18) Later in Lamentations, Jeremiah bemoaned the fact that it was because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests that Jerusalem fell. (Lamentations 4:13) Rather than shepherding the people and caring for them rightly, they were taking advantage and seeking after their own gain. And as a result the judgment of God was poured out. “I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations.” (Ezekiel 5:14)

If you’ve been a Believer for any length of time you’ll know that God takes us all through Seasons in our Christian walk. Seasons of life and growth in the Lord, as the Bible says, in due time…just like the Spring rains, and Fall harvest. They are particular periods of time when we are used of God in certain activities and events that we weren’t used before. It doesn’t mean though we are less needed in our service to the Lord…quite the contrary! Many times He will move us into a new Season simply because we now have the time to devote ourselves more fully to Him. Never be afraid of a new Season, nor look back longingly at what once was…for each new Season God places you in is exactly where He wants you to be today. Or as Oswald Chambers once said, “Beware of paying attention or going back to what you once were, when God wants you to be something that you have never been.”

Fast forward from here to Chapter 11 in Genesis and we find just the opposite of what God had instructed Noah and his family to do. It tells us in the beginning of Chapter 11 that the entire world had one language and essentially lived in one area…Babylon. Instead of spreading out and obeying God, the people were deliberately rejecting God’s direction to “fill the earth”. Their flagrant pride is heard in verse 4 when they conferred together, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” Their corrupt nature wanted to glorify themselves not God, by following their own schemes not His. But God always fulfills His own plans and purposes in order to glorify Himself…and intentionally thwarts any plans that don’t.

If you ask most people what a “good ” person looks like, they’ll probably say things like, “They help the less-fortunate and volunteer a lot…they’ve never killed anyone or stole from others, and they’re good parents to their children.” But this verse tells us that all these wonderful acts of righteousness are nothing more than foul garbage in the sight of the Lord. We may think we are doing a wonderful job, but to God we are stubborn-hearted and far from righteousness and truth. An example of this were the women of Zion in Chapter 3 of Isaiah where God called them haughty as they pranced around with outstretched necks and flirting eyes. He warned them of His judgment upon them, for only God can declare the conditions by which we may be called righteous. And no amount of effort on our part can in any way obligate God to repay our so called righteousness with His gift of Salvation…in fact, we are totally powerless to force Him to grant righteousness to us. But there is a way to be cleansed of this foulness and God promised it to the women of Zion in Isaiah 4:4, “The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion.” And today we have that same promise…we can be washed in the blood of the Lamb and cleansed from all our unrighteousness.

The Bible speaks a lot about discipline…but most times we bristle at that word. That’s because our selfish pride and egotism usually takes offense when anyone tries to correct us. But it tells us very bluntly in Proverbs 12:1, “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.” When we reject wise counsel, we are just undisciplined fools running wild and far from the Way of the Lord. For when we are corrected, these wise words fall on deaf ears and are futile as if spoken to a hardened heart. But it tells us here that if we listen to Godly counsel we will be honored in the end. So remember, “It’s better to heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to the song of fools.” (Ecclesiastes 7:5)

This Psalm is known as an Imprecatory Psalm, which involves praying to invoke God’s wrath upon the wicked. It starts by pointing out to God all the evil around us…which is funny if you think about it, since God sees and hears all and obviously knows everything about the wicked already. But it’s a way for us to voice and acknowledge what’s happening around us. The Psalm continues with examples of righteous anger…things that make God angry…sin, oppression, having His Name blasphemed…in other words, opposing things that oppose God. All the while remembering God’s glory can be shown and men brought to a saving knowledge of Christ, “Cover their faces with shame so that men will seek Your name, O Lord.” (Psalm 83:16) Finally, the end of this Psalm shows us that we need to firmly lay any retribution or vengeance in God’s capable hands…giving it all over to Him. Or as verse 18 says, “Let them know that You, whose Name is the Lord – that You alone are the Most High over all the earth.”

John is writing about the Second Coming of Christ here in the first part of Revelation, but if we go to the last Chapter of the Book we hear the Lord say three times, “Behold, I am coming soon.” Three times in Chapter 22 Jesus unequivocally is explicit in His words…”I am coming back.” So why does the world doubt His return? Is it because it’s been so long since He ascended into heaven and our definition of “soon” was a long time ago…so maybe He’s not coming back at all. Or maybe it’s because the world thinks it can get along well without Jesus so there’s really no need for Him to return. But Jesus reassured His disciples of His return in Matthew 16:27, “For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father’s glory.” And if we look at the Greek words for “is going to come” in this Scripture, we see that the meaning is – something about to happen with absolute certianity. Jesus did not tell His disciples that if He felt like it He might come back…No, He told them it was already a done deal and they didn’t have to worry about it. So the next time you might have some questions about Jesus’ return, remember this verse… “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:2)

It may be hard to imagine, but God intended us to go through all those difficult times in our past…every dark, sad, and hard situation was designed by Him to bring us closer that we might reach out. Sure there were many things we had no control over, but that doesn’t mean God still wasn’t orchestrating every detail. These verses not only show God’s sovereignty over our lives, but demonstrates the ultimate plan and purpose for each of His intentions.

In order for God to work in anyone’s life there has to be desire and a willingness for change. But when the heart and mind are hardened against anything of God it’s very difficult…but never impossible for God to work. Many places within this Book God admonishes His people to rid themselves of their offenses and get a new heart and new Spirit. He even proclaims in Ezekiel 11:19 that, “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new Spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” So why is this exchange so vitally important? Stoney hearts are filled with pride, rebellion, and selfishness…while hearts of flesh have a desire for forgiveness and restoration. Hearts of stone are filled with deception and self-will…while hearts of flesh see ourselves as we truly are, weak, mortal beings desperately in need of a Savior.