“That’s not my problem.” We saw the beginning of self-isolation during the Pandemic, when fear of the unknown caused us to keep to ourselves, cloistered and secluded in our homes. But now years later, that self-isolation has given way to passive apathy and indifference towards anything outside of our small sphere. Sure, when asked we give a half-hearted attempt at getting involved in the lives of others, but it’s too easy to look the other way and pretend we don’t see injustice, oppression, poverty, and wrong. In this verse we see three divine requirements that cover our relationships with others according to God’s standards…done with a morally right lifestyle that acknowledges Him in every aspect of our walk. Thus, we now have an ethical obligation to emulate & desire justice, love, and mercy… forcing us to break down our self-made walls of isolation & indifference.
Month: April 2024
I Timothy 6:17 ” Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, Who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”
Everyday we’re hit by the uncertainties of life…from the elusiveness of wealth in a ever changing economy to our own unpredictable health status. As humans, we like to have all our ducks in a row knowing what each day will bring…but life doesn’t work that way, and the only thing we can be certain of is that fickleness will show up. I was struck by a quote of Oswald Chambers’ about this when he wrote, ” Certianity is the mark of the commonsense life – gracious uncertainty is the mark of the Spiritual life.” So think about this…when we have child-like confidence that God is in control and taking care of us, we don’t need to be in doubt & fear for tomorrow…and we can rest assured that no matter what life may bring, God already has full control over it.
Jeremiah 45:5 ” Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the Lord, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.”
In Psalm 131:1, David expressed his deeply felt confidence in the Lord in a simple, clear, yet profound way…”I don’t concern myself with great matters.” … choosing instead to make his highest priority a close & right relationship with God. In Matthew 6:25-27, Jesus teaches about not seeking out “things” but seeking first God’s Kingdom and all those “things” He would then supply. But the promise found in this passage in Jeremiah in an another translation reads, “I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go.” Which is also echoed in Psalm 68:20, “Our God is a God Who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.” God promises to save us from illness and death through His Son, Jesus’, life, death & resurrection…delivering us from eternal death & destruction to eternal life.
II Peter 2:22 ” Of them the proverbs are true: ‘A dog returns to its vomit,’ and ‘A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.’ “
Peter is warning about false teachers that profess to be Christians but still keep a tight hold on their old sinful ways of life…showing that their knowledge of Christ and the Way of righteousness was only superficial. At this time, these false teachers were teaching & advocating that you could have your cake & eat it too…kind of like having one foot in heaven while still having one foot in the world. But in doing so they were flatly denying the Lordship of Christ and leading many astray. The Proverb Peter was quoting here is Proverbs 26:11, which concludes that fools don’t learn from their mistakes….and these false teachers obviously had not learned either that they couldn’t have it both ways.
Luke 15:1-2 ” Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Him. But the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ “
Jesus hung out with sinners, and this irked the Jewish Religious Leaders to no end. It was their unwritten law that , One must not associate with an ungodly man…and this included a Rabbi even teaching the person. But this passage shows that people of all status were drawn to Jesus for His kind & welcoming spirit, unlike the Religious Leaders who were afraid of becoming corrupted by merely being near a sinner. For just as Jesus was never defiled by physical contact with lepers – He was never defiled by contact with sinners. Jesus was part of the table fellowship… teaching & transforming searching hearts… but never partaking of the sin.
Matthew 21:31-32 ” Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.’ “
Jesus was speaking to the chief priests and elders about John the Baptist and their rejection of him and his message of repentance. He pointed out the tax collectors, publicans, and prostitutes that had repented of their sins and returned to God in response to John’s preaching and were now entering into the Kingdom of Heaven. Whereas the religious leaders, who professed devotion to God’s Will, refused to heed John’s words concerning the coming Messiah and consequently would never enter in.
Psalm 89:9 ” You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, You still them.”
God shows His divine power and might by controlling the raging sea and the gathering storm clouds…both outside and within us. For we are all susceptible to the storms of life, where we seem to be battered from all sides by the roaring winds of confusion….the pounding surf & hail of unrelenting pain and suffering… the unexpected deafening cracks of thunder of fear & anxiety…and the pelting cold rain of weariness & fatigue. But our God reigns supreme over both the storms outside and within… His sovereignty ruling over the chaos as He stills the storm & our hearts.
Job 1:21 ” Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the Name of the Lord be praised.”
In the face of unspeakable loss & suffering, Job acknowledges God’s sovereignty over all things. And in quiet submission he concedes that everything belongs to the Creator, Who gives us all we possess in the first place. So we must then praise Him for whatever God does with what is rightfully His. I Samuel 2:6-7 describes God’s sovereignty this way, “The Lord brings death and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and raises up. The Lord sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.” The bottom line being: God’s supreme power is fully capable of reversing any human fortune by intervening sovereignly on our behalf if He so chooses.
II Corinthians 2:17 ” Unlike so many, we do not peddle the Word of God for profit.”
Paul’s point here was that there are preachers that preach the Word of God, and then there are peddlers that adulterate, falsify, and distort the Word of God to just please their listeners. The true litmus test of any Pastor is this: Do they correctly handle the whole counsel of the Word of God? Do their sermons come directly from Scripture that you can follow along with in your own Bible? Is the Word never watered down, but delivered in all its undiluted truth? Are they unflinching in their total faithfulness to God’s Word on Sunday mornings, refusing to adulterate the Word thus weakening its power? If the answer is yes, you’ve found a Pastor you can learn & grow from…but if the answer is no…if the sermons are just filled with warm fuzzies, personal opinions, talks on social issues or injustice but void of any Scriptures…I’d think twice about listening anymore.
Revelation 10:6 “…Him Who lives for ever and ever, Who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it…”
How can you not see God? He’s there in the grandeur and majesty of the mountains…the beauty of the flowers…the splendor of a bird song…the power of a raging river…the mighty force of a hurricane or tornado…the brilliance of a night sky…and the awesomeness of a rainbow. The Psalms declare that the Lord is the Maker of heaven and earth… His role being Creator of all things we see, hear, taste, smell, and experience. So I would ask you again, How can you not see God?
Safetypinlove 