I wonder if much of the anger our country is currently experiencing stems from feeling displaced.
Whatever space we once felt comfortable, familiar and even secure has all but eroded away into a tangled mass of confusion and fear. People don't know who to trust or where to go that is safe. Any clear message from the government regarding the state of the nation's well being appears to only generate more anxiety and dread. Media and entertainment leaves us empty for a better state or place than the reality we find ourselves.
The Lord warned His people, "So I will throw you out of this land and send you into a foreign land where you and your ancestors have never been. There you can worship idols day and night--and I will grant you no favors!" (Jeremiah 16:13 NLT). And so the northern Kingdom (Israel) was overtaken by Assyria and mixed in with other people they had conquered (2 Kings 17:24). Later, the Babylonians took Judah into exile.
Always out of displacement comes confusion and mixture; thus a lack of peace. We don't know where or how to stand when we find ourselves in a strange place.
But God is merciful and promised His people they will return home. This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. (Jeremiah 29:10).
No matter the reason God makes a home for us and will bring us back if we have lost our way. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice. (Ezekiel 34:16).
If you feel displaced by wrong choices or drifted from Christ, His heart toward you has not changed. His love and mercy still remain. Call out to Him and He will visit you right where you are and make His home in you. He will displace fear with courage. Hate with love. And mercy where unforgiveness once occupied.
If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. (Psalms 139:8, NIV)
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Going Out
The book of Exodus means going out and rightly so when describing the Israelites exit from Egypt. Some four hundred years earlier they entered Egypt as free men and women but now were departing a place that cruelly enslaved them. Later, God brought about a great victory when the Egyptian army was drowned in the Red Sea.
Now Egypt and all it represented was far behind them.
Except for one thing.
There was something that the waters didn't drown and even entering into the Promised Land they still hadn't let go. Joshua said, "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD." (24:14 NIV).
Imagine all the victories and blessings they experienced yet still there was something in their hearts that clung to idolatry!
Some of us are like Rachel who left her father's house and country but stole the household idol (Genesis 31:34). The idol may be a representation of something familiar to touch and handle when living in a new and unfamiliar place.
Think of how many of us were brought out of bondage and slavery only to cling to something - a memory, an imagination or thought - that we revisit when we find ourselves in an unfamiliar place? Or when life becomes stressful and we grow weary of eating the daily manna God provides - and we complain like those circling the wilderness.
That is why greater faith in Christ will always demand grace for the hour we live in so that we don't become faithless. We live in a culture so steeped in idolatry that it has misshapen the reality of Christ. What we see, feel or think is much more real than perceiving the things of God through faith. Recall in Hebrews 11:1 that substance of faith rooted in His promises is not always seen or evident (Hebrews 11:1).
Beloved, we are given this promise that if come out we will go into a relationship with God as our Father. No idol perceived or real can do such a thing. Idolatry will always strengthen bondage never liberate.
Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don't touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty." (2 Corinthians 2: 6-17-18).
Now Egypt and all it represented was far behind them.
Except for one thing.
There was something that the waters didn't drown and even entering into the Promised Land they still hadn't let go. Joshua said, "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD." (24:14 NIV).
Imagine all the victories and blessings they experienced yet still there was something in their hearts that clung to idolatry!
Some of us are like Rachel who left her father's house and country but stole the household idol (Genesis 31:34). The idol may be a representation of something familiar to touch and handle when living in a new and unfamiliar place.
Think of how many of us were brought out of bondage and slavery only to cling to something - a memory, an imagination or thought - that we revisit when we find ourselves in an unfamiliar place? Or when life becomes stressful and we grow weary of eating the daily manna God provides - and we complain like those circling the wilderness.
That is why greater faith in Christ will always demand grace for the hour we live in so that we don't become faithless. We live in a culture so steeped in idolatry that it has misshapen the reality of Christ. What we see, feel or think is much more real than perceiving the things of God through faith. Recall in Hebrews 11:1 that substance of faith rooted in His promises is not always seen or evident (Hebrews 11:1).
Beloved, we are given this promise that if come out we will go into a relationship with God as our Father. No idol perceived or real can do such a thing. Idolatry will always strengthen bondage never liberate.
Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don't touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty." (2 Corinthians 2: 6-17-18).
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Great Escape
Of the many areas in my life that I'm growing in trust, the area of temptation demands the greater trust in His provision to make a way through and out of that trying moment.
In fact, the promise that God makes for a way of escape (I Corinthians 10:13) means just that in the original language. The word escape in Greek means properly, moving out from and to the outcome (Biblehub.com).
While temptation often means an end to one's selfish desires; it can also be an opportunity of a supernatural advancement (outcome) to greater freedom and assurance in His power to deliver.
We see this when Jesus was confronted by the Devil in the wilderness. Christ went in hungry and weak but came out in power! (Luke 4:14). Only God can take our most tempting moments and transform them into places of power and strength.
Beloved, such tempting places will soon lose their grip over our hearts and minds because we have seen Christ in that moment take our hand (much like Lot's family) and drag us out to save us.
Trust in Christ is not the issue when we are tempted because He never fails to deliver. The problem is a deep seated attitude that if truth be told we rather toy and play with fire or at least get close enough to somehow say we hadn't given fully over to what tempts us. As I have so often learned, temptation is a snake that can turn and bite suddenly, leeching a paralyzing poison into the spiritual life.
James addresses this mind set in his letter. He states, "each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed." (1:14). I believe we must learn to trust God before temptation grows stronger by surrendering our desires (no matter how good or bad) in exchange for His desires. His desires are pure, not clouded or dark, only holy, just and true.
No matter how our flesh groans and is provoke by what is entices us - we must cry out for His desires to consume us - and we must ask for new eyes to see not just the end of temptation and what destruction it may bring (like an end stage of a disease) but what God offers if we allow Him to take us from that to this place of power.
In fact, the promise that God makes for a way of escape (I Corinthians 10:13) means just that in the original language. The word escape in Greek means properly, moving out from and to the outcome (Biblehub.com).
While temptation often means an end to one's selfish desires; it can also be an opportunity of a supernatural advancement (outcome) to greater freedom and assurance in His power to deliver.
We see this when Jesus was confronted by the Devil in the wilderness. Christ went in hungry and weak but came out in power! (Luke 4:14). Only God can take our most tempting moments and transform them into places of power and strength.
Beloved, such tempting places will soon lose their grip over our hearts and minds because we have seen Christ in that moment take our hand (much like Lot's family) and drag us out to save us.
Trust in Christ is not the issue when we are tempted because He never fails to deliver. The problem is a deep seated attitude that if truth be told we rather toy and play with fire or at least get close enough to somehow say we hadn't given fully over to what tempts us. As I have so often learned, temptation is a snake that can turn and bite suddenly, leeching a paralyzing poison into the spiritual life.
James addresses this mind set in his letter. He states, "each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed." (1:14). I believe we must learn to trust God before temptation grows stronger by surrendering our desires (no matter how good or bad) in exchange for His desires. His desires are pure, not clouded or dark, only holy, just and true.
No matter how our flesh groans and is provoke by what is entices us - we must cry out for His desires to consume us - and we must ask for new eyes to see not just the end of temptation and what destruction it may bring (like an end stage of a disease) but what God offers if we allow Him to take us from that to this place of power.
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Instructions
We largely live in a generation that doesn't like to be told what or how to do things, even to our own embetterment.
Our independent nature and a strong cultural sense of entitlement has caused many to turn a deaf ear to anyone who informs or instructs on how we should live.
Sure we are open to a feel good session on blessings, prosperity and living well and healthy. But when it comes to the lessons on the virtues of suffering, sacrificial giving or denying personal rights, we shut down immediately and resist to be open to any truth it offers.
Proverbs 4 encourages us to embrace instruction from which flows true wisdom and understanding for a godly and goodly life. We are told, "The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Cherish her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you. (verses 7-8, NIV).
It's easy to be reactionary rather than stepping back to evaluate and assess the circumstance or problem by asking God for His input on the matter. I have rights! How I feel matters! Beloved, we are to be a praying people asking the mind of God in every matter that touches our lives. We are promised that "When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble." (verse 12). His wisdom keeps us from going off the rails and veneering into a foolish ditch of our own making!
As an example, the Lord is instructing me to be careful what I say at work. I tend to talk at random about nearly every subject to pass the time. Until the Holy Spirit reminds me there should be no foolish (vain or empty) chatter but thanksgiving (Ephesians 5:4). When I ramble on and on it's much more difficult to pray.
Beloved, we live in sobering times that require His divine wisdom. In the days ahead we will need wisdom and cleared minded thinking because as a nation we are heading into a storm, the likes that the world as yet to see.
Our independent nature and a strong cultural sense of entitlement has caused many to turn a deaf ear to anyone who informs or instructs on how we should live.
Sure we are open to a feel good session on blessings, prosperity and living well and healthy. But when it comes to the lessons on the virtues of suffering, sacrificial giving or denying personal rights, we shut down immediately and resist to be open to any truth it offers.
Proverbs 4 encourages us to embrace instruction from which flows true wisdom and understanding for a godly and goodly life. We are told, "The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Cherish her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you. (verses 7-8, NIV).
It's easy to be reactionary rather than stepping back to evaluate and assess the circumstance or problem by asking God for His input on the matter. I have rights! How I feel matters! Beloved, we are to be a praying people asking the mind of God in every matter that touches our lives. We are promised that "When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble." (verse 12). His wisdom keeps us from going off the rails and veneering into a foolish ditch of our own making!
As an example, the Lord is instructing me to be careful what I say at work. I tend to talk at random about nearly every subject to pass the time. Until the Holy Spirit reminds me there should be no foolish (vain or empty) chatter but thanksgiving (Ephesians 5:4). When I ramble on and on it's much more difficult to pray.
Beloved, we live in sobering times that require His divine wisdom. In the days ahead we will need wisdom and cleared minded thinking because as a nation we are heading into a storm, the likes that the world as yet to see.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)