Tag Archives: daily walk

August 25 – Tarry, Lord

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Jeremiah 49-50

Sometimes I read the news and think, “Christians are losing this war.” People who love the Lord are being persecuted, targeted, discriminated against, churches are compromising, God is being mocked, and I find myself tempted to pray, “Just come back, Jesus.”

But I read things in the Bible like these chapters in Jeremiah and am reminded Who has the power, and Who has already won the war.

My prayer changes.

God, I’m not ready to give up. I believe you still hear and answer the prayers of your people who humble themselves and repent. I believe you are not willing that anyone die without knowing You. I believe you still have the power to save. So, Lord, I’m asking you to raise up a people who are committed to You and the Gospel. May you find warriors instead of spectators, workers instead of watchers, givers instead of takers. God, may Your people determine that we will not give up without a fight. Then lead us into battle against Satan, our real enemy. Tarry, Lord. Don’t come back today. There are souls that need saving.

August 24 – Cow Tipping

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Jeremiah 46-48

Jeremiah has recorded the prophecy God gave him concerning His judgment on the nations. As I read them I am impressed with the reality that these nations think they have things figured out. Some are proud of their land, some their possessions, some their military strength.

God calls them arrogant. They are self-assured and self-reliant, not to mention worshipers of imaginary gods.

I chuckled at what God said about Moab (48:12) The days are coming when God “will send to him those who tip vessels, and they will tip him over, and they will empty his vessels and shatter his jars.”

Ever been cow tipping?

The thing is, folks, God is going to have the last word. Whatever it is you think you’ve figured out on your own, accomplished on your own, believe in apart from the Bible, can’t stand when you get pushed.

I know cow tipping is an urban legend. But whether we’re talking about cow tippers or vessel tippers, the point is God is greater than any theology, religion, accomplishment, or anything you think is keeping you secure. He can topple it all in an instant.

Myself, I am secure in my relationship with God. I don’t fear His judgment because I’ve accepted what His Son did on my behalf on the cross. My life, my future, my hopes and dreams are in His hands.

So give me a shove, Satan.  You can’t topple me when God is standing with me. And you’ll never have the last word.

August 23 – Sure you will

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Jeremiah 41-45

The Jews asked Jeremiah to pray for them. They wanted God to tell them what to do. They even proclaimed complete obedience: Whatever God says, we’ll do.

Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of the Lord our God. (42:6)

Anything you want us to do, Lord, we’ll do!

Sure you will.

When Jeremiah told them God didn’t want them going into Egypt, all the arrogant men said, “You are telling a lie!” They promptly headed for Egypt.

Have you ever promised God you’d go anywhere, do anything He asked of you? You might have even meant it at the time. But when he impressed on your heart to befriend that weirdo down the street, did you do a Jonah and take your pastor’s wife to lunch instead?

Did you ever promise God that you would NEVER repeat a sin you’ve confessed, only to do it again anyway?

Sometimes I think God hears our lofty goals, our heart-felt promises, and thinks, “Sure you will.” He sees our hearts, but He also knows our weaknesses.

The prayer that begins with “I” – I won’t repeat that sin, I will obey You at any cost, I’ll go where You want me to go – is doomed to failure. Let’s face it, we just don’t have what it takes to do anything on our own.

But the sincere prayer of “God help me, God show me, God be my strength,” is the prayer that can never fail. God is able. God is eager. And God answers prayer.

You know what? When I pray I don’t want God to say, “Sure you will.” Instead I want Him to be able to say, “We sure will!”

August 22 – Yet

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Habakkuk

These days it’s easy to be fearful of what lies ahead for planet Earth. The persecution of Christians is seen in parts of the world and, the signs are such to believe it will happen here. We read about a child who is strapped with a bomb, going to a wedding and blowing himself and 51 people up as an act of terrorism. We see sin celebrated like we’ve never seen before, and Jesus reduced to just another religious leader.

How long is God going to tolerate our depravity before He punishes us? How long before we realize God’s wrath?

Habakkuk was fearful about his future, too. In 3:16 he said he had butterflies in his stomach, his lip quivered, he felt sick because he found himself waiting for “the day of distress” when God would send people to invade them. The signs were there. God’s wrath was inevitable. And Habakkuk was scared to death.

But Habakkuk ends his book with a determination I want for myself. He says no matter what happens, if the vines quit producing fruit, if there is no food, if the livestock is cut off and no cattle are in the stalls:

Yet I will exult the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength… (3:18-19a) (emphasis mine)

I don’t know what is around the corner for us here in 2016. I could make myself crazy worrying about it. But Habakkuk has a better idea.

I’m going to praise God every day. I will rejoice in the fact that my sins are forgiven and I walk with God. I will allow Him to be my strength and to direct my path. I will be faithful to Him no matter what, and will share the Gospel until I have no breath left.

That might not be easy, depending on what lies ahead. But, with Habakkuk I want to say no matter how bad it gets…

YET I will exult the Lord.

August 21 – Destroying The Temple

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2 Kings 24-25; 2 Chronicles 36

Solomon’s Temple is destroyed. The building burned, the pillars broken in pieces, all the gold and silver utensils stolen. That beautiful place where God had made His earthly home was nothing but ruin.

How could this happen? Was God powerless before King Nebuchadnessar?

Hardly!

The destruction of God’s dwelling place was actually a slow process. It started almost the minute Solomon had completed it. Over the years, sin had takin its toll on the temple and on God’s people. One king after another did “evil in the sight of the Lord.” The Jews began worshiping other gods. God’s own people were the ones responsible for what happened to the Temple more than the Babylonian king.

I am reminded, as a heart where God dwells on this earth, to protect this temple, to obey God, to worship Him only, serve Him gladly. God’s will is that this temple stand until He calls me home.

May He find me faithful, my heart a place that welcomes Him in, a life that radiates His Presence. I don’t want to neglect the temple that is my heart, or give Satan a foothold. I want to choose every day to be a temple as beautiful as Solomon’s, and occupied by my Lord and Savior.

 

August 20 – Rags And Armpits

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Jeremiah 38-40; Psalms 74, 79

I like Ebed-melech, and I bet you don’t even know who he is. (I didn’t either until I read Jeremiah 38 this morning). But I think he is one of my new favorite Old Testament personalities.

Ebed-melech was an Ethiopian eunuch who worked for King Zedekiah. When he heard Jeremiah the prophet had been thrown into a cistern and left to die, Ebed-melech went to the king and asked permission to bring Jeremiah up out of the muddy pit. The king not only gave that permission, he told his servant to hurry before Jeremiah died there.

Now this is what made me want to hang out with Ebed-melech: He ran and gathered old clothes and rags, and threw them into the cistern. He told Jeremiah to put them under his armpits under the ropes. Ebed-melech was going to pull Jeremiah up, but Jeremiah had been sinking in mud for who knows how long. It wasn’t going to be easy to pull him out of that. And Ebed-melech figured that those ropes would tear into Jeremiah’s skin if left unprotected.

Ebed-melech considered the prophet’s well-being, he recognized a need and met that need even before Jeremiah knew he had the need!

Our pastors are our modern-day prophets, those who proclaim the Word of God. Oh, I pray for my pastors. I lift them up, so to speak. But Ebed-melech has me asking if I really take care of them.

Do I consider their well-being? Do I anticipate a need they might have, and meet that need even before they realize it? I am blessed to sit under the teaching of two godly, hard-working men. And I want to be their Ebed-melech. I’ll continue to lift them up before the Lord, and ask for their protection, and blessings on their ministries. But I also want to be sensitive to any need they might have that I can meet. They are pulled in so many directions. I’d like to be the rags under their armpits.

 

August 19 – So Who Do You Obey?

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Jeremiah 35-37

I am a law abiding citizen. I set my cruise control when I travel so I don’t speed. I pay my taxes. I don’t steal from or cheat people.

I learned obedience from my father who, we’d often say, had the fastest belt in the west. Consequences for disobedience were swift and painful. I learned that obeying the rules was better for all of us. Especially for the seat of my pants.

The Rechabites were obedient children, too. Their dad had given them a standard, and not even the prophet Jeremiah could get them to disobey. So I’m reading this today and had a Gibb’s slap on the back of my head moment when I read 35:14-17. God said:

The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons not to drink wine are observed. So they do not drink wine to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. But I have spoken to you again and again, yet you have not listened to Me… you have not inclined your ear or listened to Me… but this people has not listened to Me… and I have called them but they did not answer.

I have to ask myself why it is I follow the laws of this land, yet find it so easy to disobey the God of the Universe.

There’s something wrong with that picture.

 

August 18 – Participation Trophies

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Jeremiah 32-34

When I was first given the responsibility of assigning the Presidential Academic Fitness Award at the school where I was the Guidance Counselor, the qualifications were rigorous. Students needed to keep a high GPA through Middle School as well as score consistently high on standardized tests. There were no subjective qualifiers. And, as hard as it sometimes was, a 3.2 GPA didn’t qualify if 3.3 was the standard.

But receiving that award was a great accomplishment for those who earned it. Soon, someone decided that the feelings of kids who didn’t meet the mark outweighed the feeling of pride and success of those who did. More subjective benchmarks were included. It changed the whole picture of what that award had been.

Many schools have eliminated Valedictorian and Salutatorian honors for the same reason. And how many of you have “participation” trophies sitting on your shelves? We’ve taken away competition at the same time we are trying to compete with other countries around the world. That’s a soap box I could stand on. But God wasn’t really speaking to me about competition this morning. He was, however, speaking to me about participation.

God told the Jews to free their Hebrew slaves. “And all the officials and all the people obeyed…” (34:10) They all participated.

But then they enslaved their brothers once again. Did they obey or disobey? Shouldn’t they get credit for participating? Here’s what God says about that:

Therefore thus says the Lord, You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming release each man to his brother and each man to his neighbor. Behold, I am proclaiming a release to you, declares the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence and to the famine; and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. (34:17)

God goes on to say they will be given into the hand of their enemies. Their dead bodies will be food for the birds and the beasts.

Friends, there are no Participation Trophy Rooms in heaven. There is no less heat in hell for those who kind of obey. God has set the standard, He’s spelled out His demands. He’s set the bar pretty high – ALL!

It’s not good enough to go to church and read your Bible occasionally. It’s not enough to refrain from alcohol or to be faithful to your wife. It’s not enough to be a good neighbor, an honest person, thoughtful and kind.

God’s standards are these: Give Him 100%. Confess your sins AND repent. Accept Jesus as your Savior. Lay at His feet your life, your dreams, your health, your family. Trust Him. Seek Him with all your heart. Love Him above all. Obey Him.

No one said it’s easy. Nothing worth having is. But understand this: God is not going to change His standards for fear you’ll get your feelings hurt. If you’re hoping for a participation trophy, look at the cross. Does anything you’ve done compare to what Jesus did for you?

August 16 – At Any Cost

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Jeremiah 26-29

If you are reading this blog you are probably sitting in air-conditioning, or looking at your cell phone with a cup of coffee in your hand. I know that is an exaggeration, but most of us have to admit we’re pretty comfortable.

Most of us go about our day without too much difficulty, and I would imagine none of us fear we’re gong to be killed today just because we love Jesus. Not so in some parts of our world. The reality is, some people WILL die today because they are Christians.

Jeremiah was facing death because he was a true prophet of God. He told it like God told him to tell it, and refused to tickle the ears of the people, or to be politically correct. Listen to what he said to those who had given him a death sentence:

… The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. Now therefore amend your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will change his mind about the misfortune which He has pronounced against you. But as for me, behold, I am in your hands; do with me as is good and right in your sight. Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city and on its inhabitants; for truly the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing. (26:12b-15) (emphasis mine)

In the face of death, he didn’t back down. Jeremiah was willing to die. But he was determined to live for God at any cost.

Does that describe me? Am I determined to follow Christ even if it costs me friendships, a career, a dream, my health, my life? I pray that I will live every day unashamed of the Gospel, that I will not compromise the Truth “for truly the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

At any cost.

August 13 – Roots

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Jeremiah 14-17

It’s been a hot and dry summer here in Ohio. The grass is brown, the flowers have wilted, leaves on trees droop. The last few days there has been an occasional shower and even a few heavy rains, but so far it doesn’t seem to have had much effect on the landscape.

In fact, I went out in bare feet yesterday to get the mail, and the grass was still dry and brittle. It’s been that parched here. Even a bit of rain isn’t enough to quench the ground.

Jeremiah says people who put their trust in mankind, or even in themselves, are like that. (17:5-6) Like tumbleweeds in a desert, like a desolate land of salt, they are cursed with a thirst that cannot be satisfied. Oh, many will say that’s not true, that they are just fine without God. Jeremiah says they’re so used to living in the wilderness they won’t even see when prosperity comes.

Then the prophet goes on. People who put their trust in the Lord are blessed!

For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit. (17:7-8)

We who plant ourselves close to the Living Water will have deep roots, we won’t fear the heat of battle or hardship, and our faith will stand firm even when things around us dry up. Then, because of our witness, people will want what we have. We’ll bear fruit!

Where are your roots planted?