In many ways Jeremiah had nothing but bad news to deliver to Judah. They had been in rebellion against the Lord and God had promised to discipline them for it by removing them from the land to Babylon. Other prophets tried to blunt the bad news and put a good "spin" on it. For his trouble, Jeremiah found himself put in jail.
Then, in the midst of all the bad news, there is this wonderful section in chapter 29 which says in part "I will attend to you and confirm My promise concerning you to restore you to this place. For I know the plans I have for you - this is the Lord's declaration - plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."
Many times we want to escape from difficulty, but the word to Judah was "lean into the discipline." That verse starts out "When 70 years in Babylon are complete."
For us, times of difficulty must happen, and to escape them means to thwart the good work God is doing through them. It was only through the pain of Babylon that Judah became free from rebellion against God. Don't try to escape but lean into what God is doing, for He has great plans for you too!
Pastor Tom
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Dreams of Words?
There are so many voices out there that it is hard to discern the signal from the noise - what's true from what's spoken.
How are we supposed to know what to rely on? Today many religious "leaders" claim to have dreams and visions and see angels telling them things that contradict each other.
Funny how the Proverb is true: "there's nothing new under the sun." Even back in the time of Jeremiah the prophet this same thing occurred.
Jeremiah wrote: "Through their dreams that they tell one another, they make plans to cause my people to foget My name ... The prophet who has only a dream should recount the dream, but the one who has My word should speak My word truthfully, for what is straw compared to grain?"
The thing you can rely on - the only thing really - is God's Word: the Bible. Here's how you can tell if a dreamer or visionary is speaking "staw" or "grain." If it aligns with what God has said then it's okay. If not, throw it out!
Pastor Tom
How are we supposed to know what to rely on? Today many religious "leaders" claim to have dreams and visions and see angels telling them things that contradict each other.
Funny how the Proverb is true: "there's nothing new under the sun." Even back in the time of Jeremiah the prophet this same thing occurred.
Jeremiah wrote: "Through their dreams that they tell one another, they make plans to cause my people to foget My name ... The prophet who has only a dream should recount the dream, but the one who has My word should speak My word truthfully, for what is straw compared to grain?"
The thing you can rely on - the only thing really - is God's Word: the Bible. Here's how you can tell if a dreamer or visionary is speaking "staw" or "grain." If it aligns with what God has said then it's okay. If not, throw it out!
Pastor Tom
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Boasting
Boasting has become something of a favorite past time, especially for us Americans. We casually talk about that new car sitting in our driveway or our big new house, or the promotion we got or how many miles we ran over the weekend.
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with running or having a good job or getting a new car. But what happens is our deceptive brains use these things as a way to make us a little higher in the pecking order. We feel a little more superior to the other guy and this makes us feel better about ourselves. In the end it makes us feel more self-reliant. And it's a mistake.
I love what the prophet Jeremiah said about boasting, and it is a theme that runs throughout the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
Jeremiah 9:23-24
This is what the Lord says:
The wise must not boast in his wisdom;
the mighty must not boast in his might;
the rich must not boast in his riches.
24 But the one who boasts should boast in this,
that he understands and knows Me—
that I am the Lord, showing faithful love,
justice, and righteousness on the earth,
for I delight in these things.
In short, showing off that you know the God of the universe through His Son Jesus Christ is really okay. In fact, God says He "delights" in such things. Boast that you are related to Him (not through any of your own efforts) and boast that you are getting to know Him and what His character is like.
Believe it or not, that in a nutshell is sharing the gospel and that's what we are all here for once we are related to God!
Pastor Tom
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with running or having a good job or getting a new car. But what happens is our deceptive brains use these things as a way to make us a little higher in the pecking order. We feel a little more superior to the other guy and this makes us feel better about ourselves. In the end it makes us feel more self-reliant. And it's a mistake.
I love what the prophet Jeremiah said about boasting, and it is a theme that runs throughout the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
Jeremiah 9:23-24
This is what the Lord says:
The wise must not boast in his wisdom;
the mighty must not boast in his might;
the rich must not boast in his riches.
24 But the one who boasts should boast in this,
that he understands and knows Me—
that I am the Lord, showing faithful love,
justice, and righteousness on the earth,
for I delight in these things.
In short, showing off that you know the God of the universe through His Son Jesus Christ is really okay. In fact, God says He "delights" in such things. Boast that you are related to Him (not through any of your own efforts) and boast that you are getting to know Him and what His character is like.
Believe it or not, that in a nutshell is sharing the gospel and that's what we are all here for once we are related to God!
Pastor Tom
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Free Food
Isaiah 55:1 "Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
Wouldn't that be great if it was really true? Isaiah is talking, of course, not about physical food, but spiritual. In our default human condition we think we need to earn everything we get. Or we should get it because of some intrinsic value we possess.
Isaiah 55:2-3 Why do you spend money on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods. 3 Pay attention and come to Me; listen, so that you will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the promises assured to David.
So God says that if we come and listen to Him he will give us really great treats - a relationship that will last forever according to what God promised David, which was that one of his offspring would rule forever. That person is Jesus Christ.
Much later Jesus said:
John 6:35 "I am the bread of life," Jesus told them. "No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in Me will ever be thirsty again."
Jesus is the fulfillment of what the prophet was saying. The bread of life from Jesus comes free to us, not because we deserve it or have earned it. It costs us nothing but it cost God everything.
The table is set, why don't you have a seat and listen to the words of Jesus, the Bread of Life?
Pastor Tom
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
Wouldn't that be great if it was really true? Isaiah is talking, of course, not about physical food, but spiritual. In our default human condition we think we need to earn everything we get. Or we should get it because of some intrinsic value we possess.
Isaiah 55:2-3 Why do you spend money on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods. 3 Pay attention and come to Me; listen, so that you will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the promises assured to David.
So God says that if we come and listen to Him he will give us really great treats - a relationship that will last forever according to what God promised David, which was that one of his offspring would rule forever. That person is Jesus Christ.
Much later Jesus said:
John 6:35 "I am the bread of life," Jesus told them. "No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in Me will ever be thirsty again."
Jesus is the fulfillment of what the prophet was saying. The bread of life from Jesus comes free to us, not because we deserve it or have earned it. It costs us nothing but it cost God everything.
The table is set, why don't you have a seat and listen to the words of Jesus, the Bread of Life?
Pastor Tom
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Making a Fire - Worshipping an Idol
There's a great little verse in Isaiah 44:19
"No one reflects, no one has the perception or insight to say, "I burned half of it in the fire, I also baked bread on its coals, I roasted meat and ate. I will make something detestable with the rest of it, and I will bow down to a block of wood."
The prophet is talking about how someone grows a tree then uses some of it to warm himself and some of it to make an idol to worship. Now, you might think, what has that to do with us today? I don't know of anyone who makes wooden idols to worship - that's just silly!
Well ... an idol is anything that stands between you and God. You might not think you worship an idol but if you were to honestly rank the things in your life, what would come first? Money, position, physical prowess, relationships, physical pleasure?
And that's what I like about this verse. The truth is we don't have the cognition to realize that we worship something God gave us, instead of worshiping the One who created it in the first place.
The great news is that when we realize this, God promises "I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud." If we put God in first place, all the other things fall in line, including our awareness!
Pastor Tom
"No one reflects, no one has the perception or insight to say, "I burned half of it in the fire, I also baked bread on its coals, I roasted meat and ate. I will make something detestable with the rest of it, and I will bow down to a block of wood."
The prophet is talking about how someone grows a tree then uses some of it to warm himself and some of it to make an idol to worship. Now, you might think, what has that to do with us today? I don't know of anyone who makes wooden idols to worship - that's just silly!
Well ... an idol is anything that stands between you and God. You might not think you worship an idol but if you were to honestly rank the things in your life, what would come first? Money, position, physical prowess, relationships, physical pleasure?
And that's what I like about this verse. The truth is we don't have the cognition to realize that we worship something God gave us, instead of worshiping the One who created it in the first place.
The great news is that when we realize this, God promises "I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud." If we put God in first place, all the other things fall in line, including our awareness!
Pastor Tom
Monday, November 01, 2010
Why Protect Israel?
A lot of ink has been spilled about whether Israel has a rightful place in Palestine. I'm not going to address that (though I have opinions about it and support Israel's right to exist). But Israel's place has been controversial for thousands of years. When they came back to the Promised Land and wiped out most (though not all) of the inhabitants, people have reacted that they were simply giving in to their base nature which was warlike.
For much of that early campaign Israel could not fail, save for sin in the camp. But once there, God over and over again protected them from invaders.
One such incident I was just reading is in Isaiah 37 when Assyria came against Jerusalem. You should read the story for it is truly amazing how the Angel of the Lord slew 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night. But it again begs the question, why?
Judah was certainly not modeling godly behavior. They had fallen into idolatry and were really not serving God very well at all. So why spare them? Well, first of all, it was the land that God was saving, it was the people. And why save the people? For one reason, the Messiah.
Notice in Isaiah 37:35 "I will defend this city and rescue it, because of Me and because of My servant David."
God was entering into enemy territory to bring in the Savior. He needed a force to go first and create a birthplace for the Rescuer. That's why He defended His people and made a place for them to live. It wasn't that they were so great, it was that God had a great plan to save them and everyone else who would trust in the Messiah.
In the end, it really is all about Jesus.
Pastor Tom
For much of that early campaign Israel could not fail, save for sin in the camp. But once there, God over and over again protected them from invaders.
One such incident I was just reading is in Isaiah 37 when Assyria came against Jerusalem. You should read the story for it is truly amazing how the Angel of the Lord slew 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night. But it again begs the question, why?
Judah was certainly not modeling godly behavior. They had fallen into idolatry and were really not serving God very well at all. So why spare them? Well, first of all, it was the land that God was saving, it was the people. And why save the people? For one reason, the Messiah.
Notice in Isaiah 37:35 "I will defend this city and rescue it, because of Me and because of My servant David."
God was entering into enemy territory to bring in the Savior. He needed a force to go first and create a birthplace for the Rescuer. That's why He defended His people and made a place for them to live. It wasn't that they were so great, it was that God had a great plan to save them and everyone else who would trust in the Messiah.
In the end, it really is all about Jesus.
Pastor Tom
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
