The Devotional - 57

The Devotional

Comment:

In thinking about where to go in the Holy Bible after such a look at the Book of Job over recent weeks I am being reminded of other Bible Studies within our local church. My thoughts go to these words found in the Book of Daniel – MENE, MENE, TIKEL, PARSIN. Daniel interprets these words as follows – Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end (God writes this twice on the wall for Belshazzar to know that his reign is over). Tikel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. (Belshazzar’s rule over the dynasty is a failure) Peres (Parsin). Your dynasty is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. (Daniel 5:24-30). Now we will not be looking into the Book any further than this, but I do want these words to impact our thinking as we move through the Book of Lamentations.

Challenge: Lamentations

Are you excited to look into this poem of Scripture? Maybe you should be warned, the writer, by Jewish tradition is Jeremiah who is called the “Weeping Prophet”. Also while the words of this book are directed at Israel and Jerusalem I will seek to focus our attention on our Nation and our Capital. In this thought I have considered that the words mentioned above are already visible on the walls of our churches all across this nation, in addition it is my personal belief that these words are also found on the walls of Congress.

I am not a weeping prophet, although I weep over our nation. I am not alone in this, many of my brothers and friends in Christ weep bitterly over the condition of our national church and political framework. Lamentations are FIVE chapters of GRIEF over the loss of a nation and its heritage. This is not the work of the deceiver of nations (Satan) although it IS. But it IS the result of judgment, the Judgment of God on the Israel of God (Israel, the word means: He will rule as God).

Israel failed to rule as God in the nation (I include the world too) and in 586BC God gave the kingdom to the Babylonian army. Now you can read all of this and the warnings of judgment from the inspired writings of the Old Testament (Covenant), but I must be on with this and not chase the rabbit any further. In time around 33 to 37AD Jesus Christ to Son of the Living God was crucified on “The Cross” for “The Sin” of the “World”! If you are reading this then you must be aware of the events of that DAY and the following fifty days, if not it is my personal plea that you read the entire gospel of John and first two chapters of the Book of Acts.

Israel never recovered to regain its authority to rule under the authority of God, so the LORD God has set Israel aside for a specific period of time (Romans 9 – 11) this too is a good read and I challenge you to read it. So if (it is true) God set Israel aside to be the rule of God on earth, He then establishes the authority of the local and universal church of Jesus Christ to do what Israel failed to do. Why all of this? Simply to point us to the ROOT cause of the existing crisis that is facing the local and universal church of Jesus Christ.

It does not take a doctorate in human behavior to understand what I am seeking to say. All it takes is a serious inventory of your own personal life before Thee Holy God of the universe. Whether you agree or disagree with me; in the EYES of Him with whom we all must give an account we (churchy people) are missing the mark. God has weighed our faith/works on the scales of “Be Holy for I am HOLY” and we are found WANTING. There is little hope so do not look for it in the coming days. It is past time to pretend any longer as we shall see in the Book of Lamentations there is a DEEP sadness and the author never says CHEER UP!

Jeremiah does say that we do have a foundation to plant our feet on, this is found in Lamentations 3:22-27. God’s mercy is new every morning and it is because of His Love that we are not consumed and on this we MUST stand. Why, because I personally feel that the “kingdom of God in Christ” THE CHURCH has given itself over to the religious practices of false prophets such as those identified by all the writers of the New Testament.

The Devotional - 56

The Devotional

Comment:

Without exception most every one of us are fearful of something and if I might say that the route of that fear is that God might show up in our personal life and speak. Now I am not looking for candidates who claim a daily one on one conversation with God or even a periodic visit. However I am seeking to encourage everyone who reads these daily devotionals to consider that God does speak to each of us daily; “watch this!” “The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His Hands. “Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the end of the world”. Psalm 19:1-4 – God does not need an audible voice to get our attention, yet you and I need to SEE and HEAR the everyday Words of Creation as God displays His Majesty in love and mercy to ALL who will (in righteousness by faith) LISTEN and SEE the glory of God.

Challenge: Job 42

We are at the last chapter of this marvelous book, I feel speechless and maybe it is best if I do not say anything at all.

The responsibility of counseling the hurting is always present, we are called to comfort one another (2 Corinthians 1:3-7 and 1 Thessalonians 4:18) also note that one of the themes of these two epistles of Paul is to comfort one another. Comforting the hurting is not just the knowledge that we have the responsibility to do that, but that we have the “know how to do so!” both of these epistles speak to the church. Thus it is the church that has the responsibility to counsel the suffering.

People who are called to comfort must be under the authority of the local church, in other words we should not take the full responsibility upon our self to comfort someone apart from the teaching ministry of the local church. Para-church organizations may not have the authority of scripture backing them since most of these are regulated by state and federal mandates imposed on their ability to operate. Also if you personally seek to comfort someone and it fails, that would be a heavy burden to carry into the future.

God restored Job’s life, He also restored Job’s family and fortune, we should not take this as “prosperity” but we should note that “faith in God” produces right living. Therefore it is the very need of every saint of God to exercise his or her faith in God. The Righteousness of a person is an attribute or result of faith in God of that person. There are three men recorded in the Old Testament who demonstrates this Righteousness to God. Noah, Daniel and Job. Each of these men had a mission in life.

Noah built an ark while God prepared to destroy the world with a worldwide flood. Daniel the prophet of God became a high ranking government official in the land of his enemy, an enemy that sought to destroy Israel. Yet in righteousness Daniel was loyal to his homeland, Israel. Job was nearly destroyed in every area of life, not by God but by the devil. Job is listed in Ezekiel 14:12-14 as one of the three men who were delivered from destruction of Satan’s war with God because of their righteousness.

If you have come to faith in Jesus Christ; that is if you believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh (1 John 5) who died in the flesh for your personal sin; the sin of the world (John 1:29-34, 19:28-30) and who has risen physically from the dead (John 20:1-18) and who has ascended back into glory (Acts 1:1-10). Then your faith is resting in His WORK and righteousness will be the result of your faith in God.

Where do we go next?

The Devotional - 55

The Devotional

Comment:

In the eye of one’s mind we can imagine many false thoughts. Once as a young sailor standing watch for other ships in the night I notice the phosphorescent light of the sea water making two streaks that were heading right at our ship. My first thought a sea monster, my second thought two torpedoes; my first response over the headset was “torpedoes in the water, starboard side amidships (the middle right side of the ship). Well that woke everyone up since the Officer of the Deck sounded the collision alarm. Men came from everywhere on board – some with binoculars, some with lighting and some in pajamas, only to see two dolphins playing “go fish!” on the side of the ship. While the officers of the ship were glad that I reported torpedoes in the water (good on the spot training), the rest of the crew thought I might make a good phosphorescent splash, but lo and behold – I’m still here.

Challenge: Job 40

The LORD God and Creator of the universe and all that it contains describes one of His creatures on the earth that still exists as the most fearsome of all. Part crocodile, part dragon, part serpent and part mystery, this animal has been labeled a sailor’s tall tale or a seagoing folklore since the beginning of time. In Psalm 104:26 the writer points out that the leviathan which is formed (created by God) frolics in the oceans as the ships go to and fro. The whale can be frightening to the sight, yet it is mostly at play when it is visible and like all the other animals these too look to God for their food. Still Isaiah calls the leviathan a coiled serpent of the sea in Isaiah 27:1 and the enemy of Israel. He goes on to say that the LORD will punish the sea monster (the nations) with His powerful sword.

So we imagine in our minds eye the Creation of God being beautiful or fearful and the LORD God who created all things (all things belong to God) with a purpose uses His Creation and provides health and welfare for His kingdom, He also uses creation as a metaphor to give insight to His Plan and Purpose. The animal life has little or no care that they are capable of placing fear in the heart of mankind while it plays and frolics in the blessings of the LORD. Be we certainly need to be aware that the devil walks about like a ROARING lion, looking for the opportunity to devour YOU. Satan thought that he had Job in the grip of suffering and death. He also thought that Job would eventually curse God to His face.

I find it interesting and important that the LORD revealed to Job His grace and love in all of creation and that all of creation was dependent and thankful. All was created by God and for God, yet the devil and mankind who know God seek to be the leviathan of the deep. God says to Job. He (the leviathan) makes the deep churn like boiling water. Behind him he leaves a glistening wake (phosphorous sparkles) like one would think that the deep had white hair. Now can we say that God reveals to Job the cause of his suffering, in describing the leviathan God says something about the leviathan that seems a bit strange for an animal? Job 41:34 – He beholds every high thing; he is kin over all the children of pride. NKJV. That serpent of old!

As we begin the final chapter of Job, note Job’s response to God. First let verses 1 and 2 fill your mind, now note the words of Job. “You asked, Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?” “Surely” Job continues “I spoke of things I did not understand, things to wonderful for me to know”. This statement of Job is a statement that each of us should seek to KNOW. Yes there may be suffering and while we all desire to reject the thought! It is not until we suffer through the wake of phosphorous light, (the counterfeit light of the unknown) that the LORD God in His design and plan can open our eyes and we find ourselves just as Job saying “Therefore LORD, I despise my ways of life before you and I repent! John 3:16.