Category: judging

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Job 38-39 God’s ways are unknowable to men

Praising God

After 37 chapters in which Job has sought to defend himself against all the cries of his friends that he is a sinner, Job finally has his audience with the Lord God Almighty. God challenges Job to rethink his assessment of his questions and instead, God presents the case for Him as creator of all that lives and moves about the earth. These chapters remind us of the words of Isaiah: “Indeed, my plans are not like your plans, and my deeds are not like your deeds,” says the Lord, “for just as the sky is higher than the earth, so my deeds are superior to your deeds and my plans superior to your plans.” [Is 55:8-9] 

When we think we want an audience with the Lord, it would be wise to consider that God is Creator, He is Master, He is LORD! He knows the ways of men and He alone is offering Himself to each one that they might consider who they are in the realm of all that is and will be. Look about the world as you see it and experience it through His eyes and stop and praise Him for He is great and greatly to be praised. 

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12.27.24. Peace? Peace

God can be trusted

Revelation 20 Peace? 

If you knew that tomorrow all the evil of this world would be trounced, would it make a difference in your day today? What if it continued for a thousand years?  When there is peace, what is life like? Would there still be murders, looting, and other bad events?  John tell us: “Then I saw thrones and seated on them were those who had been given authority to judge.” Judgment is needed where there is crime, those who perpetuate it must be judged. What happens to these who are found guilty? Will they have time to repent? Lots of questions left unanswered except for this: the author of evil is alive and well but bound and in prison. 

The compassion the Lord has for any who are perpetrators is this: a thousand years He will provided the perfect peace with no satanic influence and yet this truth from Jeremiah is as true today as it will be then: “the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, who can know it?” Whether Satan is here or not, men are still wicked because of their hearts. The heart must be changed and that only comes when Christ’s salvation is accepted. 

How is your heart today? In a world dominated by evil, the question remains: Have you accepted the gift of salvation? 

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It’s not fair!

God's justice is sure

Psalm 94 Justice

The wicked continue on their path thinking there will be no consequences for their actions because in their mind, God does not exist nor will He find them at fault. Yet, “justice will prevail” for the One who made man also is the One who has ears to hear and will avenge His people at the right time. 

All around us we see those who are the wicked and we can name them and truly we hold them up to God pleading for His vengeance. We ask God how long? Just as the souls under the altar in Revelation, God says be patient,for the time has not yet come. 

So as you watch the news, listen to people gripe and complain, know this truth: in due time God will avenge. Justice will prevail. 

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Do and Say

Mark 14 After supper when Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, He took them to the Garden. How is that they did not notice that Judas was not with them? And, when they saw the contingent of soldiers with Judas, how did they not connect the words of Jesus that one would betray Him? How did Peter not connect the warning to stay alert while Jesus prayed?  How often do I too miss the signs that God gives me? 

The religious leaders willingly chose to seek the death of the Righteous One thinking that if they did it on any other day than the Passover,their hands would be clean? How did they willingly forget the commandment to not murder? Again, how often do I forget the words of the Master and also choose to say and not do?

One thing God hates more than anything else is hypocrisy. I say I am a believer but do my words and actions prove that or do they say and do the contrast? How about you?

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Meeting the Needs of others

Mark 2 The Sabbath

God established the Sabbath as a day of rest, but that did not mean that the people were to ignore the needs of others on that day. If these religious leaders really believed that truth, then why did they seek to trap Jesus into healing? Why are their hearts so hard? Why have they not treated this man with the withered hand with kindness? Truly, Jesus asked them is it good to let this man continue on in his suffering when you have the opportunity to help? But, Mark records that they were silent when asked. They were more concerned about their place in society than their place with God. 

Today seek to do good to those who are suffering. Job’s friends came and sat with him for 7 days silently. These Pharisees came and sat in the synagogue silently. The friends of Job had hearts of kindness, but these Pharisees had hearts of stone. The contrast is clear: when the need arises, touch the hearts of those who are needy. 

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Can you prove it?

John 11/Mark 11 Hypocrisy or Truth

John accurately wrote: If we say we have no sin, we deceive our selves. That was the condition of the religious leaders. They had seen the miracle of the blind man made whole and heard his testimony, yet threw him out of the synagogue. Later Jesus found the formerly blind man and seeing he now worshiped. How about us? In John 5 we meet a disabled man at the pool. Jesus “resurrected” him and he could now walk. He obediently picked up his mat and walked but unlike the blind man of John 9, yet he never honored or praised God for his healing.

The religious leaders found Jesus and sought to trap him by asking him to prove his authority to heal. From John 5 we see that Jesus gave them four witnesses to prove his identity: John the Baptist who said; Behold the Lamb of God. Secondly, the works which Jesus did proved that He had the authority to heal and teach. Thirdly, His Father was working and He was working. Lastly, the scriptures themselves proved his authenticity. Jesus reminded them that they studied the scriptures seeking eternal life but He was standing there before them and they rejected the evidence.

Jesus asked the lame man at the pool: do you want to become well? He never answered Jesus affirmatively or negatively. When the religious leaders found him, they did not rejoice but castigated him for breaking a Sabbath rule they had in their books.

When we read stories like this how do we respond? Are we comfortable in our sin or do we honor He who healed us of our sin?

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Which Person Am I/Are You?

Luke 10 The Samaritan Teaches Us Grace

Jesus uses a simple story to show us how to put aside all preconceived ideas of what Grace looks like and answers the question: who is my neighbor? Interestingly, Jesus tells this story, which follows His meeting with the Samaritan woman to show men that God is impartial. God loves all and He demonstrated that when He sent His Son to die for us who are partial and evil.

The backdrop of this story is that a religious expert sought to trap Jesus in asking: who is my neighbor because in his heart he was partial to Jews and hated Samaritans. So Jesus presented this story to show him what true grace is and how it behaves.

Jesus began his story by sharing what all men think; thieves are self-centered individuals who do not care for the needs of others. Truth: that is why they are called thieves! Jesus continued; a man is accosted by robbers who beat him and steal all he has. Two others come upon this scene; a priest and a Levite, who have been taught about acting godly, yet their life reveals that actions were not more critical, so they stop and see but then go on their way leaving the injured man with no help. They arrogantly look the other way; is this how we react? What was the reason? Jesus leaves the motivation of each to our imagination. A third man, a Samaritan, is on his way, but his heart of compassion demonstrates impartiality for one in distress. He stops and sees the need and puts aside his own journey to help another. He is the godly example and teaches us what true grace is: actions speak louder than words.

The question is: which man are we? Do we see a need and meet it or go on our way saying we are too busy or the injured is “not like us.” What do we do?

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Climate Change?

Joel 1-3 Climate Change is the buzzword of the day. We hear about it and are reminded that the cause is humans and their thirst for fossil fuels. Yet, in the years 1930-1939, the USA experienced what has been termed the Dust Bowl. It was because the farmers in the Midwest over-plowed and removed the grasslands that had been there for centuries and, in times of extreme weather, could protect the land. It was 6 long years before the drought abated and the land would rest. Joel saw the devastation of the land not by wind or drought but by the invasion of locusts. History tells us that this lasted over three years. In that time, the seed saved from the previous year was eaten, the harvest of the current year and the seed to be used for the next year. Joel used that picture to show the Israelites the ravages of sin in their lives and how God would use the impending judgment of the Babylonians to get their attention.

What does God have to do to get ‘my’ attention? Does He have to use droughts, locusts, or another natural disaster to cause you and me to fall to our knees to repent? Here in Texas, we have gone over 55 days without a drop of rain and extreme temperatures, but are we seeking His face or just complaining like the people in Malachi did? How often do we behave like petulant children when God is seeking our return to Him? Joel reminded the people to wake up and seek His face for restoration. Sadly, they did not, and our nation seems to be on the same wavelength. Today may we seek the Lord and live! Seek the Lord while He may be found! 

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“It isn’t fair!”

Ezekiel 24-28 and beyond. “It’s not fair.”

The elders sat around Ezekiel, wondering what was going on and why they were in Babylon. While they are pining away, they are saying it isn’t fair that we are in Babylon while our enemies walk free and clear of their sins, How often do we say the same: Why me? Why not them? So, in this time, God graciously shows them that although they sinned and are now in exile for that sin, there will come a time when all of the wrongs will be made right. God will reveal Himself to these enemies one last time so they may know He is Lord of all and has spoken in order that they might repent and be saved.

How often are we, like Thomas or the Jews of Jesus’ day, looking for signs? Jesus told the Pharisees that the only sign He would give them was His resurrection. Over and over, He had revealed His power through miracles, but they closed their hearts, eyes, and ears. The exiles are just like them. God sent prophet after prophet to warn them, but they rejected them, and now they are here in Babylon, asking why.

God is so patient and long-suffering. Do I ask why instead of seeking Him and seeking to do good? Do I listen to the Word rather than obeying the Word?

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Do Not Judge???

Hosea 8-10 Be careful repeating this saying: “do not judge.”  We don’t know the motives behind a person’s heart. God is saying I am the ultimate judge, and I alone can judge the heart. Remember Jeremiah’s words: the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked; who can know it? God alone knows the heart. [Jer 17:9-10]

When God looked at the northern tribes, he saw sin and judged it while the people were harping on that same refrain. But God says I judge by the evidence, not just a repeated chorus. I found you and raised you only to see that your eyes drifted to man-made idols. This should not be! What you have sown, you will also reap. I spelled out my law for you in great detail, but you regarded it as nothing. I sent you wise prophets, but you called them fools. My prophet was sent as a watchman to remind you where you have fallen. But, just like the Ephesians, they had lost their first love. [Rev 2:4] God reminds them to seek Him early while He may be found, repent, and return to the Lord.

This is a wake-up call to us as well. Where have we judged others before judging ourselves? Have we lost our first love?   

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