What's He Talkin' About

So often, especially with newer Christians, we try to read the whole Bible - cover to cover. Yet when we get to certain areas we end up feeling either stumped, or confused. Ever since I was shown this amazing aspect of Scripture I have always wanted to share the knowledge with as many people as I could.



Whenever I used to read the prophets I would read it to try to find messages for today. Lo' and behold I'd get stumped and confused. The great Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the like would be speaking about places and times that seemed irrelevant to me and my time. If that was the case how in the world do these prophecy pro's make the connections, what am I missing?



The first thing I was missing was the reality that the Prophet books should not be read alone. They ought to be accompanied by other Bible books, or at least a good understanding of them at the forefront of the mind.



You see, If I want to apply any Scripture to today I must understand what it was saying then. So just what was Jeremiah (our case study for the day) saying?



To find out what he was saying we must first figure out to whom was he speaking.



Jeremiah 1:1-3, "The words of Jermiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It also came in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month."



Now I know what your thinking (I think), what does that have to do with it; or... okay seriously this is gonna be too much already. I promise it's not as painful as you might think.



Notice that the who is the nation of Judah, city of Jerusalem, and most specifically the last three kings who ruled up until the point of Jerusalem's capture.



So why is that important? By knowing the who we can then learn the why!



This is where I might lose you, but I hope that you have enough interest in watching some basic mysteries of God unfold.



We'll find out the why by asking first where; where can we get to know these kings and what kind of rule they carried?



1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles tell the tales, and for the most part the same tales, but since they are written by 2 seperate authors one may go into better detail than the other. For the sake of simplicity I will point you towards the accounts made in 2 Kings.



For each of these kings' lives you will focus mainly on 2 Kings 22 - 25, alotting roughly 1 1/2 chapters to each king. However for the sake of your time here on this blog, I will summarize each account for you and leave it up to you to proof read and read the details for yourself.



2 Kings 22-23: Josiah did right in the sight of the LORD.

2 Kings 23-24: Jehoiakim, in the LORD's eyes was double-minded.

2 Kings 24-25: Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the LORD and sealed Jerusalem and Judah's fall.

Keep your eys out for the next posting as it will be full of amazingness.

God Has Always Been a Bit of an Evangelist

"Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God" (Dt. 31:12).

This is definitely not the first verse where God wants the sojourner around to witness His heart. There are a number of occasions just within Deuteronomy that speak of blessing the sojourner, including the sojourner in festivals among other good things. If I may, I'd like to suggest that the sojourner is among the first of many to come evangelists. Why? By the very definition of a sojourner - that's why.

Sojourner (intransitive verb): to live somewhere temporarily, as on a visit; stay for a while. (noun) a brief or temporary stay; visit.

I think you get the jyst of it. The sojourner(s) would then arrive amongst the Israelite who is then worshipping his God - Yahweh - and in turn impressed and impacted and then upon their return to home or even as they continue on the travelling they may be doing tell other about the God of the Israelites who sent forth manna and quail from the skies, who through the obedience of Moses allowed water to flow from a rock (the first time), and who commanded the Red Sea to part in two until all the people crossed over on dry land.

Thus the sojourner is amongst the first of many evangelists.

You Choose

There are Two paths we can go in this world. One of those paths is the path of life, the other is that of death. Ultimately the choice is yours as to which one to take, as unneccessary as it may seem to be that one could actually 'ponder' on which path to take, the choice really is not that easy.

The first path I want to present to you is made up of amazing sites, sounds, and wonders. As you travel on this path you will find the following: Money, Power, Respect, Companions, Parties, Fame, Pleasure, and lots of Sex.

The second path I wish to present to you is similarily made up of amazing sites, sounds and wonders, however the details of this path can tend to differ at some points; Financial stability, Meekness, Humility, The Possibility of One Companion, If Things Work Out - One Sexual Partner (Spouse), Providing Service to Other People at Times Free of Charge, and Shear Joy.

Whether consciously or not, the vast majority will choose the first option. It has been the human drive to be independant and self-made since the very onset of Eve and Adam's first sin. "Did God really say..." is usually the first of many lie-based questions we get presented with. Far too often our reply to such a question is "I can handle it...", or "I've always done it this way so...", yet in reality our search for independance often leads us to a place where in one form or another we must accept help from another individual lest the matter at hand is forever rendered incomplete.

So if we as human beings can at times accept the help, the guidance, the direction, and even the moral compass of another frail, interdependant human being then why would we not choose to accept the guidance, help, direction, and moral fibres that the omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob offers us through His Word - the Bible. The reason: we often like the benefits of option 1. Its too bad that option 1 leads to death and then to everlasting suffering. Who would of thought: sow power - reap destruction; sow righteousness - reap eternal reward.

To You,

             I am writing you this letter in hopes of allowing you all to be inspired and reminded of the gift that lies before you.  Not just the gift of salvation or the victory that we can claim through the actions of Jesus, but also the plain and simple gift of hindsight.

            I was born and raised in a Christian home and as a result have inherited a faith in God that may or may not have been there otherwise.  I have done my best growing up to do the things that would please God.  I was always taught that a relationship with Him is far more than doing good deeds, but was a relationship similar to that of my dad’s and mine.  I loved God and believed that with Him anything was possible.  Might I also say that I also believed that the closer I was drawn to Him the closer He would be to me and as a result pain, sorrow, and misfortune would be miles away from me.

            As a teen my friends and I decided we’d go off to Bible College to learn more about the history, the character and the thoughts of God.  Later on we did just that.  After we graduated – I with honors – we had it all figured out.  We knew how God operated.  We could look back in time and see what happened to people and from there see where God was and whether or not the activity was curse for disobedience or blessings for obedience.  We had Him figured out…that is…until it all went south!

            You see, after I graduated I was able to get established in a great industry where I was CEO and making a fortune.  I got married, had a team of children and moved into a great house.  I never had a worry before me.  The house was taken care of by a few good workers, and my kids were able to learn from the best of teachers.  My wife loved me and supported all that I did.  Until it all began.

            It started when a group of guys decided to break into my workplace and steal everything I had going in there.  I mean they left nothing behind…nothing!  Whatever staff was on shift that night…gone…yes…I do mean gone!  I felt lost, weak, hopeless, confused, and in a way paralyzed.

            Then if that wasn’t enough, my kids were all hanging out at my oldest son’s house as they had done so often before…eating…playing games…having a few laughs, all until a storm rolled and lightening struck the house in such a fierce way that it collapsed in on itself…killing all of them…my kids…my very flesh…now what?!  Oh the devastation, what was I to do?   Was God mad at me, did I do something wrong?  I yelled out to Him in pain and in that same moment I knew that I could not blame Him but in the midst of my pain I had to praise His name…oh how hard that was!

            Days later, almost in spite of me, I got sick.  I was in the midst of mourning, trying to restructure, and bang…I get hit with some massive skin disease that caused so much pain and discomfort that to leave the house would be just a struggle let alone shameful.  My wife…of all people…questioned my faith…my faith…not her own, but mine.  She started at me with questions like, “How can you remain faithful?  God obviously doesn’t care for you, why don’t you tell Him, tell Him your done with Him?”  But I just couldn’t…how could I abandon my God when he is all I know, when he is the source for eternal life…where else can I go?  But you know what?  I didn’t remain all that faithful…I am human right.

            I started to spiral into a depression-like mentality.  With thoughts that the whole world was against me, along with God.  I started to feel alone and as though whatever I was going through that I was the only one and that my problems were far too big for anyone to understand or even for God to repair.  I began to think that there must have been some unaccounted sin that I committed or that I allowed my family to commit that I was being punished for.  My friends started preaching at me, reminding me that I needed to think back to all the sermons I preached, the lessons I gave about hardships and enduring them in faith.  Of course I shut them out since there was no one suffering like I was suffering.

            Eventually my friends started going through the possible sins and punishments and reasons why I might be facing this ordeal.  As they were doing that I began refuting them figuring that I was not at fault for anything, denying all accusations that came my way.  Then it hit me.  While my pride was escalating and my ego was being fed like a savage beast that still small voice that once spoke to me in love and peaceful tones with messages of hope and direction came at me so loud that it was as though it were audible.

            He started to remind me that I was not as great as I thought I was.  This greatness that I felt was incomparable to His and that I needed to rethink where my righteousness originated from, what it was rooted in.  I was brought so low, but in a different way than before, in a way that felt right, proper, and realistic.  I began to feel that sense of awe in Him, the one who created it all, and in whom all wisdom began.  I knelt on the ground and in that moment I repented, I apologized and remembered that it was His grace that kept me from the troubles prior to the ones I had just encountered just as it was his grace that kept me alive in spit of my pleas to die.

            I hated my life, I hated Him, and I hated everyone around me.  But, just like any storm that arises a calm follows.  And just as the rain falls one day the grass, grains, and trees bloom the next.  And just as I was blessed with a family, career and an untainted faith before the storm hit, after the storm subsided I was blessed with even more.  With daughters more beautiful than any other father could boast, sons strong and devoted to the Father, and a corporation that dealt with more equipment, output and income than the previous one had by far.  I was blessed more than I ever – ever was before.  Even my faith was better because I always had it in the back of my mind the tragedy that reminded me that it wasn’t my faithfulness but His that kept me.

            Now I know that I could have gone into far greater detail and expanded more on some things, but for the sake of the setting I summed it up as good as I could for the moment we are in.  And as for the moment we are in, remember hindsight is a valuable tool for recovery.  Let your past remind you of what roads not to travel, and equip you with the knowledge of how graceful God really truly is.

 

 

With much love,

 

Your Brother in Christ – Job.

Your Ruts can Wreck Your Struts

A most glorifying experience is when an individual is taken from their comfort zone and placed into a new territory.  Take for instance, when decades of teaching and practice has alluded to the idea that women should not be pastors is shown in one generation that such thoughts are ignorant and unedifying someone has been removed from a comfort zone and placed on new ground.  This is quite different than if someone were to openly choose to do so on their own.

Sometimes we can get so wrapped up in what we know and get so attached to it that anything to the contrary is just down-right false, that any glimmer of true growth cannot be seen.  True growth can only occur when one's current frame of reference is challenged, when that thing you know to be true is put to the test with a view equally or even more compelling than your own.  When we are tested not only to we get to re-think what we have known but we get to experience how firm and strong we truly are, "See I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction" (Isaiah 48:10).  When we are challenged, especially when it comes to the things of our faith, God is expressing his care for us by allowing us to either rethink or be strengthened in what we know and have learned.

Therefore, let us allow God to direct us out of the ruts on the road to His Kingdom that have been left by the many lives gone before us and be placed on higher ground where we can be directed by Him - not them.  "Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God" (2 Corinthians 7:1), so rather than trying to honor the teachers, preachers, parents and grandparents that have poured so much knowledge into our minds let us glorify God when He reveals to us the things that do not glorify Him and prevent us from attaining true righteousness.

Sometimes this process will be brought upon as a challenge that will cause you to reconsider, and sometimes it will be that still small voice that ushers you onto higher ground.

Remember, "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17), and the shedding of the old is not a one time fix all occasion nor is it limited to the obvious areas of sin in one's life, but it is a continual process that reveals one or two issue(s) at a time bringing us closer and closer to the likeness of God.

Some obvious sins: sexual immorality, slander, malice, and greed.

Some not so obvious issues: the structure of the church, leadership potentials, cross-gender friendships, traditions, and even positions of doctrine.

Where are you at?  What is in your life that needs a challenge?  What are you holding on to that is preventing you from moving closer to God's own heart?  How are you going to change that?