Resource Manager Posted July 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 26 July 2011 2 Samuel 12Jeremiah 16Matthew 27 "FOR MY EYES ARE ON ALL THEIR WAYS" We found today’s readings rather overwhelming in the variety of thoughts they provoked! The chapter (Jeremiah16) in Jeremiah is in two contrasting parts. The first part was God’s denunciation of his people; he said, “I have taken away my peace from this people, my steadfast love and mercy” [Jeremiah 16:5]. And God did so – in greater and greater degrees because they failed to maintain their belief in God, no one was godly any more. We are in awe that a parallel to this is happening in our world. Godless behaviour is more openly permitted; homosexuality for example is becoming accepted as “normal”! Jeremiah tells his generation on God’s behalf, “you have done worse than your father’s … every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me.” [Jeremiah 16:12] Then the scene changes to the distant future, a scene which we have witnessed in our lifetime. “Behold the days are coming declares the LORD when … I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers,” adding, “I am sending for many fishers … afterward I will send for many hunters … for my eyes are on all their ways.” [Jeremiah 16:14-17] Israel are God’s people, their re-establishment as a nation after 1900 years is a miracle God caused. Just as God’s eyes have been “on all their ways” because they are God’s people so it is true, that the Gentiles who accepted Christ became God’s people (see Romans 9:24-26) and God’s eyes are also “on all their ways.” How sad he must be as he sees what has become of the world today where the Bible is so readily available in every tongue, but so little heeded. Will he not end up dealing with them as he did the Jews in the days of Jeremiah – and again in the days of the apostles, because they killed His Son? Of course he will – and, we are in awe because this seems to be about to happen. Glancing forward to tomorrow’s chapter in Jeremiah we noted God’s words recorded there. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick: who can understand it? I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give to every man (and woman) according to his (or her) ways, according to the fruit of their deeds” [Jeremiah 17:9,10] What “fruit” is your life producing?-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 27 July 2011 2 Samuel 13Jeremiah 17Matthew 28 "AND JONADAB WAS A VERY CRAFTY MAN" How important it is to have godly friends – it is now more important than ever, because most of us live surrounded by worldly influences and ungodly values. How few have the blessing of daily contact with those who include in their lives times of prayer and thoughts about serving their Creator and their Saviour in some way? In 2 Samuel 13 today we meet up with a man named Jonadab who was not a good friend to have! The text [2 Samuel 13:3] says “and Jonadab was a very crafty man” – he was the son of a brother of David. Now, although the LORD “put away” David’s sin with Bathsheba and Uriah, his “moral” authority had been undermined. The prophet Nathan had told him that as a consequence of his sin, the LORD had said, “Behold I will raise up evil against you out of your own house.” [2 Samuel 12:11]. If David had not lost his moral strength and authority he would have been able to deal with these problems if they had arisen. So we read today of Jonadab giving bad advice to David’s eldest son Amnon. He followed this advice and pretended to be sick and requested Absalom’s beautiful sister Tamar, with whom he believed himself to be in love, to serve food to him in the privacy of his bedroom. The outcome is that he takes advantage of her and she loses her virginity. But, in one of the strange perversions of human nature, his imagined love then turns to hate! [2 Samuel 13:15] David is unable to exercise any moral authority and there is no punishment, although he is “very angry” [2 Samuel 13:21]. The situation is made worse by Amnon’s rejection of any further contact with Tamar. The sordid story results in her brother Absalom later killing Amnon and then fleeing from the presence of David. The developing situation reminds us of what we read in Jeremiah last week, “For my people are foolish; they know me not … they are ‘wise’ in doing evil! But how to do good they know not.” [Jeremiah 4:22] The one “good” thing to come out of this is that David pours out his agonies of mind in some of his Psalms (e.g. Psalm 25:16-18; 31:9-12 etc) which have proved to be very valuable for meditation for all of Christ’s followers who have struggled to cope with sinful situations. The lesson is clear – let us chose our friends wisely. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 28 July 2011 2 Samuel 14Jeremiah 18Romans 1; 2 “THE POWER OF GOD” Paul in writing to the Romans speaks about “the power of God”. What does he mean? He is not referring to physical power such as will be shown at the time Jesus returns when the greatest earthquake ever [Revelation 16:18] and other terrible events will occur. In today’s reading in Romans, Paul writes of the gospel saying, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes “ [Romans 1:16]. Paul’s point is that the Gospel makes sense, compared to the nonsense surrounding the many gods (of human imagination) the Romans believed in. Today, we can say it makes sense - compared to the nonsense that so many teach about evolution and more and more willingly believe. They think that everything that exists, sort of created itself, and there is no need for a creator God. Much of this attitude seems to be motivated by a desire to be free of the restrictions God’s laws imposes on their lives. A particular example of this is evident at the moment. In Romans 1:26,27 Paul particularly singles out acts of homosexuality – writing “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity to the dishonouring of their bodies … ” The fact that New York City has legalized same-sex “marriages” is in the news and this weeks TIME magazine states that 764 “marriage licenses” were issued for same-sex unions the first day this law came into effect! What must God think!? What action will he take? But we need to also realise that to believe a gospel about believer’s having a future life in heaven is also nonsense and, as a falsehood, has no power at all. It is only the gospel God revealed to men through his son that has “power”- because it is truth. It is based on historical fact, because the events of the First Century and what followed, only make sense when we accept them as true: the conviction of many people then became so strong it had the power to turn the beliefs of the pagan Roman world upside down in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries. We must let this gospel become a power in our lives – if we are to really live a life worth living with the wonderful prospect of eternity. We must not let ourselves be influenced by those who scoff at “the power of God.”-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 29 July 2011 2 Samuel 15Jeremiah 19Romans 3; 4 "HE GREW STRONG IN HIS FAITH AS HE GAVE GLORY TO GOD" The chapters in Romans today have a lot to say about Abraham. We recall how the very first verse of the New Testament states that “Jesus is the son of Abraham.” We also recall how Jesus disputed with the Jews who proudly said, “Abraham is our father” causing Jesus to say, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did.” [John 8:39] What did Abraham do? Our readings in Romans spell out the answer, “For the promise to Abraham that he would be the heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.” [Romans 4:13] Abraham had faith in the promises God made to him, he really believed and acted on that belief. This began when he left the idol worshippers at Ur, which included his father, and God “led him through all the land of Canaan.” [Joshua 24:2,3] He followed God, believing and acting upon his words for the rest of his life, the climax being when he was ready to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. The contrast with the Jews in Jesus day was that they put all their confidence, and resultant pride, in keeping the detail of the law of Moses with special emphasis on keeping the Sabbath. Yet, even in this they failed! A week ago we read the condemnation of Jesus that they tithed the small things, but “neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy and faithfulness.” [Matthew 23:23] Today we noticed Paul’s point and sought to understand it when he wrote, “the law brings wrath, but where there is no law, there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace … to the one who shares the faith of Abraham” [Romans 4:15,16] What do we have faith in today? In the Bible? But in what sense? We are invited to have faith that God will act to prevent humans from destroying his creation – and from totally destroying each other. We are invited to be ready to live by faith when the God of this world (Mammon) collapses. We are invited to follow Abraham’s example as “he grew strong in faith” and “gave glory to God fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” [Romans 4:20] It is the only real way to live.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 30 July 2011 2 Samuel 16Jeremiah 20Romans 5; 6 "WE REJOICE IN HOPE OF THE GLORY OF GOD" Our chapters in Romans [Romans 5; 6] need to be read and digested slowly – like rich food! Paul proclaims that believers “having been justified by faith … have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ … have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” [Romans 5:1,2] This is a wonderful peace of mind – a result of our faith in God’s word – like those who have lived before, such as Noah who “being warned by God concerning events yet unseen” acted “in reverent fear” [Hebrews 11:7] We rejoice because we are convinced that God is “a living God” ready to be involved in our lives so that “we feel sure of better things – things that belong to salvation” [Hebrews 6:9, note also Hebrews 6:11,12] Let us “rejoice in hope” sustained by this hope when times are difficult, but usually not as bad as they were at times for Paul. Note his words, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed” [2 Corinthians 4:8-9] There is a graphic account of this in our Jeremiah chapter [Jeremiah 20] when “Pashur the priest … who was chief officer in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. Then Pashur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks …” [Jeremiah 20:1-2] Jeremiah then prophesies - “you Pashur and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity … and there you shall die” [Jeremiah 20:6] Then Jeremiah has anxious thoughts, comparable in some ways to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, he writes, “For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, ‘I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,’ there is in my heart a burning fire … I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.” [Jeremiah 20:8,9] We pondered Jeremiah 20:12, “O LORD of hosts, who tests the righteous. Who sees the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.” Do we desire to see God’s vengeance poured out on today’s Godless world? Well God will decide whether we live to see it or not – or whether there is a brief period of rest until we awake and, through his grace, rejoice to have a part in the endless wonder of his kingdom. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted July 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 31 July 2011 2 Samuel 17Jeremiah 21Romans 7; 8 THE “SET” OF OUR MINDS The first verse of Romans 8 tells us, “There is therefore no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.” What does this really mean for us? Some seriously misunderstand this. The true become clear as we read the whole chapter. Jesus also experienced “sinful flesh” [Romans 8:3] and he achieved what we cannot, he remained sinless. Through him “God has done what the law (of Moses), weakened by the flesh could not do … that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.” [Romans 8:3,4] What kind of walk is that? Then we specially noted the next 2 verses [Romans 3:5,6] “those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” There is no “life and peace” until we develop a spiritual relationship with our Lord. Those who do this are no longer “in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.” [Romans 8:9]. This is not the power to do miracles, rather it is the strength that comes from a heartfelt relationship with our Saviour. We always think of the words of Paul in his final letter Paul tells Timothy, “God gave us a spirit, not of fear, but of power and love and self-control.” [2 Timothy 1:7] This is a spirit of mind that the old law could not do. Those who “set their minds” on this new relationship are “set free” and prove the reality of the Proverb, “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.” [Proverbs 4:18]-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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