Tue, Oct 21st - 10:57PM

What words will you speak?

Jeremiah 14:14 (NIV)

 ¹⁴ Then the LORD said to me, "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.

Jeremiah 15:15-21 (NIV)

 ¹⁵ You understand, O LORD;
       remember me and care for me.
       Avenge me on my persecutors.
       You are long-suffering—do not take me away;
       think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.

 ¹⁶ When your words came, I ate them;
       they were my joy and my heart's delight,
       for I bear your name,
       O LORD God Almighty.

 ¹⁷ I never sat in the company of revelers,
       never made merry with them;
       I sat alone because your hand was on me
       and you had filled me with indignation.

 ¹⁸ Why is my pain unending
       and my wound grievous and incurable?
       Will you be to me like a deceptive brook,
       like a spring that fails?

 ¹⁹ Therefore this is what the LORD says:
       "If you repent, I will restore you
       that you may serve me;
       if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
       you will be my spokesman.
       Let this people turn to you,
       but you must not turn to them.

 ²⁰ I will make you a wall to this people,
       a fortified wall of bronze;
       they will fight against you
       but will not overcome you,
       for I am with you
       to rescue and save you,"
       declares the LORD.

 ²¹ "I will save you from the hands of the wicked
       and redeem you from the grasp of the cruel."

Isaiah 6:5-7 (NIV)

 ⁵ "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

 ⁶ Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

I am as bad as Jeremiah who feared for his life. (read the book lightly in one sitting, and that will get through to you...)  I am worse than Isaiah, in that I am a sinner, guilty of many sins of many kinds.  Yet, I understand what I must do:  As best as I can, frail with calamity and confusion at times, I must speak the truth as clearly as can be understood.  I say as best I can, for this is a mighty struggle of epic proportions.  I make no claim to be better than you or anyone else, even those I would say are liars of the worst sort.  I understand how woefully inadequate I am.  I stand only by God's Grace.  Period!  Whether you see it or not, speaking the truth is a goal God gives all of us.

On to what I really need to say:

Something happens in Samuel 15.  The weak human attitude of Saul really starts being shown clearly in Chapter 13, but the part I am interested in starts around Chapter 15.  Now then, I will not post all of it here, but summarize what I wish to emphasise:

Saul was commanded through Samuel to utterly destroy the Amalekites, but he stopped short of what he was commanded to do.  In our current society, he would no doubt be praised as a merciful man for this.  However, this was not in line with what the correct thing to do was.  Say what you want about this command from God not being loving, but you are living by your own understanding when you do so!  Is your understanding so great that you can challenge the Lord Almighty?  You can if you don't believe, and people following their own understanding certainly do all the time!

I'll post this key passage:

1 Samuel 15:26-29 (NIV)

 ²⁶ But Samuel said to him, "I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel!"

 ²⁷ As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸ Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you. ²⁹ He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind."

This is about as political as it gets my brothers and sisters, and I think it is key to note that the Nature of Truth as an immutable part of God and indeed Jesus, is invoked here.  Truly, the choice of God extends to the very top of political power.  This is spoken plainly and undeniably here.  And it was a Prophet that spoke this!

Matthew 23:1-36 (NIV)

 ¹Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ²"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. ³So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. ⁴They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

 ⁵"Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; ⁶they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; ⁷they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.'

 ⁸"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. ⁹And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ. ¹¹The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹²For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

 ¹³"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

 ¹⁴ Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Therefore you will be punished more severely.

 ¹⁵"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

 ¹⁶"Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' ¹⁷You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? ¹⁸You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' ¹⁹You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. ²²And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.

 ²³"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

 ²⁵"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

 ²⁷"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. ²⁸In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

 ²⁹"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. ³⁰And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' ³¹So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. ³²Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!

 ³³"You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? ³⁴Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. ³⁵And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. ³⁶I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation.

Romans 13:1-7 (NIV)

 ¹Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ²Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. ³For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. ⁴For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. ⁶This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. ⁷Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Acts 5:27-45 (NIV)

 ²⁷Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. ²⁸"We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said. "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood."

 ²⁹Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men! ³⁰The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. ³¹God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. ³²We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."

 ³³When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. ³⁴But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. ³⁵Then he addressed them: "Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. ³⁶Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. ³⁷After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. ³⁸Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. ³⁹But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."

 ⁴⁰His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

 ⁴¹The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. ⁴²Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.

With these three passages, I wish to illustrate one thing: God's Authority is Supreme.  Christ tells everyone to obey those sitting in authority in the seat of Moses' and then reviles those leaders soundly as they deserve. We are told to obey authorities of all kinds, and yet when obeying them would cause the apostles to disobey God, you can see what decision was made.  Follow the top authority.  If your elder brother tells you to do one thing and your father says no, do this instead, who's word do you follow?  This is not that hard to understand.

In 1 Chronicles 21, David makes what you and I might think was a little mistake.  He numbered the fighting men. "Big Deal!" you say.  Well, when you look at what happened, I guess it was. David was a good leader, and a man after God's Heart. He made mistakes and his people paid.  Understand this clearly:  We pay for our leaders mistakes.

No matter the method, we delude ourselves to think God has not made a choice in who our leader is.  However, I think we also delude ourselves if we do not call it as we see it, especially in respect to God's Word.  I will command no one to vote.  I will implore you to vote.  I will recommend you pray strongly about it and vote conscience before comfort.  I will say what I see.  That is my responsibilty.  And some people think I like responsibilty!  LOL!  I think even God laughs at that one!

Blessings always,

Mel

Tue, Oct 14th - 2:59AM

The What I am Told to Do -- Hard to Get it Right!!!

2 Corinthians 11:29 (NIV)

²⁹Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

Isaiah 49:4 (NIV)

 ⁴ But I said, "I have labored to no purpose;
       I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.
       Yet what is due me is in the LORD's hand,
       and my reward is with my God."

Isaiah 30:10 (NIV)

 ¹⁰ They say to the seers,
       "See no more visions!"
       and to the prophets,
       "Give us no more visions of what is right!
       Tell us pleasant things,
       prophesy illusions.

Isaiah 64:6 (NIV)

 ⁶ All of us have become like one who is unclean,
       and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
       we all shrivel up like a leaf,
       and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

Isaiah 65:5 (NLT)

 ⁵ Yet they say to each other,
      ‘Don’t come too close or you will defile me!
      I am holier than you!’
   These people are a stench in my nostrils,
      an acrid smell that never goes away.

Jeremiah 3:9-11 (NIV)

⁹ Because Israel's immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. ¹⁰ In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense," declares the LORD.

 ¹¹ The LORD said to me, "Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah.

Colossians 3:13 (NIV)

¹³Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

These are given as a quick answer of a sort.  Please forgive my brevity.

In Truth,

Mel