Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. Philippians 4:11
This idea was once expressed better by a simple hearted man, a man at peace no matter what the situation, the Apostle Paul who was asked how he managed to live in such a state of constant calm and rest even though surrounded by circumstances anything but pleasant. His answer was as deep as it was simple; I have learned, he said, to cooperate with the inevitable, how to be content.
Though we cannot control what happens in our own little world much less the universe, we can determine what our attitude toward it may be. We can accept God's will wherever it is spoken or written and take toward it a place of worshipful acceptance. If our will is to do God's will, then there will be no question with anything that comes in the course of our daily walk. Stormy weather, unpleasant neighbors, physical handicaps, difficult political conditions, our economic state, all these will be accepted as God's will for the time and surrendered to being in the short term, subject to such changes as God may see fit to make, either by His own sovereign providence or in answer to believing prayer.
Lord, how can I complain in the light of the wonderful gift of Your Son, born to give life, rest, peace and victory? Work Your will in our life today and the whole year long as we celebrate the incarnation and all that it involves. Amen."
In Christ
Sandy Perry
12/26/08
Friday, December 26, 2008
Friday, December 5, 2008
Ignorance a Delight?
If I go out into the field, behold, those pierced by the sword! And if I enter the city, behold, the diseases of famine! For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land and have no knowledge.="Jeremiah 14:18"
No greater evil can come upon God’s people than to be served by ignorant teachers. When those charged with teaching God’s Word neglect their task and teach their own false truths, the Church will decline as God exchanges blessings in Christ for curses.
Everywhere Jeremiah looked, God had taken away His covenant blessings, so fulfilling the promise of Deutoronomy 28:16. The land of abundance and plenty, security and rest, had become a place of famine, disease, and slaughter. Fields that once flowed with olives, figs, and grain now flowed with blood. There was nowhere to flee for safety.
The cause of famine was not to be found in the governing incompetence within the Department of Agriculture. Military downfall could not be blamed on defense budget cuts or bungling generals. The source of the crisis was located with the preachers and teachers of God’s Word. Israel’s problem was ignorant teachers.
It was not that the priests and prophets were simply led astray. Rather they spitefully peddled lies, proclaiming peace, and denying that sword or famine would ever come. God had not sent them, nor had He told them what to say. Yet still they came; their teaching was their own invention, tailored to suit what their audience most desired to hear. And so God’s judgment fell, in perfect retribution, as those who denied that sword and famine would come upon the land were themselves extinguished by those twin destroyers.
The prophets’ and priests’ lack of knowledge arose because God had not spoken to them. But Jeremiah had been taught of God and spoke only that which God had commanded, these teachers neglected God’s Word. Tragically, they continued to instruct God’s people. Their worthless words must have sounded sweet and reasonable; in reality they brought the stink of death.
The opposite is true for the Lord’s prophet; his call for repentance seldom sounds sweet, but contains the very words of life. His appeal, like Jeremiah’s, will worry his enemies. As the fickle and flighty, Mary Queen of Scots once worried, I fear the prayers of John Knox more than an army of 20,000 men. Mary rightly realized her struggle was not against a man, but, the God whom he represented. A nation’s safety or ruin pivots upon its response to the ministry of the army of one the man of God, teaching and preaching the Truth Christ Jesus.
Are not the same lies and false teaching going on in our once great nation today, like in the times of Jeremiah? Have we not taken God’s sovereign rule and made it ours? Ya’ll think about it and get back to me!
In Christ
Sandy Perry,
12/05/08
No greater evil can come upon God’s people than to be served by ignorant teachers. When those charged with teaching God’s Word neglect their task and teach their own false truths, the Church will decline as God exchanges blessings in Christ for curses.
Everywhere Jeremiah looked, God had taken away His covenant blessings, so fulfilling the promise of Deutoronomy 28:16. The land of abundance and plenty, security and rest, had become a place of famine, disease, and slaughter. Fields that once flowed with olives, figs, and grain now flowed with blood. There was nowhere to flee for safety.
The cause of famine was not to be found in the governing incompetence within the Department of Agriculture. Military downfall could not be blamed on defense budget cuts or bungling generals. The source of the crisis was located with the preachers and teachers of God’s Word. Israel’s problem was ignorant teachers.
It was not that the priests and prophets were simply led astray. Rather they spitefully peddled lies, proclaiming peace, and denying that sword or famine would ever come. God had not sent them, nor had He told them what to say. Yet still they came; their teaching was their own invention, tailored to suit what their audience most desired to hear. And so God’s judgment fell, in perfect retribution, as those who denied that sword and famine would come upon the land were themselves extinguished by those twin destroyers.
The prophets’ and priests’ lack of knowledge arose because God had not spoken to them. But Jeremiah had been taught of God and spoke only that which God had commanded, these teachers neglected God’s Word. Tragically, they continued to instruct God’s people. Their worthless words must have sounded sweet and reasonable; in reality they brought the stink of death.
The opposite is true for the Lord’s prophet; his call for repentance seldom sounds sweet, but contains the very words of life. His appeal, like Jeremiah’s, will worry his enemies. As the fickle and flighty, Mary Queen of Scots once worried, I fear the prayers of John Knox more than an army of 20,000 men. Mary rightly realized her struggle was not against a man, but, the God whom he represented. A nation’s safety or ruin pivots upon its response to the ministry of the army of one the man of God, teaching and preaching the Truth Christ Jesus.
Are not the same lies and false teaching going on in our once great nation today, like in the times of Jeremiah? Have we not taken God’s sovereign rule and made it ours? Ya’ll think about it and get back to me!
In Christ
Sandy Perry,
12/05/08
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