The scripture says it rains on the just and the unjust alike. Christians use that verse as a crutch to explain away a lot of areas in life that we - as Christians - were responsible for protecting. We fail to act or pray for this or that and as a result, when calamity claims a victim, we just say that it rains on the just and the unjust alike. In the words of Col. Potter, H-O-R-S-E H-O-C-K-E-Y.
There is a reason why that scripture was worded the way it was.
When I was just a baby, I went through some severe storms. My dad kept me safe under a roof, while other babies in our fair city got wet, because their fathers' didn't care enough to provide them shelter. It rains on the just, and the unjust. That's true. But there is still the Father-factor.
Our nation has rejected God, socially and governmentally. As a result, we experience the fallen world without a roof over our heads. It rains on the just, and the unjust. Don't confuse our exposure to the elements with judgment - that is still coming at the end of the age. It is what it is. We're getting wet as a nation. But as a person - I'm dry. My Father shields me from the elements. My house is covered by Him - even if my nation is not. Does that mean bad things don't happen? What it means is that nothing happens that He hasn't already made provision for.
Showing posts with label judgment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label judgment. Show all posts
Monday, August 23, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Vanity "Fail"
Jer 2:5 HNV
(5) thus says the LORD, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they have gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
Somewhere along the line, everyone who has ever breathed oxygen will stand before God in spirit. I say this somewhat flippantly, because it is simply impossible for us to imagine what this experience might be like. We know that John did it - in the spirit - and "fell at His feet like a dead man".
John knew Jesus, personally. No man was closer to the King of Kings while He walked the earth than John. John fell - like a dead man. Meditate on that for just a minute.
For some, this experience will be even more terrifying. Exponentially so. You might say that every horror conceived by man could not be condensed into such a horrific moment as the one in which an estranged man stands before Holy God. When that happens, the question might be asked, "What unrighteousness have you found in Me, that you have gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and have become vain?" There will be no one dare answer that question.
It is a good question, though. At some point, love was not enough for someone. Kindness was met with suspicion. It happens every day. Someone turns their face away from God because they simply cannot believe they owe Him anything - much less everything. When self preservation is the only thing - it fails. It is vanity.
Mat 10:39 HNV
(39) He who seeks his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.
(5) thus says the LORD, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they have gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
Somewhere along the line, everyone who has ever breathed oxygen will stand before God in spirit. I say this somewhat flippantly, because it is simply impossible for us to imagine what this experience might be like. We know that John did it - in the spirit - and "fell at His feet like a dead man".
John knew Jesus, personally. No man was closer to the King of Kings while He walked the earth than John. John fell - like a dead man. Meditate on that for just a minute.
For some, this experience will be even more terrifying. Exponentially so. You might say that every horror conceived by man could not be condensed into such a horrific moment as the one in which an estranged man stands before Holy God. When that happens, the question might be asked, "What unrighteousness have you found in Me, that you have gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and have become vain?" There will be no one dare answer that question.
It is a good question, though. At some point, love was not enough for someone. Kindness was met with suspicion. It happens every day. Someone turns their face away from God because they simply cannot believe they owe Him anything - much less everything. When self preservation is the only thing - it fails. It is vanity.
Mat 10:39 HNV
(39) He who seeks his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Swept Away
Gen 19:12-15 And the men said to Lot, Have you anyone here besides yourself? Bring your sons-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whatever you have in the city, bring them out of this place. (13) For we will destroy this place because great is the cry of them before the face of Jehovah. And Jehovah has sent us to destroy it. (14) And Lot went out and spoke with his sons-in-law, who married his daughters, and said, Get up and get out of this place, for Jehovah will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked to his sons-in-law. (15) And when the dawn rose up, then the angels hurried Lot, saying, Rise up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
This is a sad story of a man named Lot who was so mired up in the world that it nearly cost him everything he had - including most of his family. Sodom was a wicked city, but it had attracted Lot from the beginning because of the opportunities it represented. There is little doubt that Lot thought he could remain set-apart, or sanctified, in the city. The argument could certainly be made that he had succeeded in that. After all, he was a judge. His opinion mattered, right? Only it didn't. His neighbors despised him. His daughters had married men who were wicked. Lot had at least two daughters (who were there), but had others that were not. When the time came, only those still living under his roof escaped the city.
Many tout the cost of living a life for Christ. Persecution! Ridicule! Maybe worse! But Lot ended up with only two daughters in the end. Even his own wife could not let go of the city within her soul.
I still take great comfort that God allows the righteous safe passage from judgment - if he will. Not only that, but God allows the righteous to bring 'whoever' and 'whatever' they have with them to safety. What grace! But in the end, each must make up their own mind.
How mired up in the world are we?
This is a sad story of a man named Lot who was so mired up in the world that it nearly cost him everything he had - including most of his family. Sodom was a wicked city, but it had attracted Lot from the beginning because of the opportunities it represented. There is little doubt that Lot thought he could remain set-apart, or sanctified, in the city. The argument could certainly be made that he had succeeded in that. After all, he was a judge. His opinion mattered, right? Only it didn't. His neighbors despised him. His daughters had married men who were wicked. Lot had at least two daughters (who were there), but had others that were not. When the time came, only those still living under his roof escaped the city.
Many tout the cost of living a life for Christ. Persecution! Ridicule! Maybe worse! But Lot ended up with only two daughters in the end. Even his own wife could not let go of the city within her soul.
I still take great comfort that God allows the righteous safe passage from judgment - if he will. Not only that, but God allows the righteous to bring 'whoever' and 'whatever' they have with them to safety. What grace! But in the end, each must make up their own mind.
How mired up in the world are we?
Friday, September 25, 2009
Postponed Covenant
I'm sure most everyone has heard that perhaps the largest terrorist plot since 911 was recently foiled. Life goes on as usual. Most people found that to be an interesting headline, and nothing more.
But all the experts say it's not a matter of if, but when. So what happens when?
Is that the next wave of church/endtime/apocalyptic interest in this nation? It seems that even back in the time of Ezekiel and Jeremiah, people refused to heed warnings but went about their lives as usual. I found something interesting in Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 5:1-2 LITV
(1) And you, son of man, take to yourself a sharp sword, the razor of a barber. Take it to yourself and make it pass over your head and over your beard. And take to yourself scales to weigh, and to divide them out.
(2) You shall burn a third part in the fire, in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled. And you shall take the third part and beat with a sword all around it. And you shall scatter the third part into the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.
Why Ezekiel's hair? I believe that God was talking about his covenant with Israel, and that He was going to postpone it for a season due to their disobedience. The Nazir covenant was one that meant your hair was never cut - the Nazarite vow. Yet God told Ezekiel to shave his head and do different things with the hair.
It was a temporary judgment, because all hair grows back. That's grace. We learned this lesson from Samson. The unfortunate thing is what Samson and Israel both had to endure because of their disobedience. Are we different in this nation?
But all the experts say it's not a matter of if, but when. So what happens when?
Is that the next wave of church/endtime/apocalyptic interest in this nation? It seems that even back in the time of Ezekiel and Jeremiah, people refused to heed warnings but went about their lives as usual. I found something interesting in Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 5:1-2 LITV
(1) And you, son of man, take to yourself a sharp sword, the razor of a barber. Take it to yourself and make it pass over your head and over your beard. And take to yourself scales to weigh, and to divide them out.
(2) You shall burn a third part in the fire, in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled. And you shall take the third part and beat with a sword all around it. And you shall scatter the third part into the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.
Why Ezekiel's hair? I believe that God was talking about his covenant with Israel, and that He was going to postpone it for a season due to their disobedience. The Nazir covenant was one that meant your hair was never cut - the Nazarite vow. Yet God told Ezekiel to shave his head and do different things with the hair.
It was a temporary judgment, because all hair grows back. That's grace. We learned this lesson from Samson. The unfortunate thing is what Samson and Israel both had to endure because of their disobedience. Are we different in this nation?
Monday, July 27, 2009
God is Good, but...
Really there is no addendum to that statement. God IS good! But…
God is also just. Not 'fair', but just, and just falls under the umbrella of 'good'. If God were not just, He would not be Good.
This looks problematic, and I guess it is, to an unbelieving world. Because God is just, He has to punish sin and that has a nasty look to it, often enough.
In John 12, Jesus said that He did not come to judge the world but to save it. That is indeed why He came, and yet it's possible for us to miss this salvation – to reject Him. Jesus did not condemn the harlot, yet He warned her to stop sinning.
Why?
The writer of Hebrews cautions the brethren against accepting the gift of God while yet continuing to sin, as if to take advantage of grace. Bad idea… read the warnings.
Jesus is the atonement for all who believe upon Him as such. Not accepting Him places us in a precarious position of living in sin without atonement. Judgment can fall upon a culture, but God tends to draw a clear line distinguishing who is His and who is not.
Mal 3:17 ASV
(17) And they shall be mine, saith Jehovah of hosts, even mine own possession, in the day that I make; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
Accept Christ as Lord and Savior because of His substitute. He DID go in our place, because God is Good!
God is also just. Not 'fair', but just, and just falls under the umbrella of 'good'. If God were not just, He would not be Good.
This looks problematic, and I guess it is, to an unbelieving world. Because God is just, He has to punish sin and that has a nasty look to it, often enough.
In John 12, Jesus said that He did not come to judge the world but to save it. That is indeed why He came, and yet it's possible for us to miss this salvation – to reject Him. Jesus did not condemn the harlot, yet He warned her to stop sinning.
Why?
The writer of Hebrews cautions the brethren against accepting the gift of God while yet continuing to sin, as if to take advantage of grace. Bad idea… read the warnings.
Jesus is the atonement for all who believe upon Him as such. Not accepting Him places us in a precarious position of living in sin without atonement. Judgment can fall upon a culture, but God tends to draw a clear line distinguishing who is His and who is not.
Mal 3:17 ASV
(17) And they shall be mine, saith Jehovah of hosts, even mine own possession, in the day that I make; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
Accept Christ as Lord and Savior because of His substitute. He DID go in our place, because God is Good!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Point of Acceptance
Sometimes as believers we just need to realize that God is God, He is Holy, and He does not have to share His glory with us at any point. I know I dwell, often, on the state of our nation and the world at large. It seems like such a downward spiral - it can easily grab your focus.
But my focus should be on Him. He's the reason. He sets up kings and brings them down. He promotes His children, and demotes them, as He sees fit to mold us.
He has a plan. None of this is happenstance, or out of control - as chaotic as it looks. I do believe He allows us to coast for extended periods of time upon His wave of grace, and I do believe we can prolong - or avoid altogether - judgment by simply repenting. Yet most of the time we as a culture do not. We push Him further and further away.
Godlessness shows up in our beauty pageants. In our legislation. In our foreign policy. In our churches. In our TV shows.
God, on the other hand, has no choice but to show up in everything else. If we'd honor Him with TV, He might not have to show up in the earthquake. If we'd honor him in our foreign policy, He might not have to show up in a hurricane.
God told Elijah that He was not in the violent shaking of the earth, the fire, or the wind... but rather a still small voice - to Elijah. Elijah belonged to God. Elijah honored God. For a world that does not know Him, or honor Him, I believe very often the only way He can grab attention is through quakes, fires, and floods.
Friday, May 08, 2009
Prepare the way of the Lord!
Ezekiel wrote of the Glory of God departing from Israel and the description bears out that His Glory departed towards the east, through this gate.
Interesting. Remember which way man was driven from the Garden of Eden because of sin?
Gen 3:24
(24) And He drove the man out. And He lodged the cherubs at the east of the Garden of Eden, and the flaming sword whirling around to guard the way of the Tree of Life.
Eze 11:1-2
(1) And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the eastern gate of the house of Jehovah, the gate which faces eastward. And, behold, at the opening of the gate were twenty five men. And I saw among them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah, the son of Benaiah, leaders of the people.
(2) And He said to me, Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and advise wicked advice in this city,
It's the judges that sit at the gates. Corrupt judges bring the judgment of God. Does that scare anyone else? Thank you GOD for the judges YOU have placed in our nation!
God tends to shut down that which refuses to operate within His guidelines.
Eze 44:1-2
(1) And he brought me back the way of the gate of the outer sanctuary, facing east. And it was shut.
(2) And Jehovah said to me, This gate shall be shut; it will not be opened. And a man shall not enter by it, because Jehovah, the God of Israel, has entered by it; so it shall be shut.
Then Ezekiel sees another vision of this gate, only the Glory of God is returning! This, by the way, has not yet happened. Hence... the shut gate.
Eze 43:1-4
(1) And he made me go to the gate, the gate that faces eastward.
(2) And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. And His voice was like the voice of many waters. And the earth shone from His glory.
(3) And the appearance of the vision which I saw was as the appearance which I saw when I came to destroy the city, and as the appearance that I saw by the river Chebar. And I fell on my face.
(4) And the glory of Jehovah came into the house, the way of the gate facing eastward.
There is a Spirit of Antichrist that John talks about that denies the Deity of Jesus Christ. YET, this hypocritical spirit takes such precautions as to lead men to create a cemetery in front of the Eastern Gate - for one reason and one reason only - to prevent the High Priest from returning through it (for it would make Him unclean, according to Jewish law). I will be there when those tomb stones dissolve and the ground heaves violently - creating a 'clear path' for the Lord to travel.
Interesting. Remember which way man was driven from the Garden of Eden because of sin?
Gen 3:24
(24) And He drove the man out. And He lodged the cherubs at the east of the Garden of Eden, and the flaming sword whirling around to guard the way of the Tree of Life.
Eze 11:1-2
(1) And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the eastern gate of the house of Jehovah, the gate which faces eastward. And, behold, at the opening of the gate were twenty five men. And I saw among them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah, the son of Benaiah, leaders of the people.
(2) And He said to me, Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and advise wicked advice in this city,
It's the judges that sit at the gates. Corrupt judges bring the judgment of God. Does that scare anyone else? Thank you GOD for the judges YOU have placed in our nation!
God tends to shut down that which refuses to operate within His guidelines.
Eze 44:1-2
(1) And he brought me back the way of the gate of the outer sanctuary, facing east. And it was shut.
(2) And Jehovah said to me, This gate shall be shut; it will not be opened. And a man shall not enter by it, because Jehovah, the God of Israel, has entered by it; so it shall be shut.
Then Ezekiel sees another vision of this gate, only the Glory of God is returning! This, by the way, has not yet happened. Hence... the shut gate.
Eze 43:1-4
(1) And he made me go to the gate, the gate that faces eastward.
(2) And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. And His voice was like the voice of many waters. And the earth shone from His glory.
(3) And the appearance of the vision which I saw was as the appearance which I saw when I came to destroy the city, and as the appearance that I saw by the river Chebar. And I fell on my face.
(4) And the glory of Jehovah came into the house, the way of the gate facing eastward.
There is a Spirit of Antichrist that John talks about that denies the Deity of Jesus Christ. YET, this hypocritical spirit takes such precautions as to lead men to create a cemetery in front of the Eastern Gate - for one reason and one reason only - to prevent the High Priest from returning through it (for it would make Him unclean, according to Jewish law). I will be there when those tomb stones dissolve and the ground heaves violently - creating a 'clear path' for the Lord to travel.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Shadow of Greater Things
I found this article excerpt extremely interesting. He has drawn some lines that I have never seen before. Ponder:
Below by Jonathan Cahn:
* America was born in 1789, when its constitution was instituted, congress and the first President.
* On that day, Washington's inaugural speech included a warning that God's blessing would be removed if the government did not remain faithful to God.
* The next day, Washington and the cabinet went to a chapel to pray for two hours, to commit America to God's hand.
* In ancient Israel, judgment came to the place of dedication, the Temple.
* Where is America's ground of consecration? The first inauguration took place in NYC. It was there the warning of judgment took place in NYC, in lower Manhattan.
* After he gave his warning, Washington brought his cabinet to a little chapel, at the corner of the plot of ground known as Ground Zero. It is the mystery place of America's history. The terrorists had no idea they were touching the place where God's protection was prayed for. The spiritual birthplace of the nation is Ground Zero.
* The nation departs from God. Then comes initial judgment. Then comes defiance. Then comes a warning of a second, greater judgment.
* The ultimate purpose of judgment is to call the nation back. The purpose is not to destroy, but to save. Revival often comes with the coming of judgment.* God cannot bless America unless America blesses God.
* 9/11 is a shadow of a greater judgment. The shorter awakening is a shadow of a greater awakening.
Below by Jonathan Cahn:
* America was born in 1789, when its constitution was instituted, congress and the first President.
* On that day, Washington's inaugural speech included a warning that God's blessing would be removed if the government did not remain faithful to God.
* The next day, Washington and the cabinet went to a chapel to pray for two hours, to commit America to God's hand.
* In ancient Israel, judgment came to the place of dedication, the Temple.
* Where is America's ground of consecration? The first inauguration took place in NYC. It was there the warning of judgment took place in NYC, in lower Manhattan.
* After he gave his warning, Washington brought his cabinet to a little chapel, at the corner of the plot of ground known as Ground Zero. It is the mystery place of America's history. The terrorists had no idea they were touching the place where God's protection was prayed for. The spiritual birthplace of the nation is Ground Zero.
* The nation departs from God. Then comes initial judgment. Then comes defiance. Then comes a warning of a second, greater judgment.
* The ultimate purpose of judgment is to call the nation back. The purpose is not to destroy, but to save. Revival often comes with the coming of judgment.* God cannot bless America unless America blesses God.
* 9/11 is a shadow of a greater judgment. The shorter awakening is a shadow of a greater awakening.
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