Some spiritual nuggets to “chew” on

Humorous to a point, but more importantly this serves as a reminder to me to not shelve God for another “god” though compromise of His Word for the sake of worldly tolerance/“political correctness”  or “unity”.

Exodus 20:3-6
3 "You shall have no other gods before [a] me.
4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments. (See also: Isaiah 44:6-8 & Isaiah 45:5-7)

Matthew 10:4-39
34"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
   " ‘a man against his father,
      a daughter against her mother,
   a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law –
36a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.'[e]

37"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

2nd Corinthians 6: 14-18
14Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15What harmony is there between Christ and Belial[b]? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."[c]
17"Therefore come out from them
      and be separate, says the Lord.
   Touch no unclean thing,
      and I will receive you."[d]
18"I will be a Father to you,
      and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

1st Timothy 2:1-6
1I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.

Grace and peace be with you.

Amos – You can run…

The situation:  Amos is sent to announce God’s judgement against the the northern kingdom of Israel. Israel was performing half-hearted worship, merely going through rituals, while still flirting with pagan shrines at Bethel and other places of worship.  See links for Introduction and commentaries at bottom of post for more details.

Amos 9:1-4
1 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:
       "Strike the tops of the pillars
       so that the thresholds shake.
       Bring them down on the heads of all the people;
       those who are left I will kill with the sword.
       Not one will get away,
       none will escape.

2 Though they dig down to the depths of the grave,
       from there my hand will take them.
       Though they climb up to the heavens,
       from there I will bring them down.

3 Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
       there I will hunt them down and seize them.
       Though they hide from me at the bottom of the sea,
       there I will command the serpent to bite them.

4 Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
       there I will command the sword to slay them.
       I will fix my eyes upon them
       for evil and not for good."

Some pretty hard language coming from God huh?  Perhaps a little unsettling, compared to the loving version of God that’s so much easier to talk about.  Regardless of what notions you the reader or myself may have about God, this too is a nature of God that one can only avoid in their minds.  On God’s Word, we can be assured that though we might get away with living outside of His commands (sinning) for a while, there is no escaping judgement.  God, through His prophet Amos is telling Israel exactly so in Amos 9.

We have free will to go through life avoiding, "hiding" from, or even outright denying that God exists.  We can doubt His Word. We can even make our own interpretations of His Word to better fit our manufactured image of how we desire God to be.  A few problems with this thought process though are that when we do, we lie about God by bringing Him down to our level.  We also lie to ourselves by worshiping this reduced "version" of God.  It’s then not God that we’re striving for a relationship with, rather an idol (Exodus 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before  me.." ) that we’ve erected. There is however good news, a way to avoid the "nastiness" of all this doom and gloom.

1st Corinthians 15:1-4
1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Grace and peace be with you.

 

Amos: Introduction, Amos 9 commentaries

Dethroning Idols – Blackaby devotional

So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.
Acts 19:20

Paul’s world worshiped idols. No idol was more revered in Ephesus than the goddess Diana. The great statue was housed in a magnificent temple and was recognized as one of the wonders of the world. An idol-making industry, providing a livelihood for many people, developed in Ephesus to support the widespread idolatry of the day.

Paul did not go to Ephesus to condemn those worshiping idols but to unashamedly proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. As Paul shared the truths of God, and as people were set free from sin’s bondage, idol worship began to decline. The contrast between stone carvings and God’s power to change lives became obvious. The righteous lives of the Christians stood in stark contrast to the hedonistic practices of the idol worshipers. The victorious Christian witness was so compelling that the economy of the entire city was thrown into upheaval as idolatry diminished in favor of Christianity.

An idol is anything that diverts our devotion from God. Our society is as idolatrous as Paul’s was. Rather than worshiping statues, we choose possessions, pleasures, or careers as our gods and pour our time, finances, and energy into these things.

Each of us is called, as Paul was, to live a victorious, joyful, and purposeful Christian life in the midst of an idolatrous society. We do not have to seek out and condemn today’s idols. Rather, as we live out our Christianity, enjoying the abundant life God gives, our lives will discredit the idols around us. We may face opposition and hostility from those who are angered at the contrast between our God and theirs. People do not like to have their idols dethroned. Yet as we uphold Christ, others will see a difference and be drawn to Him and the life that He offers.

Henry and Richard Blackaby
Experiencing God Day-by-Day

Emphatic Exclamations: Exodus & Ezekiel

From Chapter 18 of Ezekiel, we have the Sovereign Lord explaining to Ezekiel the prophet (through a vision?) how He judges each of us for the manner in which we conduct our life.  The basic premise (Christianity 101 if you will) is that sin, the act of disobedience to God, his Word, His commands, separates us from His holiness & therefore results in death.

Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[a] Christ Jesus our Lord.

God is setting straight the people of Israel concerning a proverb that they had used; and from what I gather the Israelites had either misunderstood the proverb to mean that a child would be judged for their father’s sins (see Exodus 20:4-6), or in view of Exodus 20:4-6, was since then rescinded by God (?).

Ezekiel 18:1-3
1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel:
” ‘The fathers eat sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?

3 “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. 4 For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son—both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.

An additional thought or two regarding  Exodus 20:4-6 which reads:

Exodus 20:4-6
4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.

It occurs to me that Exodus 20:4-6, specifically the passage: “…for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation…” is what is focused on, what’s remembered from this commandment forbidding idol worship.  What gets lost though is the consequences of the father that sins against God (hating Him).  A very simplified idea that comes to mind is that when a father neglects to raise his children up in the way of the Lord,because he’s not following God himself, he “condemns” his children because he perpetuates the natural inclination to live a sinful lifestyle.  The father has failed to guide the child(ren) to an alternate choice of  living morally through God which mitigates sin.

As for the idea of God rescinding the “generational curse” portion for disobedience to Exodus 20:4-6, Ezekiel 18:1-3 definitely seems to support this when God speaks what sounds like a command to cease  quoting the proverb, followed by a declaration that each man is responsible for their own actions regarding living either a wicked or a righteous life (Ezekiel 18:18-32). See also: Jeremiah 31:27-33.

Grace and peace be with you.

You pick: Not your garden variety or Deciphering doublespeak

After finishing the book of Jeremiah, an initial thought that still lingers is the intensity of the language used by God as He spoke through Jeremiah to Judah and Jerusalem of it’s infidelity.  God, pulls no punches!

Jeremiah 2:20,23-25
20 “… you lay down as a prostitute.”

23 “…
       You are a swift she-camel
       running here and there,

24 a wild donkey accustomed to the desert,
       sniffing the wind in her craving—
       in her heat who can restrain her?
       Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves;
       at mating time they will find her.

25 Do not run until your feet are bare
       and your throat is dry.
       But you said, ‘It’s no use!
       I love foreign gods,
       and I must go after them.’

As I read these passages, a refreshed view was reaffirmed in my mind concerning God’s disdain of worshipping false gods and idols by His creation.  In our relationship with God, I believe that we could/would avoid much of our self-inflicted stumbling if we simply obey God on the premise that “Father knows best”.  Easier said than done it seems, as walking righteous calls for denial of what we are naturally inclined to do or pursue (Jeremiah 2:25, See: Galatians 5:19-21). I think this is where trust and submitting to His authority plays in, a thought for another time however.

 

Since it is sin that wedges a gap in our relationship with God, I decided to go back and have another look at the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-20), after taking in the recounting of man’s rebellion and the subsequent judgement rendered by God (Jeremiah).  Interestingly, I found that of the 10 Commandments; idol worship  (Exodus 20:4-6) and keeping the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-9) are the two lengthiest (just a little trivia because you never know; it might be a Jeopardy question one day).  In verse 4 of Exodus 20, God spoke:

Exodus 20:4-6
4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Fast forward from Exodus to the Book of Jeremiah, and we see God preparing to render judgement against the Israelites.  This is not a case of God waking up on the wrong  and having a case of the “Mondays”.  No, He appeared to pretty much have just had enough of the idol worship, and other sins committed by His people.  In Jeremiah 3:1, God speaking with rhetorical questions says:

 

Jeremiah 3:1
1 “If a man divorces his wife
       and she leaves him and marries another man,
       should he return to her again?
       Would not the land be completely defiled?
       But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers—
       would you now return to me?”
       declares the LORD.

Sounds similar to what a jilted and heart broken lover or what a victim of adultery might say or think in their heart (Mark Carlton’s post on God’s “feelings”).  The Lord is apparently jealous, which brings up the other thought weighing on my mind…

In April, I posted on the New Earth movement spear headed by Oprah Winfrey (hmmm?  maybe her initials are indicative of all of us, simply hurting.) and Eckhart Tolle.  The post amounted mostly to links to videos on another site along with a bit of my own opinion.  Since then I hadn’t given much thought to Oprah… until a few days ago. Reading Jeremiah and the 10 Commandments rebooted my memory to the, “God is jealous of me?” statement she made:

  

Oprah told a personal story from her Baptist upbringing during which she was in church (around the age of 27 or 28 years of age) and was caught up in the rapture of the moment until she heard her Pastor say, “The Lord thy God is a jealous God.”

Oprah’s immediate inward response was, “God is jealous of me?”
It was then Oprah began searching for something more remembering that God is love, omnipresent, and omniscient. “I asked God to use me, that has been my prayer for many years,” Oprah conveyed.
Source

Like Judah and Jerusalem, Oprah seems to have made the mistake in putting herself before God (“God is jealous of me?”) instead of behind Him.  It seems that she let an issue she had with a few words distract her just enough to not grasp the context nor the source of provocation for God’s jealousy. That in and of itself, is not the issue at hand.  By way of her disenchantment with God’s emotions, Oprah essentially accuses Jesus of being a liar, then goes on to “create” her own version of God, and His plan for salvation.  In the Bible, Jesus claimed to be the “way and the truth” and that no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). Oprah and Tolle “preach” that there are many paths to the Father (assuming that we’re talking about the same Father), based on how one interprets who or what God is.  Hmmm!?… I guess it all depends on what your definition of ‘is’, is.  As I close, it occurs to me that Oprah’s statement comes off as kind of an arrogant statement toward God.

Exodus 20:2-3
2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

 

Grace and peace be with you.

Technorati Tags: God,Jeremiah,Israelites,judgement,sin,Exodus,Oprah Winfrey,EckhartTolle,idolatry,adultery