Tag: Paul Predicted Today’s Headlines - 1 Timothy 3-4

2 Timothy 3:1-5

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

Tag:  Paul Predicted Today’s Headlines

You can’t help but read the above passage and think you are reading the local or national news reports.   Today the “selfie” has taken over the hearts and minds of most people ... notice Paul stating men will become lovers of “self.”   It is probably true in any era that men love themselves.  It is our primary occupation ... all men.   Yet, the extent of what Paul is prophesying is being seen in spades today.   It is especially interesting to see the word “unappeasable.”   This is the Greek word aspondos and it means to be unwilling to come to a truce or a covenant.   That certainly incapsulate our society today.  No one seems to want to come to agreement.   We could draw attention to anyone of these words.  Each describes some aspect of today’s society ... in any country.   Paul was literally writing the headlines for our newspapers and the “breaking news” for cable channels.   

Notice that Paul admonition is to “avoid them.”  The word means to turn away from them.  We are not to live in their orbits.    Proverbs 1 tells us that we are to avoid those who seek to run in folly.   Paul is echoing Solomon’s words.   If we want to avoid being part of tomorrow’s headlines we need to avoid those who will soon create them.   

Tag: We Must Bear MORE Fruit - John 13-15

John 15:1-2

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

Tag:   We Must Bear MORE Fruit

I am not a gardener or farmer or anyone who knows much about what Jesus is talking about in the above verse.  I have started to grow roses in front of our house only because the condo association planted them there.   The first couple of years I did not care if the roses lived or died, had one or more roses bloom.   This past year I decided to “help” them along.  I noticed they had some exposer to some hungry bug.   Normally I am not so merciful to plants.  But, as I spared them and began to care for them, guess what?  They actually began to produce more and more roses.   Those visiting began to notice the bright red pedals.   I have a long, long way to go before I know how to care for and produce roses.  However, it gives me some needed insight for the above verses, spoken by Jesus to His disciples moments before his arrest, conviction, crucifixion and subsequent resurrection.  Jesus is in the business of producing fruit in our lives.  Notice a couple of verses later:

John 15:4

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

If we believe and are in Christ we WILL bear fruit.  But, the process of bearing fruit is tough.  There is pruning going on all the time, so that we can bear MORE fruit.   God wants us to bear fruit.  He sent the Spirit to dwell in us to produce that fruit:

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

He does not just want us to bear a little love, joy peace, etc.  He wants us to bear MUCH love, joy peace, etc.   God is pruning us to bear MORE fruit.   We may not like the pruning process.  But, we should rejoice in the MORE fruit prospect.  

The Greek word used here for “prune” is: kathairō; from katharos; to cleanse, i.e. (specially) to prune; figuratively, to expiate: — purge.

This is the sanctification process God is using to make us “clean” for Him. He us “purging”us of our sinfulness. His death paid the penalty for our sin; His life gives us victory over sin and purifies us.   We can’t bear more fruit if we have sin in our lives.   

Tag: God Creates Disaster ... for a Reason - Joel

Joel 1:4

What the cutting locust left,

the swarming locust has eaten.

What the swarming locust left,

the hopping locust has eaten,

and what the hopping locust left,

the destroying locust has eaten.

Tag:  Some Disasters are From God

We live in a world that discounts God’s Working and interventions.   Most people in today’s society believe we live in a world that either God cares nothing about, or is too impotent to intervene.   Yet, in the above passage we see that God is intervening in Judah’s world by sending a destructive swarm of locust to destroy the land because of their constant sinning against Him.  As believers we MUST understand that God does intervene and does send disaster into the world ... for a variety of reasons.   Note what the prophet Isaiah said about this same subject: 

Isaiah 45:7

I form light and create darkness,

I make well-being and create calamity,

I am the Lord, who does all these things.

Isaiah tells us plainly that God DOES create calamity.   God DOES intervene into the affairs of mankind and uses disasters to bring us back to Him and/or capture our attention.   It is, sometimes (often) ONLY in disaster that mankind turns toward God.   The Apostle Paul would not have turned to Christ had he not had God intervene on the road to Damascus with a bolt of light.   Balaam would not have stopped his foolishness had God not intervened with a talking donkey.   God intervenes.  

We are, however, warned that not every calamity is because of God’s intervention or caused by His creating disaster.  Note:

Luke 13:1-5

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Not every disaster is the result of a specific sin of a person.  But, every disaster is the result of sin in the world, as the wages of sin are death and when death comes it is sin conquering ... doing what sin ultimately does.   But, God also intervenes in death by sending His son to overcome death.   

When we see destruction, calamity, disaster and death, we need to know that God MAY have a hand it, but that also He DOES have an antidote for it via His Son.  Jesus overcame the ultimate disaster, death, to give us life.   He sent the locust to punish Israel for this disobedience.  Later in the same book of Joel He will promise to give them the Spirit of God to bless them.   God gives disaster to grab or attention to give us Life!!!

Tag: God Speaks Toward Poverty - Proverbs 22

Proverbs 22:2

The rich and the poor meet together;

the Lord is the maker of them all.

Proverbs 22:7

The rich rules over the poor,

and the borrower is the slave of the lender.

Proverbs 22:9

Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed,

for he shares his bread with the poor.

Proverbs 22:16

Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth,

or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

Proverbs 22:22-23

Do not rob the poor, because he is poor,

or crush the afflicted at the gate,

for the Lord will plead their cause

and rob of life those who rob them.

Tag:  God Speaks Toward Poverty

God understands, directs and gives principles about poverty.   In the instructions to the nation of Israel about poverty God said this:

Leviticus 23:22

“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”

They were supposed to not glean the entire field so that, the poor could find food.  They were not to give to the poor, however.  They were to give opportunity to the poor.  God protects the poor and we are to create opportunities for them.  But, we are not to injury the poor.   We are to assure their better welfare.  Not by giving them welfare, but by making an opportunity for them to advance themselves.   God made the rich and the poor and He can exchange their positions at any time.  

Tag; We Cried - He Heard - Psalm 105-107

Psalms 107:4-6

Some wandered in desert wastes,

finding no way to a city to dwell in;

hungry and thirsty,

their soul fainted within them.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

Tag:  We Cried - He Heard!!

In Psalms 107 we have the song about God rescuing those in need.  Some, due to their own decisions and others due to the sin in this world.  Note that He saves those who cry out:

1.  Those who are simply wandering in the wilderness, who are in poverty:

Psalms 107:4-5

Some wandered in desert wastes,

finding no way to a city to dwell in;

hungry and thirsty,

their soul fainted within them.

We don’t know why they are in this state, only that they call out to God and He saves them. 

2.  Those who are in darkness and don’t know what to do because they failed to obey the Word of God (that was right in front of them).  They were suffering under the weight of their own, self created, circumstances:

Psalms 107:10-14

Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,

prisoners in affliction and in irons,

for they had rebelled against the words of God,

and spurned the counsel of the Most High.

So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;

they fell down, with none to help.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,

and burst their bonds apart.

We don’t know their exact disobedience but we do know God forgave them and rescued them out of trouble.  But, they too had to cry out for help. 

3.  Others, so rebellious to God’s Word, were locked into a life of extreme suffering and close to the gates of death.  Yet, they, too, cried out and were saved:

Psalms 107:17-19

Some were fools through their sinful ways,

and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;

they loathed any kind of food,

and they drew near to the gates of death.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

4.  Those who were simply “doing business” and everyday functions, who fell into the trap of earning a living and building a dream of financial independence:

Psalms 107:23-28

Some went down to the sea in ships,

doing business on the great waters;

they saw the deeds of the Lord,

his wondrous works in the deep.

For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,

which lifted up the waves of the sea.

They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;

their courage melted away in their evil plight;

they reeled and staggered like drunken men

and were at their wits' end.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

No matter the circumstances, God heard their cry and delivered them.  Not in their timing but in His timing.  God delivers.  Psalm 107 is a promise to believe in!!!

Tag: Don’’’t Just Give - Give It All!!! 1 Chronicles 20-24

1 Chronicles 21:20-23

Now Ornan was threshing wheat. He turned and saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and paid homage to David with his face to the ground. And David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of the threshing floor that I may build on it an altar to the Lord—give it to me at its full price—that the plague may be averted from the people.” Then Ornan said to David, “Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems good to him. See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for the wood and the wheat for a grain offering; I give it all.”

Tag:  Don’t Just Give - Give it All!!

In the above passage we see the story of Ornan and his sons giving their threshing floor to King David.  David had done a sinful thing in wanting to “number” all his kingdom.   Although we are not told why, we are told that Joan (who as given the task of counting all the people) was even abhorred by it.  This was an example of a king and his pride.   (This was a like a pastor of church going to a conference and telling everyone how much his church was growing by the numbers.). David’s pride had caused this thing to happen and God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem.  In the midst of the destruction David prays a prayer and the angel of the Lord stops and hovers over Ornan’s place of labor.   David is wanting to have the threshing floor to build the future Temple in Jerusalem and Ornan wants to just give it all to him.   There is no doubt that Ornan and his sons were simply terrified.  We no very little about Ornan but he must have be quite fearful as he had an angle holding a sword over him and the king of Jerusalem standing in front of him.  He was highly motivated to give it all.   David will eventually pay him the worth of the location, the ox and the materials.   But, the truth is, Ornan was willing to give it all.  He didn’t just offer some grain or a simple ox or the threshing floor.  He offered it all, including his tools.   This was an amazing offering.  These were the way he made his living.   In complete faith he offered it all.   God was able to talk his offering and will, via Solomon, build the temple on this location.   Ornan was rewarded with full payment, but his heart was in the right place before that happened.  God rewards the giving heart.   

Tag: Going to Battle Without God is Not Wise - Numbers 13-17

Numbers 14:39-45

Israel Defeated in Battle

When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people mourned greatly. And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.” But Moses said, “Why now are you transgressing the command of the Lord, when that will not succeed? Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies. For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.” But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed out of the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah.

Tag: Going to Battle without God Is Not Wise

That nation of Israel were given a chance to enter the “promise land.”  Because of their fear (their lack of trust in God) they refused to see God’s power and, instead, saw the land as dangerous and destructive.  God said it was flowing with milk and honey.   They saw giants and armies.  God told them He would be with them.  Because they refused to trust God’s plan, God would not allow them to enter into the land ... the land of promise.  However, rather than not go into the land and rather than not go in under God’s plan, they simply decided to go alone.  After God stopped them from going they, again, disobeyed God and headed out to conquer the promise land by themselves.   In the above passage we see what happens when we attempt to conquer the enemy without God’s help.   God says He will be with us “always.”  However, that assumes we are with Him always.  That assumes we are walking with Him and doing His will and following His plan.  When we disobey God’s Word and fail to trust Him, we should not plan on having Him fight our battles or carry us through the fires of life.  When we set the fire, God is not obligated to put it out or keep us from it.   God has a plan for us and will walk us through the plan when we trust Him.  When we don’t follow His plan we should not expect Him to go with us.