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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
A voice is announcing from Dan, proclaiming
disaster from the hills of Ephraim.
“Tell this to the nations, proclaim
concerning Jerusalem: ‘A besieging army is coming from a distant land, raising
a war cry against the cities of Judah. They surround her like men guarding a
field, because she has rebelled against me,’” declares the Lord.
“Your own conduct and actions have
brought this on you. This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces
to the heart!”
“Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I
writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot
keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle
cry. Disaster follows disaster; the whole land lies in ruins. In an instant my
tents are destroyed, my shelter in a moment. How long must I see the battle
standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?”
“My people are fools; they do not
know Me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are
skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.”
Jeremiah
4:15-22
This ends today’s reading from God's holy
word. Thanks be to God.
Why is this happening to me?
Why am I going through this difficulty?
Why me, Lord? Why me?
These are common questions we often find ourselves or
others posing to God in times of trouble. We cry out as if there is never any
reason why we should deserve hardship in life but the truth of the matter is
that we choose to ignore our sinfulness and the position it puts us in with God
more often than not.
In other words, we are usually our own worst enemies. We do
it to ourselves and end up in the crosshairs of God’s judgment and discipline.
Frankly, instead of asking why things are happening to us,
perhaps we would be better suited to repent before God and confess our sins
instead, acknowledging that we have fallen short of His will and way, admitting
that we fully deserve the punishment we are experiencing.
This isn’t a new phenomenon for as we see in our scripture
passage from Jeremiah 4, the Israelites had brought trouble on themselves
because of their wicked behavior. Look again at these verses:
A voice is announcing from Dan, proclaiming disaster from the hills of
Ephraim.
“Tell this to the nations, proclaim concerning Jerusalem: ‘A besieging
army is coming from a distant land, raising a war cry against the cities of
Judah. They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled
against me,’” declares the Lord.
“Your own conduct and actions have brought this on you. This is your
punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart!”
“Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my
heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the
sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry. Disaster follows disaster; the
whole land lies in ruins. In an instant my tents are destroyed, my shelter in a
moment. How long must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the
trumpet?”
“My people are fools; they do not know Me. They are senseless children;
they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how
to do good.” Jeremiah
4:15-21
Did you hear what God said about His people?
“Your own conduct and actions have brought this on you. This is your
punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart!”
The people of Israel had brought on God’s penalties because
of their conduct and actions. They were foolish and did not know God, mostly
because they had chosen instead to try and build relationships with worthless,
lifeless idols and gods. In doing so, they showed God they were senseless and
skilled in evil, incapable of doing right because they failed to follow God’s
direction which leads to righteousness. As a result, marauding forces were
sent, first from Assyria and then Babylon, to attack and destroy Israel, even
laying the holy city of Jerusalem to waste. What was once holy land was left in
ruins and the people were hauled away into captivity by the Babylonians for
seventy years.
And the Israelites did it to themselves.
Friends, we had better wake up and wake up quick when it
comes to the way we choose to live this life that God has blessed us with
because we have not been given permission to live in whatever way we want to
and certainly not in accordance with the sinful ways of this world we live in.
He expects us to seek Him to fulfill His desires and live in accordance with
His word and will and way, a life approach that will always draw us away from
sin and toward righteousness and right living.
No one can do it for us. Each of us has to make the choice
to live in a way that is pleasing to God. If we don’t, well we will be next in
line for God to punish, the next generation of foolish people who acted
senseless before Him and behaving as if we have a love for sin and no knowledge
of how to be good.
Let’s all commit ourselves to not allow that to happen and
do whatever it takes to remain in God’s favor every second of every minute of
every hour of every day.
We can do this just as easily as we can sin. Give it a try
and you’ll see.
Amen.
In
Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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