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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.
I am against you, Jerusalem, you
who live above this valley on the rocky plateau, declares the Lord—you who say,
“Who can come against us? Who can enter our refuge?” I will punish you as your
deeds deserve, declares the Lord. I will kindle a fire in your forests that
will consume everything around you.’”
Jeremiah 21:13-14
This ends today’s reading from God's holy
word. Thanks be to God.
As we
read the headlines recently, terrorism is dominating the world picture.
Horrific attacks in Paris, an assault on hotel patrons in Mali, a plot uncovered
in Germany before it was carried out, and intelligence that suggests an
imminent threat exists in Brussels have placed people at alert and reminded us
all that evil is alive and well here on earth.
Those who
are carrying out these acts are living under their own set of ideologies which endorse,
support, and encourage the murdering of others and they are non-discriminate in
doing so. They scheme and attack in ways that seek to manifest fear with the
hope that their ideals and principles will one day dominate the world stage,
and in doing so, they carry themselves as if there is no accountability under
the God who has clearly commanded in the scriptures to not murder.
How could
anyone or any organization of people choose to sin in such a way in clear sight
of a God who hates sin and is infinitely powerful than they are?
It’s easy
to do when you live with a false sense of confidence and you don’t have to be a
terrorist to do it.
You see,
many people go through life openly sinning while feeling there will never be
consequences for their actions. It happens all the time and we seem to forget
that in the Bible God judged and corrected people who would not repent and turn
from their wickedness, often in devastating ways (think Sodom and Gomorrah for
a moment).
As we
have seen in our study of Jeremiah, the Israelites during that time in Judah
and Jerusalem had chosen to openly sin against God, worshipping pagan gods and
idols in direct violation of His command not to do so. God had sent warnings to
them through His prophet but they would not listen. They refused to believe God
would punish them for what they were doing and were more bent on carrying out
their own desires than following His.
It was
another perfect example of false self confidence that God addressed through the
final verses of Jeremiah. Chapter 21:
I am against you, Jerusalem, you who live above this valley on the
rocky plateau, declares the Lord—you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can
enter our refuge?” I will punish you as your deeds deserve, declares the Lord. I
will kindle a fire in your forests that will consume everything around you.’” Jeremiah 21:13-14
The
people of Jerusalem were living with a false sense of security. The Lord had
called them out for the disrespect and disregard they showed Him through their
belief in false gods but they did not think they could be touched as evident in
their words:
“Who can come against us? Who can enter our refuge?”
They were
soon going to find out that there is no where anyone can go that is out of the
reach of God’s judgment. Indeed, He did show them that they would be found and
suffer the consequences for their sins as He sent the Babylonians to carry out
His punishment against them, a punishment that left Judah and Jerusalem razed
and left in ruins while the people were taken away into a seventy year exile.
Going
back to my opening, everyone is wondering how we will be able to fight against
the terrorism that seems to lurk in places hard to detect, ready to take action
at any time to hurt and harm others. Those who are plotting and planning do so
with the same attitude the Israelites had believing no one can come against
them or enter into the refuge of their organization. They carry with them a
false self confidence that is going to get them eradicated by a God who has
always done away with sinners who feel they are immune from His judgment.
Rest
assured, God is going to act against ISIS and any other organization or person
who comes against Him and when He does, there will be no doubting that He rules
and reigns in authority over everything in the heavens and the earth.
I can say
that with absolute confidence because it is a truth backed up by the very word
of God.
Amen.
In
Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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