ONLY JESUS COUNTS

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In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.

Ecclesiastes 8:14 

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today is Independence Day in the United States, a day when we take time to celebrate the freedoms that make this nation so great. There will be parades and picnics and fireworks after dark. Families will take the time to gather together for food and fellowship.

Yes, the 4th of July every year is always a special day but the celebrations I mentioned are all worldly in nature. We observe how men and women have fought and won liberties that people enjoy today but in doing so, we miss the bigger picture. We miss celebrating the only One, Jesus, who truly provides freedom.

For on Independence Day, and every day we live for that matter, only Jesus counts.

Take a look at the world we live in and you will find that although there are freedoms, there are also inequities and injustice, even in America. Things aren’t perfect although sometimes we want to think they are. Thank goodness that in our verse from Ecclesiastes, Chapter 8, Solomon wasn’t afraid to share a frank observation about the society he lived in more than 2,000 years ago, an observation that still holds true today. Look at his words here:

There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. (v14)

Are the righteous immune free from experiencing judgment like the wicked?

The answer is absolutely not.

Do people who are wicked walk free on earth like the righteous when they deserve to be incarcerated for their evil deeds?

The answer is absolutely yes.

Sometimes the righteous are persecuted, murdered, or imprisoned for their faith, losing their freedom and treated as if they are criminals. If you don’t believe it, check out websites for International Christian Concern (http://www.persecution.org) or The Voice of the Martyrs (http://www.persecution.com). Someone righteous is being treated as if they are wicked this very moment.

In these nations, where persecution exists, the wicked, the ones who carry out acts of violence against the righteous are lifted up as if they were righteous themselves. Sinful acts are celebrated and even encouraged. Evil walks free while the holy suffer.

What in the world is going on? How can we celebrate freedom on a day when so many people are not free?

Again, it’s all about Jesus because He is the only one who counts.

Friends, we can’t gauge freedom in life on what happens in the world. No worldly expression of freedom is perfect just as no man or woman is perfect. As long as people walk this earth, righteous people will experience what the wicked deserve and the wicked will seem to go unscathed from their sinfulness. We need to remember that our only true freedom comes from Jesus Christ alone. The scriptures affirm this fact in the Gospel of John:

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36

Want freedom?

You have to have Jesus for when it comes to being liberated now and forever, He is the only One who can give it to you.

In the end translation, only Jesus counts.

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

TURN FROM WICKEDNESS

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then too, I saw the wicked buried—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.

When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

Ecclesiastes 8:10-13 

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Many people see life as offering a multitude of options when it comes to what they can do to make something out of their life and write their individual stories. But this is a worldly way to look at life and living. The spiritual way of looking at life reveals the reality that there are only two choices: righteousness or wickedness.

It’s simple. We either do what is right or we do what is wrong. We either follow the Lord and His will and way or we opt to allow Satan to lead us into sin and evil. We either choose life, now and forever, in Jesus Christ or death from transgression and a stubborn refusal to accept the salvation invitation freely offered from God through His Son.

As we look at our scripture passage for today, we find God’s word giving us tangible reasons why we need to turn away from wickedness on our lives, for the potential for it haunts every single person, every single day. Sin is always crouching at our doors (Genesis 4:7). Let’s look at the scripture and then at what the Lord is saying to us today:

Then too, I saw the wicked buried—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.

When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow. Ecclesiastes 8:10-13

1. Justice is critically important.

When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong.

We often complain about correction, especially when we are the ones being corrected but as we look at these words of God, perhaps we need to rejoice in discipline when it comes upon us. For when we fail and fall into sin, the quicker we are punished for it, the better, For the longer we go without penalty, the more sin continues to establish a foothold in our hearts and minds and spirits, filling us with ideas of more wicked schemes to carry out.

In other words, if unchecked, wickedness begets more wickedness and that’s not the direction any person of God should want to go in.

2. The amount of time we live doesn’t really matter.

Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him.

You can live a very long life even though you’ve been wicked and rejected the Lord. You may have committed countless crimes and even outlive many righteous people here on earth. But in the end, death is your final destination and there is nothing beyond it. For only through Jesus, through choosing to live for and like the One who is the only way to the Father, the One who is the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6), can you find your way to eternal life after death. This is why it goes better for a person who fears and respects God, one who gladly receives His salvation offer through His Son Jesus and lives in reverence unto Him.

3. It will not go well for anyone who chooses to be wicked.

Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

God hates sin and He hates when people refuse His offer of righteousness and opt for wickedness instead. The scriptures are full of examples where God brought down judgment and wrath on those who chose to reject Him, those who decided to partner with Satan instead. There is little doubt that it will not go well for anyone who decides to be wicked and disrespect God.

4. Any praise or honor for the wicked is meaningless.

I saw the wicked buried—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.

Solomon shares how he observed the wicked being buried after receiving praise and honor for their lives lived in the cities where they sinned. The hollow display of respect and homage was meaningless (and it could even be called foolish) because it came from man. The only way life has meaning, both as it is being lived and after death, is if a person chose to revere and show esteem for God by living in His righteousness and accepting His Son as Savior. It’s what makes the remembrance of one who has died a celebration of life and not a funeral because death has no victory over anyone who is in Christ Jesus. They have entered into a better life, receiving their part of a rich inheritance which includes living with God the Father and His Son Jesus forever, free from sin and affliction and hardship.

Friends, the word of God frames up nicely why we should always turn away from wickedness. Whether we do or not, is up to us.

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

ONLY ONE TRUE LORD

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt.

Ecclesiastes 8:9 

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we have journeyed first through 1 Kings and then 1 and 2 Chronicles and finally Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, we have come to know a lot about Solomon, the son of David who assumed the throne of Israel after his father’s passing.

Ask most people to tell what they know about Solomon and I would guess that almost all your responses would be complimentary in nature, focusing on Solomon’s wisdom and faith in God.

But did you know that Solomon ended up with a very bad reputation among his people, seen as an oppressor who mistreated those he led?

It’s true. We know this from the following verses in 1 Kings, Chapter 12:

Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.” (vv 1-4)

Rehoboam was installed as King of Israel after Solomon passed and from the words of the “whole assembly of Israel” we learn that Solomon, Rehoboam’s father, had placed a heavy yoke on the people through harsh labor. The people hoped for relief from their hardship now that a new king was ascending to the throne.

Ironically, we have the following words written by Solomon himself in the 8th Chapter of Ecclesiastes:

All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt. (v9)

Solomon had it all. He asked God for wisdom to lead the Israelites and God answered that request including a great amount of wealth and splendor to go along with it. And yet, in the end he lorded over others, oppressing them to his own hurt. A man who could have been loved and admired by his people for the righteous and loving way he treated them instead became detested and left his son with a mess to deal with. Solomon lorded over others to his own hurt but his son had a chance to get things back where they needed to be. All he had to do is lighten the load on the people and he would have gained their favor, admiration, and appreciation.

This is tack that the wise elders advised the newly crowned young king to take. Look at their guidance:

“If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.” 1 Kings 12:7

The king was to serve the people he reigned over and the people were looking for the king to offer them relief. If the young king would comply with their request, the people would want to serve him without being forced to do so. He could have righted the ship and helped his people, the chosen people of God who had been placed under his rule.

But the young king chose to reject the counsel of the elders, opting instead to listen to the young men he grew up with who said this to him:

“These people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’” 1 Kings 12:10-11

In other words, Rehoboam would essentially say to the people, “If you thought my father was bad, you haven’t seen anything yet!”

And that’s just what he did.

So what happened?

The words of Rehoboam’s father, Solomon, the one who created the situation Rehoboam found himself in, came to life:

There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt.

Rehoboam chose to oppress instead of relieve oppression and so the people chose to not follow him anymore. Here’s how the scriptures detail the event:

When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:

“What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse’s son? To your tents, Israel! Look after your own house, David!”

So the Israelites went home. But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.  1 Kings 12:16-17

Essentially, Rehoboam lost eight-tenths of his kingdom with one unwise decision, a decision to lord over his people. I would say that he made the wrong choice to his own hurt, wouldn’t you?

We really don’t need to guess because the actions of the people who broke free of Rehoboam, under the leadership of Jeroboam, validates the fact. For after the people left, Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor, to bring them back but he was stoned to death. King Rehoboam was also endangered but scriptures tell us he managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:18).

It was obvious that the oppressed now joined together to eliminate the oppressor if any attempt was made to return the people to what used to be.

One young king’s decision led to a divided kingdom. His father’s oppressive rule at the end of his reign set the stage for it. In both cases, a man lorded over others to their own hurt.

So what are we to take away from this? What lesson is God teaching us today?

The answer is that there is only one true Lord and He is the Lord God Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, the only One who has the authority to lord over us.

Man has no place lording over others to the point of oppression and mistreatment. It’s not that people aren’t placed in authority over others by God because they are, but ultimately they are accountable to God for the way they lead, they are to consult Him for the way they govern.

Look at the story of Rehoboam in 1 Kings 12 and you will see that the young king never once turned to God for direction as to how he should proceed. If he had, the results would have most probably been much different. But he didn’t and as a result, the kingdom that the Lord had established with twelve tribes united for a common cause became fractured, broken apart because a king chose to lord instead of turning things over to THE Lord.

As we deal with others, and particularly when we are placed in authority over others in some way, we need to remember this lesson from the scriptures. We are to not lean on our own understanding when it comes to important decisions impacting the people we are to lead but rather to turn to the Lord and lead them in the way He wills us to.

Only then will we ensure that we lead right and in a way that will have positive results, both for us as leaders and for the people the only one true Lord has blessed us to lead.

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

NO ONE

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?

As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has power over the time of their death.

As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

Ecclesiastes 8:7-8 

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In a recent contemporary Christian song by Aaron Shust, the following proclamation is made:

There is no one higher

No one greater
No one like our God

(listen here: No One Higher https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bIaesTlgjA)

The essence is simple. No one can rival God.

No one.

And yet, we find people always trying to be gods unto themselves - self reliant, self serving, and self sufficient. Overcome with a bold and sinful pride that infects with an attitude of arrogance and egotism, these people lord over others and think there is no one greater or more beautiful or better off than they are.

In the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, we find an example of such a person in the King of Tyre. Once a man of wisdom who used the intellect that God gave him to build a thriving, wealthy city, the king was overcome by greed and selfish pride, so much so that he declared to others that he was a god, a statement that didn’t set well with THE God, the God who commanded that there would be no other gods before Him, the God who sent the following message to the King of Tyre through Ezekiel:

Your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the sea.’ Yet you are a man and not a god, though you have regarded your heart as that of a god.

Because you regard your heart as that of a god, I am about to bring strangers against you, ruthless men from the nations. They will draw their swords against your magnificent wisdom and will defile your splendor. They will bring you down to the Pit, and you will die a violent death in the heart of the sea.

Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’ in the presence of those who kill you? Yet you will be only a man, not a god, in the hands of those who kill you. You will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of strangers. For I have spoken. This is the declaration of the Lord God. Ezekiel 28:2, 6-10

The King of Tyre was not a god. He was only a man, a human king (lower case “k”) in the presence of the one true God, the King of all kings. A man who was going to die just like any other man would at the hands of an enemy.

There is no one like God. No one.

No president or prime minister. No king or prince or emperor. No CEO or other boss or supervisor. No human being on earth.

And if someone does try and assert themselves as a god, they will face the same judgment as the King of Tyre for God simply will not be challenged by mere mortals.

This theme of God’s greatness over all is at the heart of our scripture passage from Ecclesiastes as we continue our study in Chapter 8. Look at these words that remind us that there is no one like God:

Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?

As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has power over the time of their death.

As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it. 

Ecclesiastes 8:7-8 

God’s word is clear here in these four statements:

1. Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?

No one knows the future and what’s to come although there are any number of human beings who think they can tell you through a horoscope or palm reading or tarot cards. Woe be it to the people who dupe others into believing they have some insight into the future when they really don’t and woe be it to the people who seek and trust in these people. God will not be matched by anyone and only He knows our future. No one else does.

2. As no one has power over the wind to contain it.

Read your Bible and only one person ever controlled the winds. It was God’s only Son Jesus, the One who had all the power of God in Him as He walked among mankind. You’ll recall that the disciples were in a boat with Jesus who was asleep when a squall caused the winds to blow hard and the waves to build up to a point where the disciples became afraid the boat would capsize. They awake Jesus who rebuked the wind and calmed the storm. The disciples, astonished at what had just happened, said:

“Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” Luke 8:25

Why were they amazed and afraid? Because no one else could do what Jesus did. That’s because there was no one like Him, no one with the power to control the wind and no one with the power to save. No one.

3. No one has power over the time of their death.

Answer this question for me: When will you die?

You don’t know, do you?

Even people facing death, really don’t know when they might die. There have been more than a few cases where people were given just days or even hours to live and somehow they miraculously survived and lived to testify about it. The truth of the matter of life is simply this: God brought us into the world at His appointed time and He will take us from the world when He deems it’s time. We have no say in the matter because no one has power over the time of their death.

4. As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

We all are sinners and so we all have the propensity for evil and wickedness. When we allow our transgressions to dominate who we are, we become entrapped in iniquity and immorality, entangled in our wrongs with no power in and of ourselves to escape. For no one has the power to release themselves from wickedness. Only God can grant us that power through His righteousness, shining His light into our darkness as He illuminates the path for us to walk out of the trap of sin or throwing us a lifeline when we have slipped deep into the pit to pull us out and back into the glory of His presence and peace and love.

No one can help us escape sin except the One who strengthens us to do all things (Philippians 4:13).

Thanks be to God for that truth for no one can do what he can do. Today and every day, let’s give thanks to God for all He has been, all that He is, and all that He is yet to be. For He is truly the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He has no rival and the best news of all is that He is with us. All we need to do is trust Him and Him alone, now and forever.

Friends, there is no one like our God. No one.

Let’s proclaim it to the world today and in every day He blesses us with.

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