Archive for July, 2024
Right Is Left and Left Is Right
Is there ever a time when you discover you have had a long standing opinion regarding something only to find you had it backwards? An example is what is a Jonquil and what is a Daffodil. I have a degree in horticulture and had to change my opinion regarding which is what. Not having studied horticulture in a long time there may have been a time I had them right only now to discover I have had them backwards.
Jonquils have smaller stems with more than one flower per stem. The plants are usually smaller and the flowers have a stronger fragrance.
Daffodils are usually larger plants and flowers with one flower per stem. Their blossoms normally have a more trumpet shaped corona than do Jonquils. They are more popular than Jonquils and are more often called a Jonquil.
The misunderstanding is so common some cities are noted as being named for one with the flower of the other actually being grown in their area.
Many people use the terms interchangeably, but they are technically different.
In our society there is often a moral, spiritual, and theological reversal of what is right or wrong.
The prophet Isaiah wrote of the corruption in his society. He wrote a parable using a vineyard to illustrate the mixed-up saying: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5: 20, 21)
The vineyard, that is the people, illustrated by it had many advantages they were at risk of losing. The vineyard belonged to a loving person (my Well-beloved). It was planted on a very fruitful hill. The ground was carefully prepared (dug it up and cleared out its stones). It was planted with good stock (planted it with the choicest vine). It was protected (a tower in its midst). Provision was made for the fruit to be processed (made a winepress in it).
In the parable the “beloved” is God. The “one I love” is the people.
Isaiah wrote of the impending judgment on such a society. “And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, But there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds That they rain no rain on it” (Isaiah 5: 5, 6).
Isaiah’s powerful words about social justice would be hard for some of our privileged people to hear and his equally powerful words about God’s judgment upon sin would be hard for some social justice folks to hear.
The only way for the vineyard people to avoid the judgment they have inflicted on themselves is to repent, and thus avoid the “Woe.”
Disobedience Has a Deadline – Part Two
Consider again the case of Jerusalem and God’s discipline. Jerusalem was “Rebellious and polluted;” “thou oppressive city!” The city was in a sinful state of spiritual decadence. Through His prophet Zephaniah God identified four phases of their decadence and warned them of judgment if they did not repent and respond obediently. Of Jerusalem Zephaniah wrote using “She has not” four times: “Jerusalem, the wicked city. Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted . . .
-She has not obeyed His voice, (she heard it, but did not obey it).
-She has not received correction; (she received correction, that is, she interpreted it instead as undeserved discipline and hence rejected it).
-She has not trusted in the Lord, (she did not trust God, but rather man).
-She has not drawn near to her God (she did not repent and return to God).
Her princes in her midst are roaring lions; Her judges are evening wolves that leave not a bone till morning.” (Zephaniah 3:1-4). The brackets are my added description of what is meant by each of the four depictions of Jerusalem.
“Her princes” is a reference to the rulers. They were venal and greedy, corrupt.
“Her judges” are characterized as a wolf that devours its prey so completely there is not a bone left to be gnawed in the morning. They are “polluted,” referring to her inward moral filth, in spite of her outward ceremonial purity. This is descriptive of corrupt judges. America has just witnessed the corrupted trial of former President Trump. The judgment of guilt against him is important, but the prostituting of the court is even more grave. For our judicial systems to be politicized is to undermine the best judicial system in the world. Hundreds of legal authorities across America have used various terms to emphasize the aspects of misconduct by the judge who campaigned for election on the basis he would “Get Trump.” He thus considered Trump guilty before trial and risked his reputation to manipulate the legal system to gain a guilty verdict.
God warned them definitively to repent or be disciplined. They didn’t and God did. As always He followed His progressive steps: God warns. God waits. God keeps His word. Then came God’s wrath. He disciplined them using the sinful nation to discipline them. They overwhelmed Jerusalem and the people of their land and the Babylonians took them into exile.
There are numerous Bible examples of God disciplining nations. America should not expect to be exempted from God’s judgment as long our response to God’s grace period is negative.
One response of Jerusalem was to think God would “look the other way.” As a result they looked the other way away from God. Today it appears America feels God is a loving God and won’t deal harshly with it. They feel God is too good to punish people individually and/or collectively. Truly God is loving and longsuffering, but He is just, and thus must judge. What loving parent does not discipline his child. God is loving therefore He must judge. Don’t push God.
Disobedience Has a Deadline – Part One
Included amidst twelve Old Testament Minor Prophets is the last of nine pre-exilic books, Zephaniah, written as a warning before the Babylonian exile. Jerusalem had become decadent, profligate, and degenerate. Zephaniah listS four descriptive prevailing conditions. See if there is a parallel to modern America.
Of Jerusalem Zephanian wrote using “She has not” four times: “Jerusalem, the wicked city. Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, To the oppressing city!
-She has not obeyed His voice, (she heard it, but did not obey it).
-She has not received correction; (she received correction, that is, she interpreted it instead as undeserved discipline and hence rejected it).
-She has not trusted in the Lord, (she did not trust God, but rather man).
-She has not drawn near to her God (she did not repent and return to God).
Her princes in her midst are roaring lions; Her judges are evening wolves that leave not a bone till morning” (Zephaniah 3:1-4). The brackets are my added description of what is meant by each of the four depictions of Jerusalem.
Have our princes, ruling class that is, undertaken our destruction?
Have the judges of America become evening wolves? As predators wolves often hunt in the evening. Are our courts turning on us?
Let us pray, live, and serve that the “not” be removed from the four and that the expression might then be applied to us personally, and to America in general.
She has . . . obeyed His voice.
She has . . . received correction.
She has . . . trusted in the Lord.
She has . . . drawn near to her God.
To obey His voice would mean to establish a Bible based morality.
To receive correction would involve turning away from existing immorality.
To trust Him means to rely on Him and take His word as our will.
To draw near to Him would entail a sweeping spiritual revival.
Now, stand by those standards as your personal “wall height meter” to measure your spiritual height. Do you need to personally adjust in any area of your life to meet His standards?
Jesus is the personal standard. The old WWJD is still the standard for our lives. The question is a simple guide to help us think, talk and act like Jesus. In the life you live, either you are guided by the word of God or by the world. By the world, it means the standards set by human beings. The standard set by people is sinking sand. God’s word is a reliable standard for individuals and nations. It acts like a mirror (James 1:22-25) and gives us the right perspective of who we are and who we ought to be. Take a look in the mirror.
A Spiritual Schizophrenic
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins” (II Peter 1: 5 – 9).
After experiencing the marvelous transformation made possible after being born again we are thereafter to “give all diligence” to add to our spiritual stature these admirable attributes. These attributes are not optional. Taken together they lead to a well rounded character. We are to work in partnership with God to develop them. These traits are not to be in us passively, they are to abound. If a person does not abound in these traits they have “I trouble,” that is, they can’t get God focused in their life. Having forgotten what the Lord saved us from we tend to neglect what it means to have a new life in Jesus.
Persons having forgotten what the Lord saved them from and failing to grow in faith become spiritual schizophrenics, that is, they have developed mutually contradictory or antagonistic parts or qualities in life. The religious schizophrenic is the person who claims to be a true Christian and yet their life is not controlled by the Holy Spirit.
Virtue is a reference to moral excellence. A thing is spoken of as being virtuous when it is fulfilling its purpose. The purpose of our moral excellence is virtuous. Virtue, or moral excellence means fulfilling what you are supposed to do, which is to glorify God by your life by becoming like Jesus and following Him.
We are to evidence knowledge. The word for knowledge here (gnwsin/ gnosin) is not the one for intellectual knowledge, but the practical knowledge of understanding and application that comes with experience.
Self-control is an abstinence from the lust of the world. It controls all which includes reason, emotion and will through the knowledge of God’s word and will.
Perseverance as used here (upomonh / hupomon) literally means “to abide/dwell under that which is severe,” hence the idea of endurance. We are not to compromise when our faith is tested by trials. We have to persevere in our trials, living in a sin fallen world because things do not work the way God originally created them.
Godliness means to be sold-out for the Lord. In other words, godliness means to live completely for God and be joyful about it.
Brotherly love exists because of a likeness to the other, especially our Elder Brother, Jesus.
Self-sacrificial love chooses and commits itself to the best interest of the other. This is the love of God that is given to us, and it is the type of love that we should give others.
We are to give diligence to developing these attributes and not being a schizophrenic Christian.
A Parody Involving God and You
Consider the following in light of some of your personal challenges.
God said, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another…” John 13: 34. Comes the response: “But God you don’t understand, if you had seen what they did to me you would know why I don’t love them.”
The omnipotent all powerful God said, “I was with you. You were not at Calvary, if you had seen what they did to my Son you could not have understood why love so great was expressed, and how He could pray, ‘Father forgive them…’”
God said, “…be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you” Ephesians 4: 32. “But God, you don’t understand, if you had heard what they said about me you would understand why I feel harshly toward them.”
The omniscient, all knowing God said, “I heard what they said. You were not at the mock trial of my Son when they profaned Him, mocked, and ridiculed Him, you could not have understood why I forgave them.”
God said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you…” Hebrews 13: 5. “But God, you don’t understand what it’s like to feel so all alone.”
The omnipresent, all present God said, “I know how you rely on feelings rather than facts. You were not in Gethsemane with my Son or you would know what being all alone is really like.”
God is ever present with you, “If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there” Psalm 139: 8.
God is more than equal to any adversity you have. “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear” Isaiah 59:1.
God even knows your thoughts. “God already knows our deepest thoughts” Romans 8: 27.
He is all present, all knowing, and all powerful. Add to that “God is love…” I John 4: 8.
His promise to Jeremiah is relevant in your life, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope” Jeremiah 29: 11. Sounds good, doesn’t it?
If the all present, all knowing, all powerful, all loving God has a plan for you, what flaw could there be in His plan? Why not commit to Him and in loving response resolve to obey Him? It is for your good to do so.
“Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him…” Psalms 37: 5 – 7.
The NLT version reads, “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.” That is a simple act with profound results.