Itching Ears

2 Timothy 4:3 (not part of our reading today) says, "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions." In this instruction Paul reminds young Timothy, that people are tempted to look for teachers who will tell them what they want to hear. Sadly, these teachers will always be there.

Back in Jeremiah's day they were there. During his day the people didn't want to hear that God was going to exile them. They wanted to hear that they were safe and did not need to worry. They didn't want anyone telling them that they needed to repent to avoid impending judgment. So they heaped to themselvs the false prophets. They found a message that they liked better than Jeremiah's, and though it was a lie, they took it in. Of course, they took it in to their own peril.

Jesus spoke of false prophets as well in Mark 13. In verse 22 He says, "For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand."

From the first false prophet that came in the form of a serpant in the garden, to Jeremiah's day, to the end of the ages, there have been false voices available to attached themselves to the unsanctified passions of men. There has always been a voice out there to tell you what you want to hear, instead of what you need to hear.

Three important applications flow from this:

1. Be students of the Word - the truth. The only way you will be able to ward off the tempting lure of the false prophets of our day is to saturate yourself in the Word. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly was Paul's advice.

2. Having saturated yourself with the Word, be faithful to preach and teach it. In 2 Tim 4:2 Paul instructs, "Preach the Word; be ready in season and out of seaon; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching." Know that all around you are those who are being tempted by the many competing voices of our age. They are being drawn away from the truth by their own passions and they need a voice in their life that will keep the truth before them.

3. When you are going through a difficult time, make sure you surround yourself with those who will be fully truthful with you. Often in difficutly we will look for voices who will tell us what we want to hear. Sadly, they will be there, and if we listen to them we will be drawn away from the truth, and there are always consequences to following that errant path.

May God help us to pursue the truth and share it with all God places in our path!

Good out of evil

In Acts 16 we see an evil perpetrated against Paul. He is in Philippi preaching the good news of Jesus Christ. As he does this a woman with an evil spirit begins to follow him around declaring that he is a servant of the Most High God. Though what the woman said was true, Paul did not need this kind of publicity. So....in the name of Jesus Christ he demands the spirit come out of the woman, and it does.

This turn of events was not well received by those who were making profit from this woman. So these merchants stirred up trouble, leading to Paul and his companions being beaten, thrown in prison, and placed in stocks. All of this evil was done to them even though they were Roman citizens to which such things were forbidden by law.

Now how would Paul and company respond? Would their spirit get embittered? Would they question God, declaring that they didn't deserve such treatment since they were "serving the Lord"? Would their hearts be full of hate for those who did this to them? The Scripture account is clear that they chose none of these options. Instead they were found in the prison praying and singing hymns to God.

This fact should not be overlooked because what happened next might never have happened if they responded differently to their circumstances. During the evening God performs a miracle, releasing the men from their stocks and throwing open the prison doors. But the greater miracle that God performed is that God used this situation to save the jailer and his family. Somehow God used this evil situation and turned it into good.

All of us will be confronted with evil situations in our life. We may be mistreated by someone. We may be spoken against, cheated of our resources, given the raw end of the deal. The key to each of these situations is not that they happen to us, but how we respond to them. Paul and company sat in their prison praying and singing hymns to God. I have to believe this was central to God turning these evil situation into something that produced great good.

The next time you are in a difficult situation or are the "victim" of evil, make sure you respond as Paul and his companions. Don't react to the situation. Remember that God is still on the throne and that He is the master of bringing good out of evil. That's what the cross is all about. There can not be any event more filled with evil than the cross, yet look at the immense good that flowed and still flows from it.

So the next time you are confronted with evil, start by praying and singing hymns to the Lord (praising Him), and then look for the Lord to bring good out of the evil situation. Don't be like those who miss out on God's modern day miracles because they don't have God's perspective on these things. May God use us all as His vessels of good in this present evil age.

Too Many Voices

In Jeremiah 23 the prophet condemns the shepherds and prophets of Israel. He condemns the shepherds for not caring for the people. They have not attended to the people and as a result the people have been scattered and driven away.

The prophets are equally culpable. They have fed the people with lies. As verse 17 says, "They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, 'It shall be well with you', and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, 'No disaster shall come upon you.'" By so doing they lead the people astray and actually keep the people from knowing and following the word of the Lord.

Imagine what it must have been like in those days. So many voices claiming to be the word of the Lord, but so many of the messages were lies, which would only lead the people away from the Lord. There must have been much confusion.

Jeremiah's condemnation of the prophets is summarized well in verse 22. "But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds." The problem with the prophets of day was that they were not spending time in the presence of the Lord. They weren't listening the the Lord themselves, and as a result didn't communicate His word to the people. The result is that the people remained in their sin and would suffer the consequences of exile and all that that entailed.

In Mark 9, there may have been a little confusion for Peter, James and John. In the transfiguration they were exposed to three great prophets: Moses, Elijah and Jesus. Fortunately, for them, all three were truthful. But God, the Father, made it very clear to whom they should listen. He said, "This is my beloved Son, listen to Him."

That is great counsel for all leaders and all followers. In a world of too many voices, it is important that we give ear to the one voice that matters. That voice is the voice of Jesus Christ, Son of God. He is the Word made flesh. He is the ultimate communication of God to man. We will learn from His life and His message all that pertains to life and godliness.

Any who are leaders must make it their pattern to stand in the council of Christ; to spend time in His presence listening to Him through His Word. Faithfulness to this is the only way to lead God's people aright, and keep them from paths that only lead to destruction.
In Jeremiah 23 the prophet condemns the shepherds and prophets of Israel. He condemns the shepherds for not caring for the people. They have not attended to the people and as a result the people have been scattered and driven away.

The prophets are equally culpable. They have fed the people with lies. As verse 17 says, "They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, 'It shall be well with you', and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, 'No disaster shall come upon you.'" By so doing they lead the people astray and actually keep the people from knowing and following the word of the Lord.

Imagine what it must have been like in those days. So many voices claiming to be the word of the Lord, but so many of the messages were lies, which would only lead the people away from the Lord. There must have been much confusion.

Jeremiah's condemnation of the prophets is summarized well in verse 22. "But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds." The problem with the prophets of day was that they were not spending time in the presence of the Lord. They weren't listening the the Lord themselves, and as a result didn't communicate His word to the people. The result is that the people remained in their sin and would suffer the consequences of exile and all that that entailed.

In Mark 9, there may have been a little confusion for Peter, James and John. In the transfiguration they were exposed to three great prophets: Moses, Elijah and Jesus. Fortunately, for them, all three were truthful. But God, the Father, made it very clear to whom they should listen. He said, "This is my beloved Son, listen to Him."

That is great counsel for all leaders and all followers. In a world of too many voices, it is important that we give ear to the one voice that matters. That voice is the voice of Jesus Christ, Son of God. He is the Word made flesh. He is the ultimate communication of God to man. We will learn from His life and His message all that pertains to life and godliness.

Any who are leaders must make it their pattern to stand in the council of Christ; to spend time in His presence listening to Him through His Word. Faithfulness to this is the only way to lead God's people aright, and keep them from paths that only lead to destruction.

Unexpected heroes

In Judges 4-5 God, in His mercy, is going to act to deliver Israel from one of her oppressors. He will choose from Israel a person to defeat the enemy's leader, Sisera. One might have expected God to choose Barak, the leader of the army of Israel. But we observed that Barak lacks some faith. When asked to go out to battle he tells the prophetess, Deborah, that he will only go out if she goes with him. One gets the sense that Barak in trusting more in man (in this case Deborah) than in God.

So, even though Barak seems a likely candidate to gain such a victory, he is not chosen. Instead an obscure woman named Jael gets the nod. She is proactive in seeking Sisera. She invites him into her tent, gives him milk, lulls him to sleep. Then, full of courage, and we might guess trust in the Lord, she nails his head to the ground. Who would have thought God would choose Jael for such a decisive victory.

In the book of Acts we see another unlikely hero. His name is Saul. He is actually a persecutor of the church. So inflamed is he that he obtained permissions from the high priests to seek out followers of the Way in other cities, in order to capture them and bring them to prison. He was also a person seeking to make a name for himself within the Jewish religious system. He seemed like a very unlikely candidate for God to use.

Yet in Acts 9, we see that God has His ways. As Saul was on his way to Damascus to capture Christians, he becomes one. His encounter with Christ transformed him forever. He became one of God's foremost servants - one of the great heroes of our faith. Who would have thought...?

Even Peter was an unlikely candidate. This impetuous disciple swore that he would not forsake the Lord. Even if he had to die, he would not forsake him. Then when confronted by a couple of servant girls, Peter denies the Lord. He says he doesn't even know him. Is this a guy the Lord can use? Unlikely, but it seems that is what the Lord specializes in!

Perhaps you think you are an unlikely candidate to be used by the Lord. Perhaps you think your life is a bit blah. Maybe you have failed the Lord in the past. Do not let them keep you down. If you take your eyes off yourself and your past, and place them on the Lord, you may begin to see many possibilities. God is able to take the person who most might say has no chance of being used by the Lord, and make his or her one of the heroes of the faith.

As you look at your children, or grandchildren, or other people in your world....don't pre-judge them. Don't consign them to a life of mediocrity as concerns the faith. Remember, that in the hands of the Lord, every life can shine for His glory.

Leadership limits and importance

Judges 2 has to be one of the saddest chapters in the Bible. Statements like verse 10 "And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work he had done for Israel" and verse 11-12 "And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around themn, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger" alert us to the fact that something has gone deeply wrong among the people of God.

As you scan this chapter for reasons why you have to observe the influence of leadership. In verse 7 it states "And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel." It seems as long as their was strong leadership, who had known the Lord and followed His ways, the people followed suit. But when good leadership was gone, the people drifted.

This seems to be a likely cause for the earlier quoted statement about a generation rising up who did not know the Lord nor his works. I'd venture to guess that Joshua and the elders kept the Lord and His works before the people during their days, but subsequent leaders failed miserably, resulting in a lost generation. (Let this be a lesson for us to see how quickly faith can be lost.)

We see the same pattern later in the chapter. It seems when the Lord raised up judges the people fared well. But, according to verse 19, when those judges died, the people "turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them."

So it seems leadership has a very important function in keeping the people of God walking in God's ways. They are to keep the Lord and His works before the people and urge them to follow the Lord all the days of their lives.

But it must be noted that human leadership, important as it is, has its limits. One has to admit that each time leadership departed from the scene, the people defected. This external type of influence only works as long as the external influence remains. Once it is gone, other influences will have their day.

Parents know this is true. When you parent your children seeking to control them externally, you may find only limited success. While you are present your children listen and walk "in the way". But once they are taken from your direct influence, they will be subject to other influences. Actually they will be subject to the influence of their own hearts.

That's why leaders (and parents) must not think their influence is the most important. Truly, leaders must exercise a godly influence, but they must also point their followers to the internal influence of the Holy Spirit. If a people (or children) are merely walking in a certain path only because of some external pressure....that will not make long term effect. Long term effect only comes with internal change. When the Spirit comes to reign in human hearts, when the Spirit comes to be the internal influence, ....that is the recipe for long-term change.

So leaders, and all of us lead someone.....take note. Yes, it is important that you lead well. Lift up continually the Lord Jesus Christ and His works. In your day in the sun, ask the Lord to help you have a staying influence on all around you. But don't end there. Always be pointing people beyond yourself. Point God's people to the reign of Christ through His Spirit. Seek the only influence that has staying power - the influence of God's Holy Spirit!

Lies in our midst

As we near day 200 of our reading together it is important to be reminded how important truth is. Every day that we read God's Word we are availing ourselves to truth and to the blessed rewards of ordering our lives in accordance with it. But when we neglect truth and even walk after lies it can only lead to troubles.

In our first reading today we entered into the book of Judges, and although we see some victory we also see the seeds of defeat. Toward the end of the chapter we read over and over that a certain tribe "did not drive out the inhabitants" of a certain city. The problem with that is that every person left in those cities was a person who could tempt Israel with something that is false - a false god; a false religion. And since we have also been reading the prophets we know that Israel succumbed to the temptation, embracing what was false, leading to their forsaking the Lord and their eventual removal from the land of promise. Thus, being soft about deceit did God's chosen people much harm.

In our second reading we run into the problem of lies again. In Acts 5 we see Ananias and Sapphira selling a piece of property and giving a portion of the proceeds to the apostles to distribute to others who have a need. This is a really good thing, but the problem is that Ananias and Sapphira lied about what they did. They made is seem like they gave all the proceeds of the sale to the apostles, when in reality that had only given part. Now it wasn't wrong for them to give only part. What was wrong was that they introduced lies and deceit into the early church, and as we read we saw they did that to their own peril. Their deaths may seem a bit severe to us, but it should remind us how damaging lies can be to the people of God. God thought them so damaging that in the infancy of the church, He chose to make a stunning point.

In our third reading in Jeremiah 14 we come across lies again. Jeremiah was being very clear that the people would be consumed by the sword, famine and pestilence, but there were other prophets in the land who were saying the opposite. Jeremiah was warning the people that their evil ways would reap dire consequences, but the other prophets were saying they had nothing to worry about. They tried to give the people a false assurance when the fact was the cloud of God's judgment was right above their heads. God, through His prophet, assured the people that the false prophets would find themselves under the very things (famine, sword and pestilence) they so boldly told the people not to worry about.

In each account the warning is the same - beware of lies and deceit. If you willingly or unwilling take lies in, it will lead to your destruction. That is what happened in the garden. Adam and Eve bought the lies of the devil and this earth has not been the same since.

Brothers and sisters, that's why a commitment to the truth is so important. That's why reading and meditating on the Bible is so vital. It places before us the truth of God's Word, which will equip us to ward off the lies of the evil one. Since this is true, let us remain committed to the intake of God's Word, and let us find others who will band with us and speak truth in our lives. As we have read before, "These are no idle words, for they are your life." Ultimately, they lead us to know the One who said He is "the way, the truth and the life".

Understanding God's Wrath

I would much rather read about Israel possessing the promised land (Joshua), and the New Israel being possessed by the Spirit of God (Acts). These are uplifting events in the life of God's chosen people. They encourage our hearts and spur us on to live out the words of Joshua to the people who were settling east of the Jordan: "Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul."

Messages like the one Jeremiah delivered in Jeremiah 11 are a little harder to take. Take for example verses 22-23: "Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and daughters shall die by famine, and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their punishment." It sounds awful, even brutal, but if you think about it there is even encouragement in these words if we bring them to Christ.

As we've been reading through the prophets we definitely get the idea that the Lord hates our sin, rebellion and idolatry. So heinous it is to Him that He will judge it with great fierceness. If one takes time to consider exactly what it must have been like to experience these judgments, one could not help but recoil from these imaginings.

But when you begin to understand the wrath of God upon sin as expressed in Israel's history, you have to be drawn to consider the wrath of God upon His own Son. Perhaps God has been graphic in His display of His wrath on Israel and the pagan nations, so that we would better understand how awful the display of His wrath was on His Son. If we can enter into say the judgment of famine and understand how horrible that is, perhaps we can begin to understand how horrible the cross is. God's ultimate wrath poured out on His Son! Wow!

But dont' forget why God is pouring out wrath on His Son. He is doing it to demonstrate His love, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And not did He did, but He took the full expression of God's wrath for our sin.

So the next time we recoil at something we read in the prophets, remember that the display of God's wrath is but a grain of sand compared to the fullness of wrath Jesus took for you and for me. Let that understanding also be an encouragement to each of us to love the Lord with our all, and to live to serve His gracious purposes in our world.

Trust and Obey

In Joshua 14 it says three times that Caleb "wholly followed the Lord". When the rest of the nation settled for less, Caleb wholly followed the Lord. As I consider that remarkable statement it raises a few questions for me.

The first is, "What does it mean to wholly follow the Lord"? Since it was commended and rewarded I want to know what it means. I think we glean a clue from Caleb's own words in Joshua 14:12. He says, "It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said." In this statement I see two very important elements of "wholly following the Lord".

The first is trust. He says, "It may be that the Lord will be with me,...." From this we see that Caleb's eyes were on the Lord. Though the challenge before him was large, as it was earlier, He would trust in the Lord. He believed that if the Lord was with him, he would be successful.

You might ask, "Is such a trust warranted?" I love the way Psalm 146 answers that. After saying how foolish it is to trust in princes because they die and their plans perish with them, the psalmist points out how wise it is to trust in the Lord. After all, He is the One who made heaven and earth. He keeps faith forever. He shows Himself to be a strong help to those in need. Though He reigns over all and can do as He pleases, He is known for His steadfast love and mercy. It is indeed wise to place one's trust in a God like that!

The second aspect of wholly following the Lord is obedience. Caleb said, "...and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said." Not only would Caleb trust in the Lord, but he would also act on that trust. He would do as the Lord commanded and possess the land the Lord promised to give them.

Now there is an imporant lesson in this point. Our trust, if it be true and if it be placed in a proper object of trust, has to usher out into obedient living. It is interesting to note that in Jeremiah 7 the people had trust, but it was misplaced trust. They trusted not in the Lord of heaven and earth, but in a building - the temple. And because their trust was misplaced, so their obedience was misplaced. Actually it was missing! Their misplaced trust led to behavior that was abhorrent to the Lord. In fact, His wrath would be poured out on them and on the object of their trust.

There is an old hymn which encapsulates what it means to "wholly follow the Lord". It is the hymn "Trust and Obey". It opens with these words, "Trust and obey, for there is no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey." When it comes right down to it, the Christian life is about looking to Jesus in trust. It is about believing that if Christ is with us we can move forward to possess all that the Lord has promised. When our trust is solidly placed in the Lord, it naturally (or supernaturally) ushers out into obedient living and the possessing of all that the Lord intends for His people.

Today, as you live out your faith, remember to trust and obey. There really is no other way!

The deadliness of silence

As you read the 12th and 13th chapter of Joshua you get the sense that something wonderful is happening. God's promise to His people is being fulfilled. They, in faith and by the mighty hand of God, have conquered a land, and now it is being apportioned to the tribes of Israel. What a day this must have been!

But the moment, glorious as it is, is tainted in two directions. In the past is the memory of a generation that failed to possess this land. They had the same promises. They had the same mighty God, but they failed to enter in and possess all that the Lord promised them. In the future (I know that's cheating, we haven't read there yet) is the haunting statement early in the book of Judges that a generation grew up "not knowing the Lord nor His mighty deeds". And so we have a moment of glory for the nation as the land is being apportioned, but it would only be for a moment.

Part of the reason their glory was only short lived may be that they did not heed the counsel of Psalm 145. Verse 4 and following states, "One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. ...They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness." These verse make it clear that every generation must SPEAK; they must declare to the next generations the power and goodness and greatness and righteousness of the Lord. Otherwise, they will find that silence is deadly.

We see how deadly the silence can get in Jeremiah 6. This people upon whom the favor of the Lord rested, now has become an object of His wrath. They have so drifted from the Lord, that they can no longer received His word. They have so fallen from the Lord that their nation has been rejected by the Lord. Instead of basking in glory, they find themselves in a pit of shame.

The lesson for every generation is that we must continually bring before one another the glorious works and person of our God. We must speak often, not only of what the Lord did in redemption history (as we have been reading in our Bible), but also in the current day.

When God answers a pray we need to proclaim that to our children. When the Lord shows Himself a faithful provider during a financial downturn, we must pass that on to the next generation. When God works a miracle in the heart of an unbeliever and they come to Christ, we must pass it on. When the Lord brings peace to a relationship that was in turmoil, we must not be silent.

As each day provides us with evidences of God's work, we must speak and pass on to those with ears to listen the unsearable greatness of our God. May it never be said they we failed to speak, for such silence is dealy.

As you walk through this day, look for the Lord's hand, and everywhere you see it, be sure to point it out to others. In this way you will be bringing glory to God and blessing the generations with the only vision that can sustain them.

A lesson in trusting

Have you ever had a problem or a dark time in your life when you didn't know which way to go, you didn't know what to do? Perhaps there were many possible directions but as you analyzed each of them, you were left with confusion. Any way you went it seemed that you could encounter more potential problems or issues. In those cases what do you do?

I believe in the narrative of Joshua 3 we have some good counsel. Though they knew where they were going (to the Promised Land) they didn't know how they were going to get there, and they were certainly aware of all the obstacles ahead of them. The first was the River Jordan. How do they get this mob of people safely across the river and prepared for the ensuing battles they were sure to have?

God's counsel to them could be summarized in two points. The first was to position themselves as followers. God told the priests to carry the ark of the covenant and pass before the people. The people were to come behind the ark - the symbol of God's presence, distancing themselves from it so that they would know the way to go.

As a teacher I have led many groups of children from place to place. A common phenomenon when leading children is that they like to pass you up. They begin following but before you know it they have taken the lead. I think God's instructions to Israel insured that this didn't happen to them. They were to take a position at a distance behind the ark so that they would always be in the position of follower. This is the only position we can take when we are seeking direction or when we find ourselves in one of life's dark valleys.

The second point that is helpful in these times is that we have to take steps of faith. I like to say, "we have to put our toe in the water". Until the priests walked to the Jordan and actually put their feet in the water, nothing would happen. But when they in faith and obedience took that first step, then the Lord acted, and the way into the Promised Land became clear.

Sometimes in these dark times we freeze. We want to know all the details. We want to know how everything will work out, but God doesn't work that way. He says, "Get behind me and follow. Take one step at a time, and as you follow I will reveal to you the next step." Though we don't like to live that way - we so much love to be in control - that is the way the Lord wants us to live. Take that step of faith and from there alone you will be able to see the next step the Lord has planned for you.

Are you going through a dark valley? Is the path you should take unclear? Then God's Word counsels you to take your place as a follower, and take one step of faith at a time. With each step believe that the Lord will shine His light on your path, and lead you to a good place.