They will not prosper

But the LORD is with me as a mighty, awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper. Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten.  – Jeremiah 20.11

It sure doesn’t seem like things are going our way. I was looking at the 2016 Irish census results a few days ago and was saddened to see that the percentage as those who identify as any kind of evangelical Christian has dropped again. The total is well under 2% of the Irish population. It is the smallest percentage of evangelicals of any English speaking country in the world.

Not only that, it seems like we are returning to the norm where we as Christians are no longer going to be in some sort of ‘most favoured people’ status. Opposition and persecution has been the lot of God’s people through most of history and most of the world.  Those who live in the ‘christianised west’ have enjoyed freedom and liberty and even favouritism for a long time.

But that is not our lot. Jesus said that those who ‘live godly in Christ Jesus’ will suffer persecution so had better just get used to it. The people in Jeremiah’s day knew all about it. The people in the early church today knew all about it. Christians in North Korean and Sudan and Morocco and so many other places today know about it. I am not sure why we think we ought to be exempt.

It is a scary thought, but we can be assured that no matter what we have to face we are on the Victor’s side. The enemies of God will stumble. They will not prevail. They will be ashamed. They will not prosper. Their eternal confusion will never be forgotten.

Why? Because the Lord is with me as a mighty, awesome one!

We will get through whatever may come our way in the way of persecution and come out like fine gold on the other side. 

I quit!

For when I spoke, I cried out; I shouted, "Violence and plunder!" Because the word of the LORD was made to me A reproach and a derision daily. Then I said, "I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His name." But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I could not. – Jeremiah 20.8-9

Jeremiah had had enough. He was trying to be faithful. He was preaching and doing God’s work. He did what God told him to do. But nothing was happening. No one was listening. The people continued in their sin.

So Jeremiah decided to quit. ‘I am going to stop talking about God! I won’t preach any more about Him. I quit.’

Isn’t that something? Jeremiah, one of the great heroes of the word of God said that He was done. He wasn’t going to preach anymore.

How sad is that?

He tried, but he soon found out that He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t quit. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut. God’s word was in his heart. It was like a fire burning in his bones. He was tired of trying to hold it back. He could not quit.

There is nothing wrong with getting discouraged. There is nothing wrong with feeling like quitting. Sometimes folks may even cross the line and stop.

It is what happens next that matters. Jeremiah dusted himself off and got back into the game. He couldn’t stay quit.

That is our test. It gets bad. We back off. We get lazy. We may even stop.

Then what? That is the question. 

Where is the word of the Lord?

Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved, For You are my praise. Indeed they say to me, "Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!" – Jeremiah 17.14-15

This taunt of ‘where is the word of the Lord?’ or, in essence, ‘where is your God?’ is one that has always afflicted God’s people. We live by faith and we trust God and we talk about Him and when people don’t see Him work they say ‘where is this God of yours? Why isn’t He helping?’

If we aren’t careful we might join their chorus. If our hope is in our expectation or our plans or our desires then we might well say ‘where is this word of the Lord in my life?’ When He doesn’t act according to our plans or our wisdom we may be tempted to ask ‘where is God in all this?’

I don’t know about you, but I have been there. I have wondered why God is in this or that situation.

Those are the times when we discover if our faith is real. Can I trust God and His word even when I don’t sense their reality in my life?

We walk by faith, not by sight. I walk by faith in the word of God because it is the only answer. Instead of asking ‘where is the word of God?’ my thought ought to be ‘let’s see how God is going to sort this out.’

God’s word is still there – what are we doing with it? 

Whose hope is in the Lord

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.  – Jeremiah 17.7-8

My hope is in the Lord

Who gave Himself for me,

And paid the price of all my sin at Calvary.

No merit of my own

His anger to suppress.

My only hope is found in Jesus’ righteousness.

And now for me He stands

Before the Father’s throne.

He shows His wounded hands and names me as His own.

His grace has planned it all,

’Tis mine but to believe,

And recognize His work of love and Christ receive

Chorus

For me He died,

For me He lives,

And everlasting life and light He freely gives.

Whenever I hear these words I think of this great old gospel song of old. ‘My hope is in the Lord’ ought to be a rallying cry for us. Our hope is not in our bank account or our homes or even other people. I am preaching through 1 Peter right now and the whole letter is about having hope to endure through persecution and trials. In chapter 1 verse 13 Peter writes ‘Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;’

In times of fear and confusion and trouble we can be assured that we can rest our hope fully on the grace that will come when Jesus comes again. We need that hope to get through every day. We need that hope in financial crisis and illness and emotional distress and disaster. We need that hope in eternity that one day it will be worth is all. 

Trusting in man

Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the LORD. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited.  – Jeremiah 17.5-6

As I look around from my little corner of the world I see a lot that is good. I see good solid Christians loving each other and loving others. I see people doing good for each other. Sometime it can be easy to think we would be fine without God.

But that would be a mistake. Look at the history of the world and the world today. Eventually man fails. All the great utopias of the world have failed because at the end of the day we all look after number one.

When we start trusting in man it is because we have departed from trusting the Lord and have stopped trusting Him. When we get to that point where we leave off trusting God to trust others it is evidence that our hearts have departed from the Lord.

There is a lot of ‘trusting in man’ on today. There are folks for whom trusting a man’s politics override his character. Nothing seems to matter as long as their politics are right.

Trusting in man is a dangerous choice. Instead let us do right and trust the Lord with the results. 

There is none like you

Inasmuch as there is none like You, O LORD (You are great, and Your name is great in might), Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? For this is Your rightful due. For among all the wise men of the nations, And in all their kingdoms, There is none like You. – Jeremiah 10.6-7

All men are looking for something. Man always has. God has put eternity in man’s heart and man is always looking to satisfy what to do with knowledge.

The issue is that people are looking for satisfaction in all the wrong places. Man never will get what he really wants because sometimes he doesn’t even know what he wants. There is nothing and no one like the Lord.

‘Who would not fear You, for this is your rightful due?’

That seems like a fair question to me. Who would not choose to follow the One who knows everything? Who would not choose to follow the One who is all-powerful? Who would not choose to the One who is eternal and never changing? Who would not choose the One who is all-love?

Part of the problem is that people have a wrong view of God and their wrong view of God can come from the way His people represent Him here on earth. A true image of God would draw men to Him. That’s why Jesus said we can summarise the Law by living God and loving others. Our actions too often turn people off from God. When we are full of hate and anger and harsh words and we support public figures who do the same no wonder people don’t want to ‘fear the Lord.’

Most people’s view of God comes though the lives of His people. Let’s be sure that we are drawing men to God and not turning them away. There is none like Him. Our lives ought to reflect that great truth. 

Glory in this

Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD. – Jeremiah 9.23-24

Wise men should not glory in their wisdom. Mighty men should not glory in their might. Rich men should not glory in their wealth.

Of course when I read this my mind is drawn to 1 Corinthians 1 where we read:

 ‘For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;’

There is clearly a temptation for those who are wise and mighty and noble to think that, when something is accomplished, it was accomplished at least in part, because of their ability. It is only natural.

Paul just builds on this verse in Jeremiah when he wrote to the Corinthians. Because the wise man has to be told not to glory in his wisdom or the mighty man to glory in his might Paul says that God doesn’t often use the wise and mighty and noble because it is too easy to give them the glory.

So God uses people like you and me. I am so blessed by this. I don’t have to be strong. I don’t have to be wise. I don’t have to be rich. I don’t have to be nobility. I just have to be me because when I am me it is obvious that whatever I do is being done by God and He is the only to whom glory may be given.

God delights in us knowing Him. That is all we can glory in, not in we are or what we do, but because we understand and know Him. He deserves all the glory because He exercises lovingkindness and judgement and righteousness in this world. No man, no matter how rich or strong or mighty can do that – so let us give all glory to Him! 

They don't know how to blush

Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed, Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; In the time of their punishment They shall be cast down," says the LORD. – Jeremiah 8.12

What a wonderful way to describe the world we live in today. Were the people in Jeremiah's ashamed of their sin? No, in fact they didn’t even know how to blush. Is our world ashamed of its sin today?

The strange thing is that blushing has almost become something to be embarrassed about. No one likes to look a ‘prude’ or an innocent. We are embarrassed to be embarrassed, we are ashamed of being ashamed, the thought of blushing makes us blush.

That’s a real tragedy. Sin ought to make us blush. There are things that are a shame to speak of even in private. A lack of sensitivity to sin should be something to concern us. If we can’t blush at our sin something is seriously wrong.

Even in these days of open mindedness and moral ‘freedom’ and open sin and marches and parades and celebrations of sin God’s people have work to do if we are not embarrassed by the sin around us.

But it is even worse when we are not shamed by the sin in our own lives. The ‘little’ inner sins in our hearts can get so entrenched that we grow accustomed to them being there and the shame we once felt is gone.

That shame should not lead us to live guilt ravaged lives. Instead our shame should lead us to repentance and seeking God’s forgiveness.

It is vital that God’s people blush at sin – and then do something about it. 

Follow your heart??

"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? – Jeremiah 17.9

‘Follow your heart and you can’t go wrong.’

How often do we hear this kind of advice? It seems to make sense, I suppose, without God in the picture. If there is no God then we are our own god and no one knows us like we do.

But there is a God who knows and loves us and knows best. We are broken vessels because of sin. Look at the world around us to see what it is like when everyone follows the dictates of their own hearts.

The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.

That’s why we see the kinds of news stories we see every day. Sure, man is capable of goodness and kindness and love, but the wicked heart of mankind is why we see the horrible crimes and wars and attacks that we see day by day by day.

We really can’t trust our hearts. They may get things right sometimes, but they simply can’t really be trusted. Eventually they will let us down and get us into trouble.

We need to be careful of trusting our hearts. In fact, we are told that we need to constantly keep our hearts on guard. We need to keep our hearts with all keeping because they tend toward the flesh.

Don’t trust your heart. Trust the word of God. 

Backward, not forward

But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.' Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. – Jeremiah 7.23-24

God says ‘obey my voice and I will be your God. Walk in my ways and it will be well with you.’ But these people would not do it. They followed their own hearts and they went backward, not forward, in their spiritual lives.

I am preaching through 1 Peter and a great theme there in chapter two is the importance of growth in our Christian lives. Our goal is always to be moving forward and onward.

Why then do we so often find ourselves slipping backward? Or why does it seem like we find the Christian life so dull and boring and we seeing ourselves becoming complacent about the word of God?

In truth it is because growing in Christ takes work. If we just stop paddling upstream we are always going to drift back downstream. Moving on takes effort, floating back requires nothing.

The word of God tells us that if we have tasted that the Lord is good, we ought to lay aside certain sins and then crave the word of God so that we can grow on to perfection. We are to constantly strive to move on to maturity. Our time is too precious to keep slipping back to where we were.

Forget those things that are behind. Press on to the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

We are delivered

"Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, 'We are delivered to do all these abominations'? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it," says the LORD. – Jeremiah 7.8-11

I was a bit amazed when I read this passage. I know I have read it many times in my Bible reading but was surprised when I saw the cheek of God’s people in Isaiah’s day. They trusted lying words. The stole and committed adultery and worshipped Baal and followed other gods. And then they go to the Temple in confidence that it would all be okay because God would forgive them!

How is that for a light view of sin? Their cheek! Their shame! Their gall! The utter neck of them!

Until we look at our own miserable hearts. Until we look at our own attitude toward our sin. We may not steal, murder, or commit adultery. We may not commit the sins that are listed here.

But still, how often do we ignore our own sin or treat our sin lightly because we say in our heart ‘I know I shouldn’t do this, but God will forgive me’ and then we go on our merry way?

When we do that, or something similar to it, our hearts should break.  When we do that we are making light of Jesus’ death on the cross. Every blow He took, every glob spit that was hurled, every step where He bore the cross, every cruel blow of the hammer on the nails, every ragged breath He took on the cross, every thorn that pierced His head and the jab of the spear was taken because of that ‘little sin’ that I don’t consider any big deal. When I choose to sin I mock the cross.

One of the criticisms of ‘once saved always saved’ is that it is a licence to sin. Do whatever you want and you are still forgiven. While eternal security is assured, it is certainly no licence to sin. God’s people will not continue in their sin. When we sin lets be aware of the cost. At all times let’s examine our hearts that our actions don’t mock Jesus on the cross.  

Lying words

Do not trust in these lying words, saying, 'The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these.' "For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour, if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.  – Jeremiah 7.4-7

These people in Jeremiah’s day were in all kinds of trouble. They were religious; there can be no doubt about that. They went to the temple. They talked about it properly. They knew how to play the game.

But.

They were unfair in their judgement. The oppressed the strangers in their midst and the fatherless and the widows. They shed innocent blood. They followed other gods. So they said one thing and did another.

Even then God reached out to them. ‘Instead of those lying word you need to do the right things in your lives.’

Anyone can say the right ‘praise the Lord’ words – how many of us back those words up with our actions?  Be a peacemaker, take care of strangers and the fatherless and the widows, stop the violence, get rid of all the false gods that have crept in. Then, God says, we can dwell in peace with Him.

Break up the fallow ground

For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: "Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns. – Jeremiah 4.3

This is one of those verses that I can remember back to the first time I came across it. It was probably 30 plus years ago when I had just started a new devotional guide. This was the verse and the question for the day was ‘is there fallow ground in my life?’

Fallow ground is that ground which now longer bears fruit. Sometimes lands are allowed to lie fallow as a part of crop rotation. Sometimes fields are just allowed to lie then for years and weeds and thorns grow up. The soil gets hard and even if seeds were sown they would not take root.

This fallow ground that Isaiah talks about can also apply to our hearts. If we don’t check ourselves we can allow our own hearts to get hard and cold.

That’s why we need to break up the fallow ground of our own hearts so that God’s word can take root there. We let our heart become cold and hard when we do not spend time with God. We all spend plenty of time in this world. We have more possible distractions than at any time in history. Facebook and films and sports and entertainment and work and family and friends are not bad things, but if that is where we spend all our time we don’t have time to spend time in God’s word. If we find ourselves more drawn to the distractions than we do to the word of God and Christian fellowship and going to church and prayer we can be pretty sure that our hearts have become fallow and hard and overgrown.

The answer is not that hard. We need to be less focused on the distractions and more focused on the Lord.  Pray, read the Bible, go to church, spend time with godly friends, pursue holiness. These pursuits will break up the fallow ground so that we are ready to receive God’s word into our hearts and allow it to bear fruit. 

Changing gods

Has a nation changed its gods, Which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory For what does not profit. – Jeremiah 2.11

This is a sad verse. God talks here about nations ‘changing their gods’ that are not gods. This is a statement that does not make a lot of sense to our ears today. I think the question is ‘do people really change their gods?’

The rest of the verse is what matters I think – ‘my people have changed their Glory for that which does not profit.’

That is so tragic. The first thing I think of is the church of Ephesus who had ‘left their first love.’ I also think of the prodigal son who had everything, but left it to go after that which does not profit. I think of Demas who turned back from Paul because he loved this present world.

Sadly God’s people drift from Him. Too often people trade God for junk that doesn’t really matter.

But there is hope. Over and over again, all though the Bible, Old and New Testament alike, God calls on people like this to return to Him. He hates to see them living for things that have no profit. His desire is that they come back to him and share in His glory.

Those who have changed sharing in God’s glory for worthless stuff need to return to God. He is there and He is waiting. 

They will not prevail

They will fight against you, But they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you," says the LORD, "to deliver you." – Jeremiah 1.19

One of the realities of life that we don’t like to hear or think about is that life is a battle. Right from the very start Jeremiah is told ‘the people of this land are going to fight against you.’ That kind of warning is not just for Jeremiah. In the New Testament we are also told ‘those who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.’

So tough times are going to be a part of life for God’s people. As a rule the world is not going to like us. Our lives are never going to fit in with the world. We live for eternity, they live for now. We focus on invisible eternal things and the world focuses on the visible temporal things.

We can’t get lazy. We can’t get lethargic. We can’t get lackadaisical. The trifold enemy of the world, the flesh, and the devil are not going to give up.

But the good news is that ‘they shall not prevail against you.’ They can’t win. They can’t win because God says ‘I am with you to deliver you.’

God is on our side. We cannot fear what man can do to us. Though the battle may seem hard and the days seem dark and fearsome we are going to prevail in the end because God has promised ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’

Arise

"Therefore prepare yourself and arise, And speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, Lest I dismay you before them. For behold, I have made you this day A fortified city and an iron pillar, And bronze walls against the whole land— Against the kings of Judah, Against its princes, Against its priests, And against the people of the land. They will fight against you, But they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you," says the LORD, "to deliver you." – Jeremiah 1.17-19

Mary and I are still getting back into full schedule mode after a typical slow and quiet August. August is a bit like Christmas in the way that in Ireland most folks kind of slip into a slow, quiet laziness, er, lethargy. It is a big deal to have to get up and face a busy daily schedule. I always need a little push to get back up and get back in the game.

Jeremiah needed a little push – so God gave it to him.

Get up

Get ready

Don’t be dismayed

I will give you the strength to stand

I will protect you

That’s twice in one message where God clearly told Jeremiah what He would do for him. How could Jeremiah doubt?

But then I ask myself how often I doubt God even though His word is so clear and His promises so profound.

It is time to stop doubting God. It is high time to wake up out of our sleep. It’s time to get up, to get ready, and to get busy serving our Lord.

I am with you

Then said I: "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth." But the LORD said to me: "Do not say, 'I am a youth,' For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you," says the LORD. Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.

– Isaiah 1.6-9

Jeremiah tried to find an excuse what he could not go. ‘Ah Lord, I cannot speak, I am only a child. You can’t expect me to do that!

That reminds me of Moses, but God had answers for both of them and He has answers for us as well when we don’t think that we can do it.

Let’s summarise in a simple list what God had to say:

Go to the people I send you to

Speak

Don’t be afraid

I am with you

I will deliver you

And then God put His words in Jeremiah’s mouth and said ‘there, I have given you my words.’

This was a particular promise to a particular man, but every one of these promises is made over and over again in the word of God to those God sends out for Him.

It is a scary thought to think about trying to speak for Christ and stand for Him in a world like we live in today. It seems like no one really cares. Few folks are even against God; most just don’t really want to hear about it.

The problem is, God has not changed our task. We still need to share the hope we have in Christ. Even those who don’t seem to care need to see and hear the love of Christ.

So in this we need not be afraid. We need to speak up with courage because God is with us just like He was with Jeremiah. We need to faith to step up and do it. He will give us the words to say if we just go.  

I knew you

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations." – Jeremiah 1.5

I enjoy looking at the times when God called prophets and preachers. I enjoy seeing their responses and God’s reaction to their responses. God is about to call a preacher who He knows is basically going to be ignored by the people. I guess that is nothing new.

Before God even announces his call the Jeremiah he reminded Him of an important truth that Jeremiah had to keep in mind as he began to serve God. It is a truth that he could cling when he doubted if God really knew what He was doing.

I knew you before I formed you in the womb. Before you were born I set you apart and ordained you a prophet.

Jeremiah needed to know that his being a prophet was God’s plan. He had to know that God had ordained it. When we think about this we can be reminded that God knows exactly what is going on in our lives. He knows us like He knew Jeremiah and He has also set us apart from the world.

God knows what is happening in our lives. We take confidence that even when we can’t figure it out He is there and He knows. He knew us before we were born and He knows us today. And He has ordained that His children have a ministry of serving God by loving Him and loving others and shared the gospel of Christ. 

The voice of weeping

I will rejoice in Jerusalem, And joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, Nor the voice of crying.  – Isaiah 65.19

I think that we are all associated with sorrow. We all know what it is like to shed buckets of tears over friends or family or our own emotional pains and hurts. Sorrow is a part of life because sin is part of our broken world. Children are going to get sick. Family and friends are going to die. People we care about are going to suffer. We are going to hurt and we are going to cry.

It is just a part of life. And sadly tears of sorrow are not going to go away as long as we live in this broken world.

But the day is coming when God will wipe away all tears from our eyes. Weeping will be turned into joy and the ‘voice of weeping’ will no longer be heard. One day we are going to see death turned into life and sorrow into joy. Tragedy will be turned into triumph. Peace will overcome war.

Of course only Christ can bring this to pass. When He comes He will bring peace. Sorrow will be vanquished. Heartache will end. And joy will be in God’s people. 

Thou art the Potter

But now, O LORD, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand. – Isaiah 64.8

I don’t know much about pottery. I do know a little more than I used to because our daughter-in-law Holly is a brilliant potter. Pottery is interesting and I am amazed at some of the thing Holly has done. She can take a lump of wet clay and turn into beautiful and useful cups and bowls and such. She takes that clay, throws it on a wheel, turns it and with her skillful hands shapes it into an amazing result. Just a few days Holly posted a lovely array of her pottery on Facebook. Each piece was different and made for a purpose. They were crafted by her hands and according to her plans.

Isaiah uses the work of a potter to describe how God moulds and shapes His people. We may not always understand what God is doing as He moulds into masterpieces of great beauty.

Isaiah writes ‘Lord, you are our Father. We are clay in the potter’s wheel and You are the Potter. We are the work of Your hands.’

Everything we go through is part of what God is doing to shape us into the person He wants us to be. When we are in the midst of the shaping and forming it can be hard to see the end result, but God is doing what is needed to work out the flaws and specks and to produce the masterpiece of His hands that He wants us to be.

We just need to be patient and let the Master Potter work.

Our righteousness

But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. – Isaiah 64.6

Most of us hate to admit that we can’t do something. I don’t want to sound sexist in the current climate, but I suspect men are much worse at not admitting inability. It is not so bad now but when I was younger I really hated to admit ‘I can’t do it!’

Man has historically thought that if he created the right religion and did the right things God, no matter what concept they had of Him, would take that into consideration. Most people I talk to today think that when all is said and done if their good outweighs their bad surely God will take that into consideration. Surely, my own righteousness, even though it is not perfect, will be enough.

Sadly for mankind God has an answer for that. We are all like an unclean thing. The best of our righteous acts are nothing but filthy rags. There are all kinds of idea about what these ‘filthy rags’ might be, but by any definition these are pretty nasty rags. Even if it was nothing more than a rag used for blowing your nose that would be pretty gross.

Man’s sin is so great that nothing of us can cancel it. Only the righteousness of Christ can be imputed to cover it. His righteousness satisfies God’s holiness and God is pleased to look on us and see Christ instead. 

I will mention the Lord

I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD And the praises of the LORD, According to all that the LORD has bestowed on us, And the great goodness toward the house of Israel, Which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, According to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses. – Isaiah 63.7

There are a lot of things that I am quick to mention in conversation. I am quick to talk about the weather, or sports, or the news, or politics, or just about anything and I usually have an opinion on everything. I am not embarrassed to raise my voice on many topics.

But when I think about how often, or seldom, I am willing to talk about the Lord I wonder how I cannot speak up for Him. Why is it so hard to make mention of Him and His works in my daily conversation? What does mentioning Him always feel forced?

How hard would be for us to acknowledge God in our conversations with simple things like ‘God has certainly given us a lovely day today’ or ‘thank God that He took care of me during my recent illness’ or ‘we’ll get through this, God has it covered.’

It makes no sense that we are embarrassed to make mention of all that God does for us. We claim that He is the most important thing in the world to us – but we don’t always talk about it.

I am sure I have mentioned this concept before, but it must be important because God keep bringing it up. Let’s look for every opportunity we have to talk about our Lord. It’s our chance to begin introduce our own relationship to God and that could be the door to sharing more about our relationship to Him. 

Garments of salvation

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. – Isaiah 61.10

‘Clothes make the man’ some people say. I am not so sure that is true, but there is a measure where people often judge us by appearance. How I am clothed can say things about who I am.

Isaiah writes here about the joy that comes with salvation. ‘I will rejoice, my soul shall be joyful in my God’ and then he uses the great word picture that God has ‘dressed him with the garments of salvation’ and ‘covered him with the robe of righteousness’ and how he has been ‘decked out with ornaments.’

In just a couple of chapters we are going to read about what our righteousness is worth. We are told that it is no more than filthy, rotten, stinking rags. That is what we are clothed in apart from Christ, but more on that in a couple of days.

But once we come to Christ He changed our clothes to salvation and righteousness. When we stand before God He no longer sees our filthy rags but He sees the righteousness of Christ.

Praise God for my garments of salvation! 

The Spirit of the Lord in upon me

"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified." – Isaiah 61.1-3

If I could pick out one passage that encapsulates the ministry of Christ in one place it would be here. I say that because this is the passage that Jesus used to explain His ministry when we preached it in Luke 4.

Look why Jesus came:

To preach good tidings to the poor

To heal the broken-hearted

To proclaim liberty

To open the prison to the bound

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord

To proclaim God’s judgement

To comfort and console the mourners

To exchange

        Beauty for ashes

        Joy for mourning

        The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness

To proclaim them as ‘trees of righteousness’

To plant the Lord that He may be glorified

To be honest each one of those things probable deserves individual attention. What blesses me seeing the list as whole is how often Jesus says that He came to do something loving for and to us. He brings goodness, He heals, He frees, He comforts, He exchanges His good for our bad, and He declares us righteous.

Too many people won’t be saved because all they see is the burden that ‘religion’ would place on them. They think that be saved will take away all their fun. I think part of that is that we Christians don’t show the real impact of what Christ has done. We aren’t perfect, but our lives should reflect the goodness He has provided. We ought to see beauty out of ashes. Joy should overcome mourning. Praise ought to replace heaviness.

I am grateful for all that Christ has done – do I show people what He has done? 

The Light has come

Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising. – Isaiah 60.1-3

Behold, the darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the people.

If there is a more apt description of the world today I certainly don’t know it. The world is so lost in darkness that it doesn’t even know what it is stumbling over. When I was a Scout we had a test where we had to travel by foot overnight to a set destination without a compass or map. We were supposed to use the stars, but it was pitch black. I tried walking but was tripping over everything, I don’t have a clue what tripped me so I headed up on my hands and knees feeling my way. (Yes, I made it back to camp J ).

That is what the world is like without the light of Christ.

God did not leave the world in darkness. Jesus brought to full measure of the light. Today the Light is shining in the darkness but the world does not get it. The Light shines, but the world rejects the Light because it prefers the spiritual darkness than the Light because the deeds of the world are evil and reject God.

But that’s not all. God sends us to be lights in the world to reflect the light of Christ. We vessels of light and it is our job to let our light shine in the dark, dark world.

How does ‘the Light has come relate to us.’ I think we can go back to the little children’s chorus that goes ‘the little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.’ 

The Redeemer

"The Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob," Says the LORD. "As for Me," says the LORD, "this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants," says the LORD, "from this time and forevermore." – Isaiah 59.20-21

I’ve been thinking a lot about redemption recently as I have been working on a message from 1 Peter and trying to get my head around what this means instead of just knowing the textbook definition. In this sense the word redeem means to ‘buy back’ to ‘pay off’ or to ‘reclaim.’ It is a word and a concept that has been known as far back as Job who wrote ‘I know that my Redeemer lives.’

We need to ask the question ‘what do I need to be reclaimed from?’ Why do I need bought back? Why do I need a redeemer?

The world needs a redeemer because of our sin. God made us. We are His by virtue of creation. But man broke that relationship through sin. Sin separates us from our Holy God. None of us would want a God who was no better than us. His holiness and our sin make it clear that something has to happen in order for our relationship to be restored.

Job saw the sense of a redeemer. Isaiah knew that the redeemer would come. These men and others accepted the idea of a redeemer by faith even though they never knew how it would all take place.

We though now know how. Jesus came as our Redeemer to pay the reclamation price through His blood on the cross. Man is not stuck in sin. God wants to restores His relationship with everyone. He provided the redemption price. That is the wonderful message that we have to share. 

Not shortened - but

Separated from God

Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened,

That it cannot save;

Nor His ear heavy,

That it cannot hear.

But your iniquities have separated you from your God;

And your sins have hidden His face from you,

So that He will not hear. – Isaiah 59.1-2

One thing that we can be sure of is that God is never going to change. His power never weakens and his reach never shortens. Nothing is too hard for Him and nothing is out of His reach.

What that means is that if we don’t sense God working it is because we have something wrong with us. God is able, but we don’t trust Him. God is able, but we don’t ask Him. God is able, but we make things worse by trying to do things our own way.

God’s hand is not shortened – but your sins have separated you from Him. He will not hear you. When we ‘regard iniquity in our hearts the Lord will not hear us.’

If there is a problem with seeing God work the problem is that that our sin is getting in the way. It may not even be an open blatant sin. It may be as simple as the sin of not trusting God to do what He says He can do.

Obviously, God does not always do what we want. He doesn’t always do things our way. But we can never doubt His power. Whatever is out there He can do. All I need to do is to make sure that my heart is right and my walk is right and then I can know that He is doing what I need. 

The Lord will guide you

The Lord will guide you continually,

And satisfy your soul in drought,

And strengthen your bones;

You shall be like a watered garden,

And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. – Isaiah 58.11

There are days when we don’t know what we are going to do next. We wonder which path to take or which choice to make. We have prayed and examined scripture and sometimes we still don’t know what we are going to do.

What do we do at times like that? Sometimes we have to simply trust that the Lord will guide us. Though this is a specific time and place the principle of God’s guidance comes up over and over again in the word of God and He promises to guide His people in every time we read about.

God’s guidance is vital if we are going to survive in all this mess and confusion. God’s first and foremost through His word. The decisions we make must me made of the principles of God’s word. If our choice goes contrary to the word of God we know that is not the path. We also have the assurance that God’s Hoy Spirit will guide us into all truth. The indwelling Spirit is there when we need Him.

God also can guide through circumstances. This is a bit more intangible, but I think it comes when we are seeking God’s will, praying, and being aware of the Holy Spirit in us. We see what God brings across our paths, who he allows us to meet, and thought I don’t know how to explain it there is a peace that God gives us when we seek and follow His guidance.

We don’t have to face this future alone – we have a guide. He is the shepherd who ‘leads us beside the still waters.’

Stop pointing your fingers

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;

You shall cry, and He will say, “Here I am.’

‘If you take away the yoke from your midst,

The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,

If you extend your soul to the hungry

And satisfy the afflicted soul,

Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,

And your darkness shall be as the noonday. – Isaiah 58.9-10

We as Christians are pretty good at pointing our fingers at others in judgement and condemnation. We look out at that terrible world full of wicked sinners and if we are not careful we see their sin before we see the people. We would rather judge and condemn than help.

What a sad situation. Isaiah here says that our focus needs to on extending ourselves to the hungry, to satisfy the afflicted, and let our light shine in darkness. And then, not when we point fingers and condemn, the darkness will be like noonday.

This reminds me of the place in 2 Corinthians when Paul is talking about our motivation for ministry. He says there that the love of Christ constrains us and compels us to reach others. He says that when we are motivated by the love of Christ we no longer see people with the eyes of our flesh. We see them as souls who need the Saviour. We don’t point fingers. Instead we show them our love and we meet their needs and shine the light of the gospel.

We will do nothing by just pointing our fingers. We will accomplish much if we share what we have and shine the light. 

Don't hide yourself

Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh? – Isaiah 58.6-7

The second half of this description of a proper fast switches from spiritual needs to physical. For most of my Christian life I heard very little about our need to take care of the physical needs of other. Now that I have studied I realise that this teaching runs al the way through the word of God and it is not just a mention, but a major part of what it means to God’s people.

Share your bread with the hungry
Bring the poor castaways into your homes
Cloth the naked
Don’t hide yourself from your fellow man

I am tempted to really go off on world issues here, but I think I am better off to just deal with the context we are in. This is all about the attitudes and action that go with true Bible fasting.

There is a major part of our ‘religious’ practice that deals with helping others. I don’t need to comment on most of this because it is pretty black and white.

The last point intrigues me because of it wording. The point here is that that Lord made all men of one flesh – everyone. Therefore how can we hide ourselves from our own flesh when he has a need?

Every person we see is one of us. Skin colour, nationality, religion, creed, or whatever. We are all made of one flesh. We are all of one blood. Everyone is 'our people.' How can we do anything but help them out?