Reading: Jeremiah 7
My Verse: "Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail.
Will you steal, murder, commit adultery,
swear falsely, make offerings to Baal,
and go after false gods that you have not known,
and then come and stand before me in this house,
which is called by my name,
and say, "We are delivered!"
--only to go on doing all these abominations?" (Jeremiah 7:8-10).
You, LORD God are righteous, holy, and good. Because of Who You are, You cannot abide anything that is not of Your precepts, testimonies, laws, commandments, judgements. They are what they are and we cannot blur the line of what You deem as sin. Too many spiritual leaders want to soften sin, using deceptive words to tell people what they want to hear, make them feel "good" when in reality they are in sin.
Read a wonderful article from First Things on some stances Pope Francis has made. I appreciated this article because I had been questioning some statements Pope Francis has made on various issues. It felt to me that he was "softening" behaviors that should not be so softened. This article "Always Fear, Always Love" by Matthew Schmitz points out how the Pope uses half quotes of various Christian leaders and even the Bible to support what he is saying. This can be a very dangerous thing to do. You tell us in Your Word, the Bible, LORD God that we are to -
"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,
a worker who has no need to be ashamed,
rightly handling the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15).
I was very fortunate to attend a service where Dr. Ravi Zacharius was the speaker. He used the book of Hosea for his talk. This is a man that strives to "rightly" handle Your Word, LORD God!
Zacharius first spoke of how important and complex language is, how we need to strive to understand what we are saying to one another. If we can go at a problem/disagreement in this way it would greatly help to understand the position of the person are disagreeing with.
He spoke of how the New Atheists say that one cannot believe in science and God. He stated that the problem is these atheists have the wrong image of Who God is. They think You, LORD God are a God of the Gaps as Zacharius explained it. They think we believe in You for all the things man does not understand, the gaps of our understanding and once science explains those gaps then we don't need to believe in You anymore.
But the Bible states "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." This includes everything. You, LORD God created all that is. But even more amazing is John 1:1 that states "In the beginning was the Word . . ." You gave us language immediately. You were there at the very beginning. The Word is You.
John Piper has just come out with a new book; A Peculiar Glory. In it he strives to show how absolutely Your Word, LORD God enlightens us, allows us to lift our eyes away from ourselves and to You.
"God's peculiar glory shines through his Word. the Spirit of God enlightens the eyes of our hearts. And in one self-authenticating sight, our minds are sure and our hearts are satisfied. Justified certainty and solid joy meet in the peculiar glory of God" (heaven.wordpress.com)
Piper speaks of how truly amazing it is that You, LORD God gave us a book, the Bible to guide and encourage us. You have kept this book through the ages. Thank You for that!
Dr. Zacharius then spoke of some amazing Christian scientists , and how as they learned and discovered things this only made them more amazed at Who You, LORD God are! They saw science as an avenue to better understanding You! Your laws and precepts did not hamper their research, but enhanced and guided them in their pursuit of truths!
Based on the Hosea text he spoke of how truly amazing it is that You, LORD God pursue us! He quoted The Hound of Heaven. It was truly beautiful.
Oh, LORD God, thank You for men like Ravi Zacharius, John Piper, Thomas Aquinas, John Lennox; and for those amazing amazing Christian scientists like Francis Bacon, Blaise Pascal, Isaac Newton - to name a few. These men allowed You to lead and guide them to wonderful insights into You and the nature of our world.
You tell us;
"Your Word is a light to my feet
and a lamp to my path" (Psalm 119:105).
"The grass withers
and the flowers fade,
but the Word of the LORD
stands forever" (Isaiah 40:8).
You tell us not to let ourselves be deceived!
"Beloved, do not believe every spirit,
but test the spirits to see whether they are from God,
because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1).
"But I am afraid that,
as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness,
your minds will be led astray from the simplicity
and purity of devotion to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:3).
"And Jesus answered and said to them,
"See to it that no one misleads you" (Matthew 24:4).
"Do not be deceived ,
God is not mocked;
for whatever a man sows,
this he will also reap" (Galatians 6:7).
LORD God, I am so grateful that You have kept me thus far. And I can know that You will keep me to the end. It is way too easy to be deceived by Satan's great lies. I know I cannot do this on my own, it is only through Your protection that I can stay the course.
"Your rod and Your staff they comfort me" (Psalm 23: 4)
Your rod protects me and Your staff guides me from deception!
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
My Verse: "Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail.
Will you steal, murder, commit adultery,
swear falsely, make offerings to Baal,
and go after false gods that you have not known,
and then come and stand before me in this house,
which is called by my name,
and say, "We are delivered!"
--only to go on doing all these abominations?" (Jeremiah 7:8-10).
You, LORD God are righteous, holy, and good. Because of Who You are, You cannot abide anything that is not of Your precepts, testimonies, laws, commandments, judgements. They are what they are and we cannot blur the line of what You deem as sin. Too many spiritual leaders want to soften sin, using deceptive words to tell people what they want to hear, make them feel "good" when in reality they are in sin.
Read a wonderful article from First Things on some stances Pope Francis has made. I appreciated this article because I had been questioning some statements Pope Francis has made on various issues. It felt to me that he was "softening" behaviors that should not be so softened. This article "Always Fear, Always Love" by Matthew Schmitz points out how the Pope uses half quotes of various Christian leaders and even the Bible to support what he is saying. This can be a very dangerous thing to do. You tell us in Your Word, the Bible, LORD God that we are to -
"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,
a worker who has no need to be ashamed,
rightly handling the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15).
I was very fortunate to attend a service where Dr. Ravi Zacharius was the speaker. He used the book of Hosea for his talk. This is a man that strives to "rightly" handle Your Word, LORD God!
Zacharius first spoke of how important and complex language is, how we need to strive to understand what we are saying to one another. If we can go at a problem/disagreement in this way it would greatly help to understand the position of the person are disagreeing with.
He spoke of how the New Atheists say that one cannot believe in science and God. He stated that the problem is these atheists have the wrong image of Who God is. They think You, LORD God are a God of the Gaps as Zacharius explained it. They think we believe in You for all the things man does not understand, the gaps of our understanding and once science explains those gaps then we don't need to believe in You anymore.
But the Bible states "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." This includes everything. You, LORD God created all that is. But even more amazing is John 1:1 that states "In the beginning was the Word . . ." You gave us language immediately. You were there at the very beginning. The Word is You.
John Piper has just come out with a new book; A Peculiar Glory. In it he strives to show how absolutely Your Word, LORD God enlightens us, allows us to lift our eyes away from ourselves and to You.
"God's peculiar glory shines through his Word. the Spirit of God enlightens the eyes of our hearts. And in one self-authenticating sight, our minds are sure and our hearts are satisfied. Justified certainty and solid joy meet in the peculiar glory of God" (heaven.wordpress.com)
Piper speaks of how truly amazing it is that You, LORD God gave us a book, the Bible to guide and encourage us. You have kept this book through the ages. Thank You for that!
Dr. Zacharius then spoke of some amazing Christian scientists , and how as they learned and discovered things this only made them more amazed at Who You, LORD God are! They saw science as an avenue to better understanding You! Your laws and precepts did not hamper their research, but enhanced and guided them in their pursuit of truths!
Based on the Hosea text he spoke of how truly amazing it is that You, LORD God pursue us! He quoted The Hound of Heaven. It was truly beautiful.
Oh, LORD God, thank You for men like Ravi Zacharius, John Piper, Thomas Aquinas, John Lennox; and for those amazing amazing Christian scientists like Francis Bacon, Blaise Pascal, Isaac Newton - to name a few. These men allowed You to lead and guide them to wonderful insights into You and the nature of our world.
You tell us;
"Your Word is a light to my feet
and a lamp to my path" (Psalm 119:105).
"The grass withers
and the flowers fade,
but the Word of the LORD
stands forever" (Isaiah 40:8).
You tell us not to let ourselves be deceived!
"Beloved, do not believe every spirit,
but test the spirits to see whether they are from God,
because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1).
"But I am afraid that,
as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness,
your minds will be led astray from the simplicity
and purity of devotion to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:3).
"And Jesus answered and said to them,
"See to it that no one misleads you" (Matthew 24:4).
"Do not be deceived ,
God is not mocked;
for whatever a man sows,
this he will also reap" (Galatians 6:7).
LORD God, I am so grateful that You have kept me thus far. And I can know that You will keep me to the end. It is way too easy to be deceived by Satan's great lies. I know I cannot do this on my own, it is only through Your protection that I can stay the course.
"Your rod and Your staff they comfort me" (Psalm 23: 4)
Your rod protects me and Your staff guides me from deception!
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
