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Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Warnings

Reading:  Jeremiah 6
My Verse:  "Be corrected, reformed, instructed, and warned,
                    Oh Jerusalem,
                         lest I be ashamed and parted from you,
                         lest I make you a desolation,
                            an inhabited land" (Jeremiah 6:8).

To warn someone of impending danger is to show that you care about that person.  LORD God, You show us how much You love us by warning us throughout scripture, through various ways - prophets, acts.  You always warn us before carrying out a punishment.  

You warned Pharaoh of an impending famine through a dream.

"It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do.  "Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt; and after them seven years of famine will come, and all the abundance will be forgotten int he land of Egypt, and the famine will ravage the land" (Genesis 51:28;32)

You warned Lot of the destruction of Sodom.

"Then the two men said to Lot, "Whom else have you here?  A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; for we are about to destroy this place, b because their outcry has become so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it" (Genesis 19:12-13").

You warn us for our own safety.

Not to trust in man.  "Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, 
                                    in whom there is no salvation" (Psalm 146:3).

Not to do evil.  "The face of the LORD is against evildoers, 
                           to cut off the memory of them from the earth" (Psalm 34:16).

Not to be deceived.  "Let no one deceive you with empty words,
                                   for because of these things the wrath of God comes 
                                   upon the sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 5:6).

Not to worship idols.  "Little children, guard yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21).

So many warnings, because You love us so much.  One of the most important warning of all is that You, and You only can save us from our sin.

"For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our LORD" (Romans 6:23).

"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, 
                                   and the truth,
                                   and the life.
                                No one comes to the Father 
                                   except through me" (John 14:6).

Thank You, LORD God for this, for Your great love for us.  You want only to love us and have us love You in return.  We are not able to love of our own volition.  We need to allow You to  to help us in this - to enable us to love deeply and steadfastly.

     Illumination

"If we are illumined
         by His divine agency, and fix
              our eyes upon the beauty

of the image making manifest
        our invisible God,
             and if, by that image,

we are allowed to glimpse
        the inexpressible 
             beauty of its source,

it is because
       we have already become
            utterly joined to the Spirit.

The Holy One pours out
       upon those who love
            the vision of the truth

a power that enables
       them to see the image--
            and this power is Himself"
                -Saint Basil the Great (329-379)
                 Love's Immensity Adapted/Translated by Scott Cairns

We are without excuse!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!


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