Tag Archives: Jeremiah

Resting and waiting upon the Lord (Part 1)

Posted on September 14, 2017 by | Comments Off on Resting and waiting upon the Lord (Part 1)

restingResting and waiting upon the Lord. Sometimes the smartest thing we can do is to stop, wait, and rest. It is while we are resting when God can truly become the Lord in our life. It is easy to carry on a life full of worry and restlessness instead of allowing our Lord to truly reign in our life. But this is opposite of what the Bible tells us to do. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass (Psalms 37:7). This is an easy verse to read. It is a hard verse to put into practice.

A three-part verse

This verse lends itself to be divided into three parts. The first part is what I will focus on for this particular entry. It reads, Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him… The picture above is of my now six-year-old daughter. For the longest time we made her take time after her busy day of Kindergarten to rest. One particular afternoon she refused to rest until I made her lay quietly on the couch. The agreement was, since she was not tired, that she had to simply lay still and quiet for fifteen minutes. Within five minutes of our agreement, she fell asleep.

I almost forgot I took this picture of her until I was cleaning out the synchronized camera folder. It seemed to be the perfect image to share with this post. Just as I had to force my daughter to rest, there are times we also need rest. And there are times the Lord will put us in a place where all we can do is rest.

Resting in the Lord and waiting patiently on Him

Within the scriptures there are several places where the idea of resting and waiting are tied together. The idea is simply there are times when we need to take a step back. It is a matter of our faith and trust in the Lord which is being tested. The question we must ask ourselves is “do I love and trust Jesus enough to let Him lead me in handling this situation?” The prophet Jeremiah wrote, Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein (Jeremiah 6:16).

Within this verse, we see the Lord giving Jeremiah instruction that His people are to stay firm in the old path. We know this old path is the plan that God put into place back in the Garden of Eden – that we should love Him with all our being and love others as we love ourselves. The Lord also tells us if we follow His plan we will find rest for our souls – something I know that I need desperately at times. We all have days when nothing goes right. The trouble we face on those days can eat at our very soul. We cannot find the rest our souls need because we are not willing to let the Lord to do the work He desires to do.

He is to be our rest and expectation

David understood this more than most people will ever understand it. He wrote in Psalms: My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved (Psalms 62:5-6). By the time David is writing this psalm, he has reached the stage of life where he has learned he can depend upon the Lord. This is why we read, my expectation is from him. David has put his complete trust and confidence in the Lord. He expected the Lord to intercede in any difficulty he faced.

David also acknowledged that the Lord was his rock and salvation – and this is what we, as Christians, must also understand. Our salvation is not about what we can do. It is about what Jesus has done. When we come to understand the fullness of salvation that Jesus offers us it will bring us to a place of rest we’ve never known before. If we trust Jesus’ offer for salvation, then what exists where we cannot put our complete trust in Him?

Continued on the next page.

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Posted in Chrisitian Philosophy, Increasing Faith, My Walk

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Breakwaters of faith and their role in our life

Posted on October 18, 2016 by | Comments Off on Breakwaters of faith and their role in our life
breakwaters

© Micha Fleuren | Dreamstime Stock Photos

Breakwaters play an important role in modern society but many of us never bother to think about them. Even when I lived on the Gulf Coast  I never really paid much attention to what had become a common item. I watched the television reports of the damage caused by Hurricane Matthew as it churned its way up the East Coast of the United States. One news broadcast contained a weatherman in Charleston after the hurricane had passed that city.  Although he was highlighting the damage to the area near him, the breakwaters did their job. The beach behind him was in better shape than the rest of the area!

What is a breakwater?

As defined in Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary Online, a breakwater is a wall that is built out into the sea to protect a harbor or beach from the force of waves. For the past few days I’ve been thinking about the breakwaters God intended us to have within our faith. On Wednesday evening of this past week, I was able to attend midweek services with my in-laws. The services yesterday at my local corps (this is what the Salvation Army calls its local congregations), both the morning and the evening services seemed to brush against a similar topic as Wednesday’s service. A part of our growing faith in Jesus creates such a breakwater for us to be able to bear the storms we will face.

Real storms, such as Hurricane Matthew, teaches us about the preparations made by a community for such storms. Right now, even as clean-up continues, many towns, counties, and states are already reviewing what was learned and are making preparations for the next big storm. A spiritual storm can teach us a lot about who we really are, show us where we need improvement, and will allow us to grow in our faith.

We must develop spiritual breakwaters

When I briefly lived in Gulfport, Mississippi, I learned that after Hurricane Camille, nearly every public and private organization studied ways that could have reduced the impact of that storm. By the mid 1970s, breakwaters were added along key areas of the Gulf Coast spanning from Louisiana to Florida. Within our Christian walk, we must prepare for the spiritual storms. I think of the application of what Solomon wrote, The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; (Proverbs 30:25). Already in our house, we see the occasional ant scurrying around, looking for crumbs – in preparation for winter. Solomon is advising us to pay attention to the ant and understand a simple lesson. They prepare for the bad storms now, when things are going well. It would be too late to try to gather food for the colony during the winter.

Since 2006, I have noticed changes in my spiritual walk with the Lord. At first, even the smallest storm would send waves of doubt into my mind. I would doubt my sincerity to Christ, I would doubt His forgiveness being complete, I would doubt that He could love someone as wretched as me. The problem was not Jesus’ love for me at all; the problem was I didn’t have any breakwaters to meet Satan’s spiritual attacks. Satan is not dumb. Too many Christians underestimate his ability to trip up and bring spiritual chaos to even the strongest of Christians. Remember the warning by Peter, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). 

The breakwater of asking forgiveness of our sins

Earlier this morning I was deleting some old photos off my smart phone. I came across a photo I had taken of the weekly question written on a dry erase board we use for our pre-teen Sunday school class. The question was, “Why does it seem that it takes God so long to help me when I’m in trouble?” This is a question that all Christians, at some point in our walk, will ask God. The apostle Paul, when explaining the Lord’s Supper, said: But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup (1 Corinthians 11:28). This examination does not begin with anything other than us examining all we do through the lens of scripture.

This is the first and important breakwater of our faith. Paul tells us why this self-examination is so important: For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world (1 Corinthians 11:31-32). When we examine ourselves honestly through scripture, we have an opportunity to confess our sins, our failures, and shortcomings before God begins to deal with us about them. When we are in the middle of a spiritual storm, there are times when the Lord will not intervene until we confess our sins that separate us from His boundless grace and love.

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Posted in Chrisitian Philosophy, Christian Living, Difficulties and Trials, Discipleship

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False salvation – a warning because I’ve been there

Posted on September 1, 2016 by | Comments Off on False salvation – a warning because I’ve been there

false salvationFalse salvation can happen to anyone. The worst part of all, false salvation can leave a person asking if God is actually real. False salvation does not satisfy the soul but leaves it empty and longing for something to fill it. Yesterday evening, I was on the phone with one of my best friends, Ron. And during that call, he asked me about a recent Facebook post I had made over the weekend about becoming a Christian in 2006. He has known me since 2000 and was surprised to learn that I was not saved. 

False salvation can appear to others as being real

In my own personal story, in 1988 I was looking for answers. My father had moved in the middle of my senior year of high school. That summer, I entered into college and was searching for answers. I knew there was more to life and began to experiment in everything that life on the college campus had to offer. Many people who experience a false salvation have a similar experience. They are aware that there is more out there and search for it. Unfortunately, many real Christians, some are even ministers, have little understanding of how to show someone the way to finding the Jesus of the Bible.  

Within the gospel of John, there’s a key verse: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6). When you’re searching for answers and when you know something is missing, it is easy to get caught up in an emotional experience. This is what happened to me. I was already searching, had someone share the gospel with me, then invited me to church. Once in church, I walked down the aisle, knowing in my heart that something was missing. I was simply responding because I knew it was what I was supposed to do. I prayed a certain prayer at the altar with another man of the church – because I was supposed to do it. Later, at the evening service, I was baptized but felt no different on the inside then I had before.

False salvation rejects the discipleship of the Bible

There’s a verse in the gospel of John that goes along with one of the things I had to learn the hard way. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you (John 14:26). When a person has a false profession of faith, no matter how much preaching they hear, no matter how much Bible reading they do, or regardless of how many services they attend, a person who is not saved will never have spiritual growth. Think of it this way, one cannot fill a flower-pot with dirt and expect a plant to grow if there has never been a seed planted.

The writings of Paul discusses the inner spiritual battle Christians have. For the believer, the battle between the sinful nature of mankind and the desire to live as Jesus has called us to do is a real, constant one. For someone who has a false salvation, there is no such battle. There’s the battle of knowing that something shouldn’t be done, but no real guilt afterwards. There may even be a justification along the lines of “God knows I am only human,” or “all Christians struggle with some sort of sin…” It is not a matter of how smart someone is or even if they know what being a Christian means. It is a heart matter. Until someone is truly ready to surrender their entire existence to Jesus, there cannot be any hope of salvation or redemption. Without redemption, there can be no spiritual growth.

False salvation and the fallacy of self-determination

The lost world has a fundamental misunderstanding of Christianity. Its understanding actually impacts how some who self-identify as Christian live their lives. There’s a song performed by Carrie Underwood called, “Jesus, Take the Wheel” that perfectly illustrates what anyone seeking genuine salvation has to do. There’s a couple of verses that comes to mind: Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able (Luke 13:24) and, And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).During His earthly ministry, Jesus was asked how someone could get into Heaven. The gospel of Matthew records Jesus’ response: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind (Matthew 22:37).

These verses paint a very disturbing picture for someone who has a false salvation. They may have the head knowledge of who Jesus is but their heart remains affixed to this world. They are carnal in their lifestyle and/or in their thoughts. Before I was saved, I wanted to have both – the assurance of an eternal home in heaven and to be able to live my life according to my own terms. I didn’t know it then, but Paul had actually wrote about this very thing: Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? (Romans 6:16). What I didn’t realize at the time was that I really didn’t have the control I thought I had over my life. I was a slave to sin. 

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