49. INSECURITY. (Jeremiah 1-17)

Given that the world, it’s Governments and even it’s very existence seems to be under such stress and insecurity. It is no wonder so many people feel the same way, but we, as Christians know, this mess (though created by man) is no more or no less than what God said would happen so we shouldn’t be surprised, it will all pan out just the way God said it will. We don’t have to be fatalistic and sit with folded arms, No! As Christians we have a job to do, to get as many people as possible to Christ before that great and awesome day. So lets forget about ourselves and follow the command of Jesus and teach all Nations and peoples and languages who are at present flocking to our shores all about Jesus. Who said, “Will the Son of Man find Faith when He comes.” He is a faithful God, and will be looking for a faithful people. In (Jeremiah (1.8) we read “Do not be afraid of their faces for I am with you.” When God spoke those words Jeremiah was facing an army three times larger than his own, just like we are today, everyone around us is doom and gloom, but we, like Jeremiah have been told “Do not be afraid I am with you.” We have to make up our minds whether to trust God or not. In (Jeremiah 1.4-12) he writes ‘The word of the Lord came to me, saying’ Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I sanctified you (set you apart;) ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said ‘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 whatsoever 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...”Behold I have put my words in your mouth. See I have this day set you over the nations and over the Kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant… I am ready to perform my word.” Does the job you’ve been called to do seem too big for you to do on your own, it is, but not when you include God! You’re not working alone, God is with you. Whether it is to pull down or build up, the one who called you will equip you, empower you and give you success. He didn’t make a mistake when he chose you. You may say “If only I had the education, talent or experience of so-and-so “ If God wanted them He would have called them, but He didn’t, He called you, so, just be yourself, trust God and everything will go well for you. Are you embarrassed about your beginnings or where you came from? Jeremiah was, he begins his book by listing the good people and the bad people in his background. Well, guess what! They all came from a less-than-perfect gene pool. We’re all a mixed bag of “allsorts.” Learn from those who did it the wrong way, but only follow those who did it the right way. Discover the purpose God put you on earth for and fulfil it. Keep the torch burning brightly, then hand it over to the next runner. Endeavour to finish strongly and you will hear that “Well done, good and faithful servant.” And watch what you say! Because the words you say don’t only influence others, they influence you as well, when Jeremiah told God he wasn’t the right age, God said, “Don’t say that” And when he complained that he wasn’t a gifted speaker, God said “Don’t say that either.” When Jeremiah saw the size of the opposition his knees buckled, but God said “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you to. Do not be terrified by them, today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a strong wall to stand against the whole land. - against the kings of Judah, its officials and its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you.” declares t The Lord. Now, God didn’t make that promise only to Jeremiah, but to each of us as well. The people God calls, usually start out feeling ill-equipped and insecure. If you had jumped up and said ‘No problem Lord I can handle that,” He wouldn’t call you at all. ‘But,’ you say,’I’ve made so many mistakes.’ Listen, everybody falls; the winners are the ones who get up again. (Psalm 37;23-24) says The Lord delights in a man’s way, He makes his steps firm; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for The Lord upholds him with His hand. When Jeremiah told God that he had neither the competence nor the confidence needed to do the job, God said to him what He says to us in (Jeremiah 1;7 (firstly) you are not going in your own authority’… you must go to everyone I send you to’. So who’s sending you, sponsoring you and sustaining you? God! What more do you need? (Secondly,) The massage is not yours. ‘You must… say whatever I command you. Don’t agonise, compromise, rationalise or apologise, just say what He has told you to say and He will do the rest; (’ Jeremiah 1;12.) For I am watching to see that My word is fulfilled.(Thirdly). When God touches you, you’re qualified. ‘Then The Lord reached out His hand and touched my mouth and said to me, (Jeremiah 1;9)”Now I have put my words in your mouth.” So be yourself, you can’t be anybody else! You are not who others say you are, You are who God says you are! So you can do what God says you can do. Just get into agreement with Him. Thank you for reading my thoughts on insecurity, remember, there is no such word as that in God’s vocabulary and as children of God there should be no such word in ours either. So let your moto be ;-- ‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ Phaline - -------------------------------------------------

48. The Gift of Conscience.

Your conscience is a spiritual gift from God. We have all been given one. As with many of God’s gifts, He gives us the raw material and expects us us to use and develop it for His glory. However the Conscience is a special gift, it lets us know when we are pleasing God and when we are not. Using it requires serious responsibility because it carries great rewards and severe penalties. As with all God’s gifts our conscience is a very good gift and when used correctly and regularly can benefit us greatly, in fact the more we use our conscience the closer we can get to God, that’s why He gave it to us. It’s one of the many ways God speaks to us. God will never take away our free choice. We are always free to follow Him or not. And our conscience will tell us which way is His way . Now, to maintain and preserve a good conscience God has provided us with a few laws, both Spiritual and physical. eg some of the physical laws are Gravity, if you jump or fall from a great height, you will brake something or worse. Fire, Get too close and you will burn. Water, if you go into deep water and can’t swim you will drown. In like manner Spiritual laws also prevail, God has given us a Decalogue or the ten commandments, which are listed in The book of Deuteronomy Chapter 5.v6-21 These carry the same penalties only worse, because they effect the life and death of the soul. So along with our conscience God has installed an alarm system which will remind us time after time that we have gone or are going off track He says;--“I will speak in their hearts” so we know when we are heading for trouble. God loves us so much that He will not allow us to continually go down the wrong track without reminding us of potential danger. However in the end the choice is still ours. We know when we are doing wrong because the thought always precedes the deed. Satan’s greatest enemy is your conscience, and once he has conquered us in a particular area then it’s all down hill for him, and each time he is the winner, he’s learning which of our buttons to push so he will choose his moment very carefully, he will entice, justify and validate your sin before your very eyes. That’s why we need The Holy spirit constantly with us, to remind us of those Scriptures that will drive Satan away before he gets a hold of our will. eg “Resist the devil and he will flee from you ” use the name of Jesus, especially when you realise you are being attacked. Satan will tell you it’s only a thought, you haven’t done anything, but a wrong thought entertained leads straight to sin. And then comes action and that’s when you get into big trouble. There are some good examples in Scripture I’d like to point out to you;-- In (2. Kings 5.20-27. Naman the Commander in the king of Assyria's army had leprosy and was healed when the prophet Elisha prayed for him. The prophets servant Gehazi was upset because his master the Prophet, didn’t accept money and goods in payment for the healing, so in spite of his conscience and knowledge that it was wrong to do so, he ran after the commander and said his master had visitors and he needed some of the clothes and money for them (a lie) The Prophet hadn’t sent him, Gehazi wanted them for himself. He knew better, his conscience would have told him much earlier not to do such a thing, but he chose to ignore it. And as it always does the truth caught up with him and the result was, he and his entire family suffered for the rest of their lives with Leprosy. For my second example I went to Genesis (42;v1) Jacob was talking to his sons about the famine and told them to go to Egypt to get grain. At the end of that verse He says to his sons,”Why are you looking at each other. (first signs of a guilty conscience) You will remember, some Ishmaelite traders who were on their way to Egypt to sell their goods, and the brothers had sold their younger brother Joseph to them, so they knew he would be there, they didn’t know who he had become, but they didn’t want a chance meeting either, fifteen years later each of their consciences were still alive and well. It’s God’s way of making us face up to our sin which has to be dealt with. It may take a long time, but it never goes away until it’s dealt with. Well we all know the story of how God dealt with these boys,who were to be the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel My third example is from the New Testament about Judas Iscariot and what happens when we don’t listen to our conscience. Judas was one of the chosen twelve, he was there with Jesus at all the miracles and healings, he saw Jesus walking on the water, feeding the five thousand and raising Lazarus from the dead. So he had the faith, and he must have loved Jesus at some stage, so what happened? Tradition tells us he was the keeper of the finances for the group If he occasionally helped himself to the takings and not returned it, and kept ignoring his conscience, thirty pieces of silver would have been quite a deal for him. Of course this is supposition, but I’m using it to make a point which is : ”Ignore your conscience at your peril.” There’s one more thing I’d like to say about one’s conscience. If we ignore it on a regular bases, chances are we will kill it. Our prisons are full of such people. A small lie leads to perjury, steel a pen today, a car tomorrow, a fight today, murder tomorrow. We all reap what we sow. So let’s all listen to the still small voice of the conscience it’s never wrong. Always pointing the way to the will of God. Thank you for reading my thoughts on “The gift of conscience.” Yes, sometimes it’s hard to follow our conscience but ask for the help of The Holy Spirit and it will be given to you. Remember Our God is a Faithful God, and always there for us. Phaline.

47.RUTH Chapters 1--4

The book of Ruth, is the 8th book of the Bible, and I believe the most difficult for some of us to emulate. It is also the shortest book in the Bible, yet I believe, it shows us very vividly how to fulfil the Greatest commandment “Love one another as I have loved you.” By way of explanation I’d like to say something about setting dates. In those days, they didn’t have calendars the same way as we do today, so they marked events and occasions by what took place, or who was reigning at the time, In that way; people would get an idea of how long ago different important occurrences took place. In this case we are told in the very first verse “In the days when Judges ruled,” so we know that it was before the kings ruled over the Jews That gives us the idea that it was quite early in the time-line. Elimelek a man from Bethlehem in Judea left his homeland because of a great famine in that area. So along with his wife Naomi, his two sons Mahlon and Kilion went to live in Moab for the duration of the famine, “For a while “ tells us Elimelek was only going to stay in Moab (a Heathen country) for a short time. The Jews had been settled in Judia for some time and regarded it as their own. Jews were very possessive and protective of their land as they are today. They believed God had given it to them; it was theirs so there had to be a good reason for them to leave it, and there was, “a famine”,so we know he had every intention of returning home after the famine. However Shortly after getting to Moab Elimelek died, leaving Naomi with her two sons who married Moabite or (heathen) women named Ophra and Ruth, another ten years saw both Naomi’s sons also die, not leaving any heirs. This would have been a terrible situation for Naomi, not only had she lost her husband, but her sons as well who had not left any heirs, she was in a foreign land and had acquired two daughters-in-law. She had no income, no money to pay for their accommodation and fast running out of food. Also, It was a disgrace not to have an heir, because Jews believed not to have an heir meant one had brought God’s displeasure on them and this was His way of punishment. Consequently, these three women possibly were the subject of gossip, ridicule and accusations particularly from other women, (what have they done,? Why has God punished them so severely?) although it’s not in Scripture, it has been suggested, that all these problems came about because her sons married Pagan women. So life wouldn't have been pleasant living in Moab. When Naomi heard the famine was over in Bethlehem she decided to go back Home, where she at least had family and friends. On the way she tried to get the younger women to go back to their father's homes in Moab, and perhaps have another chance at marriage, she tried twice with much coaxing and tears, but with no success. I’d like to point out here the charity on Naomi's part, she was thinking of these girls, she didn't want them to suffer the inevitable disgrace of widowhood without having produced any children. Ultimately, Ophra did go back to her family in Moab but Ruth wouldn't go, so, what was Ruth's motivation I suggest, Love and Sympathy. She was prepared to give up her chance of another marriage, the comfort of her father's home, family and all her childhood friends just to stay with this lonely old woman not for a few months or even years, but for the rest of her life. When we do things for God with the right motivation (love of God and love for others) ,God will be there for us. We know Ruth must have been comparatively young because we also know she had other children later in life. She was prepared to lay the rest of her life down. When Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth arrived back in Bethlehem, the town’s women were a bit surprised to see them, Naomi was depressed and explained that God had dealt severely with her and she asked to be known as Mara, which means bitter, rather than Naomi As it was the start of the barley harvest season, and their first priority would have to be food and accommodation Ruth suggested she might go and get some work in one of the Barley fields. Her husbands family would give them a temporary home but Ruth had to find work for food. So Routh went off to pick up some barley from the side of the fields where the harvesters were working. At that time,This was quite a legitimate practice for the poor. sometimes when we do lay down our lives and ambitions for God things don’t change immediately and doubt starts to creep in on us. But When we trust God, accept the situation and do our best with what we have, we see the hand of God at work. Just see how God takes and turns Naomi and Ruth’s hopeless situation into something very beautiful. The field in which Ruth began to glean Barely belonged to a man named Boaz, whom Ruth didn’t know; but was a relative of Naomi’s late husband. Now, on inquiring who this new woman was , Boaz found out that she was a relative of his, and perhaps felt some responsibility for her, so at brake time he told Ruth to stay with his team of women under his protection. In so doing he had her eat and drink at the table with the other permanent workers and walk behind the other women who would keep an eye on the new girl. He also told the men to drop some extra stalks on the side for her, and told them to keep their hands off her. It’s really Interesting to see how God worked this all out. Boaz an older man admired Ruth, he could see she had qualities which one rarely sees in the one person. She was intelligent, honest and beautiful she also displayed humility and integrity. He must have made further inquiries about her because he told her he knew of her kindness to his relatives wife Naomi and gave her a permanent position as a gleaner. Ruth was very grateful for all that Boaz had done for her and asked him why she had found favour in his eyes, and he replied “I have been told all you have done for your mother-in-law in leaving your parents home and your country to come to a place and people you didn’t know.” He then prayed over her,”May the Lord Bless you, Reward you and Keep you under the shadow of His wings “ That was no casual prayer, as we will see going through her life. Even though Ruth wasn’t a Jew, she recognised the kindness of Boaz in acknowledging her for what she had done for Naomi. People outside the church are looking to see what we Christians are doing for the outside world. When Ruth told Naomi the name of the man she had been working for and all he had done for her, Naomi recognised Boaz as one of her husband’s close relatives and said “He is our Kinsman Redeemer” and encouraged Ruth to stay there under his protection, where she would be safe. Naomi knew she needed to find a home for Ruth, so one day as the season rolled on, she told Ruth to wait until Boaz fell asleep and in a posture of submission to go and lay at his feet, and put the corner of his rug over herself; in so doing she would be submitting and offering herself to him (This symbolises our submission to God, like Ruth we have nothing to give God but ourselves and as we lie at His feet He will not consider our unworthiness but the gesture of love, just like Ruth who wasn’t a virgin, she’d been married before, she wasn’t even a Jew and had no rights as a foreign woman in that town. We too as sinful human beings had no rights to God’s Kingdom until our debt was paid by Jesus on the Cross.) So she had nothing to offer but herself. Just like us. Boaz told her how much he appreciated the fact that she didn’t run after the younger or wealthier men but had chosen to be with him. (So often, we are tempted to choose the world and it’s bright lights rather than the love and security of of God He then gave her six measures of barley and told her to go home quietly and he would see what could be done. (Often God has us wait to see how genuine we are.) Although Boaz was considerably older than Ruth, he had grown very fond of her, but there was one big hoop he had to jump through. There was a closer relative of Naomi’s husband than Boaz, who had first rights to Ruth’s Father-in-laws estate which included Ruth. But, when he found out there was also a wife that went with the estate he turned down his rights and offered it to Boaz. The transaction was completed at the town gate and in front of ten of the town leaders who were witnesses, Boaz took Ruth to be his wife. In due course Ruth became pregnant and had a Son who was named Obed and was the ancestor of King David who was the ancestor of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for reading my thoughts on the book of Ruth. The next time you are in a really bad situation, take out your Bible and read the book of Ruth, You will see that God can and will make something really lovely out of a situation that potentially gives you no hope at all. We have access to a wonderful God. Nothing is impossible for Him. Don’t ever doubt that. I pray His blessings on all who put their trust in Him. Phaline. Reference;-- NIV & NJKIV Bibles. Inspiration from:--Archival copies of THE WORD FOR TODAY. By Bob & Debby Gass. & Calvary Chapel App. “The Bridge” programme New Jersey U.S.A.