JEREMIAH 39:1 - 41:18
OVERTHROW: The Fall of Jerusalem: (2 Kings 25 and 2 Chronicles 36) God's warnings became God's judgments. When the judgment of God comes, God distinguishes those who are His and they are delivered - not necessarily FROM suffering, but IN their suffering. The city and the Temple were burned to the ground, Zedekiah's sons were killed, the king's eyes were put out, and he was led in chains to Babylon.
GOD'S JUDGMENT: Partial obedience is DISobedience. Delayed obedience is DISobedience. God cannot be manipulated or placated; He must be obeyed. People can ignore or refuse to listen to God, and give themselves to counterfeits and substitutes in an effort to "forget" God, but eventually time will run out and God will have His say. Delayed judgment does not mean that judgment is not coming. It means that God is long-suffering and giving you an opportunity to repent. Outward religious practices without my heart being in it is just flattery and manipulation. It is unacceptable to God. There is only one attitude that will avert judgment, and that is REPENTANCE. With repentance comes restoration, even if the life has been decimated.
RESPONSE: What is it going to take? After all these people had been thru, you would think they would want to repent and live! This remnant survived the siege of the city, survived being led away as slaves, survived being killed by the Babylonians, and now they are being out-and-out rebellious!
2 TIMOTHY 1:1-18
HOW TO KEEP FROM CAVING IN (IMPLODING) UNDER PRESSURE: Pressure from the outside (external) tests our faith and our patience. How long can we "hold out"? What keeps us from reacting in anger, in self-pity, in fear, in anxiety? This letter to Timothy was to encourage Timothy to STAY THE COURSE. Timothy was younger and less experienced than most of his church members. Most of the people in his church had already disserted for one reason or another, and those that were left were threatening to take over because of doctrinal differences. Added to that was the internal pressure of wondering if he was actually doing what God called him to do. If so many people believed another doctrine, maybe he was wrong and he should just step down! What about the constant arguments and debates over what he believed? What does the Gospel actually consist of?
KEY TRUTH (2Tim 1:1): The definition of the Gospel is: "the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus". "Eternal life" does not refer just to length of life, but to quality of life. It is the life entered NOW by faith, characterized by fullness of life unrestrained by human-ness, and a life connected to God as we live in our eternal life NOW. It is the life Jesus demonstrated on earth, connected to the Father through prayer and His Word. It is a quality of satisfaction, fulfillment, completeness and peace NOW. We have access to God and have begun the process of learning to live the life that revolves around God. The reality of this eternal life lies in not having to ”look out for ourselves" because of our confidence in God's goodness and greatness. It is that "something" beyond the here-and-now.
FAITH VS. FEAR: (2Tim 1:2-7) Faith is the power (energy) to believe God and is a fruit of the Spirit. I grow in faith thru practice and experience. The test of faith is delay, and that is why faith and patience work together. In order to "live by faith", practically speaking, we MUST keep our connection with God. The opposite of faith is not just "unbelief", but "fear". "Faith" means "to believe", and UN-faith means "unbelief". Actually fear and unbelief go together. They reside in the same heart together. They keep us from obeying God, and from inheriting His Kingdom rule. If I am afraid, I can't just decide to believe - I have to take my heart captive and calm it's fears first. HOW? I talk to it, of course, and tell it the Truth, as expressed in the Word of God. I obey (1 Thess 5:16-18) and "rejoice ALL the time", "pray without ceasing.", and "In every thing give thanks:" I begin by praising and thanking GOD for His goodness and His greatness.
Fear will paralyze you and keep you from obeying God. Fear causes WEAKNESS and UNSOUND THINKING. Fear is another form of self-preservation. Sometimes I have to decide whether I will fear God, or fear something else ..... usually some person. Once you decide to believe and obey God no matter what, everything else becomes a non-issue. (v.5) "Unfeigned faith that is in you" is stating that faith is real. Our power and energy to walk the walk is REAL. Faith is LEARNED (Heb 5:14) and it INCREASES WITH USE (Luk 17:5; Rom 1:17; 2Cor 10:15, etc.) We must instruct our anti-God hearts (Rom 8:7) to believe and trust God.
PURPOSE OF SALVATION: Faith is not just so we can be "saved" and go to heaven! It is not just so we can live the "eternal life" here and now that God promises us. God has an eternal purpose in mind for each one of us. Christianity and the Gospel is not a detour! It is the fulfillment of everything God intends. V.9 says that GOD "has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was give to us in Christ Jesus before the world began." So you see, our CALLING, ("upward call" - Phil 3:14; "holy calling" - Heb 3:1; irrevocable call - Rom 11:29) which 2 Thess 1:10-11 says is to manifest Jesus IN US in such a way that He is glorified and admired - is why God saved us - it is "His own purpose" - and He gives us the "grace" to see the fulfillment. Grace is God's sufficiency given to us. It is His power and authority and strength used in our behalf! It is our "salvation by grace" (Eph 2:5;8).
HOLDING UP UNDER THE PRESSURE TO "TRY SOMETHING ELSE":
(1) chapter 1: Guard the Truth. V.13 says "hold fast the pattern of sound words". The Truth is strong medicine - it is like a Lion. When I "keep to the pattern", I end up with the desired finished product. When I deviate from the pattern established by the Word of God, I end up miserable. I talk to myself (my own heart) as if every Word God spoke is true FOR ME. That is not "faking it"; it is receiving instruction. I am bringing myself captive to TRUTH. This instruction, whether it comes from my own lips, or someone else's is called "that good thing" (v.14) and will be applied and taught by the Holy Spirit as I think about it. The Bible reveals the actual nature of Reality. So it is to be much more trusted than anything else.
RESPONSE: Anything else we "try" as a substitute for God will fail. It is a trip into UNreality. The walk of faith doesn't take "trying"; it takes "training". Our "training manual" is the Word of God - the Bible. Training, as we learned in 1 Tim 4:7-8, takes self-denial and repetition. The "life that is in Christ Jesus" is not for WIMPS! It is for the adventurous, the courageous, the risk-takers. The minute we start asking ourselves, "what about me?" or "what will happen to me?" we fail. We begin falling from our calling. "Life in Christ" is an UPWARD call, not a "look-at-me" call. Christ is to be admired in me, not ME! When people see how I live, it should glorify Christ - because I am so much like Him! THAT TAKES RIGOROUS PURSUIT!
PSALM 90:1 - 91:16
SIGNIFICANCE OF PSALM 90-106: Psalms 90 - 106 are Psalms of the Kingdom of God, and are named "Numbers" Psalms, the Psalms being divided up according to the Book of Moses. The actual Book of Numbers is divided into two generations: the generation that died in the wilderness because of fear and unbelief, and the generation who entered the Land, receiving the Promise. Hebrews 3 and 4 tells us that entering the Land is a symbolic act of entering into "God's Rest", which is a life of faith (believing God). It's opposite is called "an evil heart of unbelief" (Heb 3:12). To be "in the Land" is to be connected to God in God's Presence, resting in our trust in Him. This involves "labor" (Heb 4:11) - diligent effort. But this is not trying harder to be good, but rather is using our efforts to rightly instruct our hearts to believe. We speak OUT LOUD, so WE can hear it, and it reassures our own heart that it is good and safe and right to trust God. That is "the Rest" that Hebrews and Psalms is speaking of.
The "rest of God" is that place of being "in faith" about our situation, and everything else about our lives. This comes about by being God-centered and staying God-centered. Faith is not stationary (Rom 1:17), but every situation becomes an opportunity to believe God in another practical way. When we understand our purpose is living to please God in all we do and say (Col 3:17, etc.), then we can't have the rug pulled out from under us without having Him hold us up, because we aren't depending on anything or anyone else as a source of life.
When we are convinced of how good it is to trust God, we become emotionally stable. When we are convinced of how right it is to trust God, we eliminate the stress of decision-making. When we are convinced of the safety of trusting God, our feelings actually catch up with us and we experience His joy and His peace. HOW do we achieve this REST? We give thanks and praise to God for His goodness, greatness and glory, that's how (1 Thess 5:16-18). Psalm 90-106, the "Numbers" portion of the Psalms are written to encourage us to enter into the "rest of faith". This section of Psalms tells us how to "labour" (Heb 4:11) to enter into that place of faith, peace and victory. These are detailed instructions for our hearts as we PRESS into God's Rest that comes with faith in Him.
UNBELIEVING OR BELIEVING LIFE: Whether you believe the Truth or not does not change the fact that Truth is Truth. When we chose to NOT believe God and prove it with our defiance and rebellion, we reap the consequences. Hebrews 3:12 calls it "an evil heart of unbelief". Psalm 90 is the best that can happen thru a life of habitual UNBELIEF, and was written by Moses to the dying generation of the Wilderness. In contrast, Psalm 91 is written to encourage the new, believing generation that would enter the Land of Promise ("life in Christ Jesus"), the walk of faith and Rest.
PSALM 90 - TO THOSE IN HABITUAL UNBELIEF: Saved, but not growing or going anywhere. ("wilderness" Christians) Regardless of my behavior, God's might and dependability have been the same through the ages. When we live without regard for God, He does not disregard us, and He knows about our iniquities (rebellious behavior), and our "secret sins". Our lives take on INSIGNIFICANCE - vanishing without a trace in about 70 years (wilderness of unbelief lifespan). We need God to teach us the wisdom of pursuing Him, AFTER we repent of our unbelief and mistrust..."that we may rejoice and be glad all our days."."MY REFUGE & MY FORTRESS": To enter God's Presence as our "refuge and fortress" is to enter the "Land", or the "Rest of faith". Rest is a state or condition of the heart whereby I trust Jesus regardless of what is going on around me. Hebrews 4:11 says, "Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." Heb 3 and 4 says we "labor" to get into that rest. It is "the rest of faith" that comes when our hearts submit to God's goodness and greatness and trust Him. Jesus redeemed us, we don't have to sweat and try to qualify ourselves for God. Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit and His Life and the Word, we don't have to try and fail at keeping the law to "come up with" being like Jesus (His image). The opposite of labouring to enter God's Rest is "an evil heart of unbelief"; it is NOT "trying harder". Our rest is obtained by coming to the Lord and trusting Him. We do that OUT LOUD by instructing our hearts (which hate God and can't obey Him. Rom 8:7), that it is safe to trust Him. We meditate (OUT LOUD) on the goodness and greatness of God. Our "labor" is what we do to get "in the rest of faith"; our labor is not to try to change ourselves or to try to obey God (although we obey Him as a natural outcome of clinging to Him). Our efforts are to connect with Jesus in an "abiding" state, whereby we live from His energy, His strength, His Life - and not our own. I MUST CONNECT WITH GOD - ABIDE IN HIM TO DO THIS. My part in the struggle is to orient myself toward God by praising and thanking Him for His goodness and greatness.
IN RETURN.... God shields me from the pain of insults. His over-riding Truth prevails over any lies that might be told. The thing about fear that holds us in bondage is the "fear of death" (Heb 2:14-15) "Death" can be defined as "darkness and chaos" because it is a life separated from God. Death is also "hell". Jesus has defeated death; we will never die (John 11:26). We can rest in the Truth. When we obey God and are living in our assignment, when we are doing the will of God, when we are pleasing the Lord, we don't get distracted by what our enemies are doing. We don't notice slights, insults, bruises, snake-bites. WE ARE CONTENT - - - satisfied by the life in Christ Jesus, Who lives in us. If my life is anything but satisfying, God is not my First Love. When Jesus is my First Love, I am content in all things and I overcome hurts. (Psa 91:14-16)
RESPONSE: God takes it very seriously when we don't believe Him. Heb 11:6 says, "without faith it is impossible to please God..." And so, a curse actually fell on the unbelieving generation in the Wilderness and they all died without ever achieving "God's Rest" (Heb 3:11). But I am of those who BELIEVE GOD. I hope I never call God a liar!!! That's what we are doing when we refuse to believe what He said! My biggest obstacle is my own flesh. My flesh wants what it wants, whether it is more sleep, more candy, more play, more attention - but denying it by obeying God brings God pleasure. And nothing feels at good as giving God pleasure! As I connect with God through praise and thanks, my work doesn't even feel like work.
PROVERBS 26:1-2 DEALING WITH FOOLS
In the Bible, the fool is contrasted with the wise. Whereas wisdom begins with God and the fear of God, the fool is at the bottom of the pile in that he has no fear of God. "The fool says in his heart, There is no God." (Psa 14:1) He is content to live as if there is no God, and sometimes actually expresses his disdain for God in his heart. Oh, he thinks there may be "A God", but not a Personal God to Whom we must give account. So, a fool has no conscience either. A fool is described throughout Scripture as being shamelessly self-deceived, self-sufficient, careless, and conceited. He is on the path to destruction and death. This empty and hollow person is a spiritual maniac. A fool is without any spiritual knowledge and without a conscience, and so the fool is filthy and corrupt. It is inappropriate to give honor to someone like that, regardless of how much money or influence he has. The sad thing is that "believers" - people who call themselves "Christians" can ACT THE FOOL sometimes when they behave like unbelievers. When we don't submit to Truth as our Ultimate Reality, we are FOOLS!
A curse cannot come on you without cause. What are some causes, you ask?
Deut 28:15 - Disobeying God. Living in a way that is not pleasing to God. This would include unforgiveness, bitterness, unrepented sin (Mat 18:34, et al).
Malachi 1:11-2:2 - By profaning God's Name - claiming to be a Christian, and living like an unbeliever. Giving God "left-overs" instead of your heart (1 Co 11:29-30, et al; Mal 3:7-11).
Deut 7:25-26 - By bringing cursed objects into your house, or by taking part in activities that involve demons.
Jeremiah 17:5; Galatians 3:10 - By turning your heart away from God to trust something else (a substitute for God). By depending on ourselves to "be good enough for God". Trying to save ourselves. Depending on our own righteousness instead of what God offers thru Christ.
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