Posted in anna, jesus, john, moses

Ahijah was not too old, Jeremiah was not too young, John was not too remote, Amos was not too low…to be used by God

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’m reading 1st Kings. Still. LOL. I am up to chapter 14. In that chapter there is an old prophet called Ahijah. Jeroboam’s wife was told to disguise herself and go see him.

“Jeroboam’s wife did so. She arose and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age. And the Lord said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her.”” (1 Kings 14:4-5)

As I read the bible I like to picture the scene. I am picturing Ahijah’s humble home, likely at dusk. If Jeroboam’s wife didn’t want to be seen, she would likely have gone when it was dusk or dark. So Ahijah’s house is dark, a few lanterns around. And he’s sitting there, in a rocking chair maybe, in the living room, enjoying the air and listening to the breeze or maybe the village around him.

Maybe he was thinking, ‘I am old and I cannot be used. I am old and used up’. Maybe he was thinking that because he was blind, the LORD would have no further use for him.

But it was not so.

“But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with unbearable news for you.” (1 Kings 14:6)

Despite his age, which the Holy Spirit deliberately included in the bible, despite his disability of blindness, which the Spirit deliberately included too, Ahijah was charged with a task. He had a personal charge from God to deliver the message. He did not flinch from it, despite it being unbearable. Really, is there worse news to give than the LORD has marked your son and your family for death? But Ahijah was charged with an important prophecy to deliver. It came true a few years later.

Despite Ahijah’s age and blindness, The LORD used him.

Anna was old also. Luke 2 records this

“And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:36-38).

Let’s guess, given the era, that Anna married at age 15. She was married 7 years and then became a widow. So from age 22 to 84 she was a widow devoting herself to the LORD- in the temple. As the years droned on, and then the decades, I wonder what Anna thought. We do know that at least for over 60 years, she worshiped. And then, she saw Israel’s redemption! And she “spoke to all” who were waiting Israel’s redemption. From the mouth of a widow the Lord used her to speak to all of Him.

Apostle John lived a long and important life. He followed Jesus, he was witness to the resurrection, he pastored a church, he nurtured hundreds in Christ, wrote a Gospel, wrote the epistles of John, and then he was sent to the Island of Patmos.

A more forbidding place there cannot be. It is Mars-like in appearance, rocky and hot, barren and isolated. It’s only 13 square miles.The Romans used it and islands like it as a modern day rendition- it was a place where legally, political and religious detainees didn’t exist. John was exiled there for the word of Jesus (Revelation 1:9). He was by that time well over 90 years of age.

I wonder what John was thinking. He was very old, and all his old Apostle friends had been killed. His younger friends had been killed or scattered too. Maybe he was sitting on the beach, looking out, thinking, “This is it, the Lord will not use me any more. I am here on this island and remote from the world. There is no one even to preach to.”

The bible records, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”” (Revelation 1:9-10).

John was charged with writing the monumental book of Revelation. The climax, the conclusion of all that the LORD intends, the end of history and the hope of the coming of Christ, was given to John to see in vision and then to write.

Despite John’s remote location, the Lord used him.

Isn’t it funny, the Lord used Moses, a murderer. Despite the fact that Moses stuttered, or had some kind of articulation problem, he was used as God’s mouthpiece as the most famous prophet in all the bible.

“But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”” (Exodus 4:10-12)

Despite Moses’s character and stuttering, God used him.

Jeremiah’s age was no barrier to being used. Just as Ahijah or Anna was not too old, Jeremiah was not too young.

Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” 7 But the Lord said to me,

“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
8 Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
declares the Lord.”” (Jeremiah 1:6-8)

Shepherd and fig-grower Amos was used by God, despite his lowly station in life. Shepherds were considered low, as noted here by MacArthur:

“Shepherds spent most of their time in the fields away from society and had no influence to speak of. In modern terms they were blue-collar workers largely unnoticed by those in power. Shepherds were in the lower classes of society.”

“So Amos answered Amaziah, ‘I was not a prophet or the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman, and I took care of sycamore figs.’ ” (Amos 7:14)

So we see that despite age, ability, character, location, or socio-economic status, the Lord Jesus can and will use you. You could be young and just starting out, like Jeremiah, or old and seemingly finished, like Anna or Ahijah- but Jesus can use you. Gender doesn’t matter either, He used Mary, Rahab, Anna, Miriam, Lydia, Huldah… His power will flow through you and enable you.

“But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;” (1 Corinthians 1:27)

If you are weak but being used of God, you are operating from a position of the strongest in the universe. Any and all persons in Christ with the Spirit in them will be used of God for His purposes. Any time, any where, there is no retirement rocking chair mentality. He uses you every day and despite your protestations over your age, location, status, or disability- He uses you. If He chooses you for a certain task, He will enable you to finish it.

“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.” (1 Corinthians 1:26)

The one thing these all had in common, was that they loved the Lord. Do you love Him? I hope you do. Jesus is the unique individual of the universe, distinct in holiness and perfection.

Posted in antichrist, pope francis

Pope says there is no need to convert anyone

Posted on by elizabethprata

The Pope: how the Church will change, Dialogue between Francis and La Repubblica’s founder, Eugenio Scalfari: (La Repubblica is the Italian newspaper)

And here I am. The Pope comes in and shakes my hand, and we sit down. The Pope smiles and says: “Some of my colleagues who know you told me that you will try to convert me.”

It’s a joke, I tell him. My friends think it is you want to convert me.
He smiles again and replies: “Proselytism is solemn nonsense, it makes no sense. We need to get to know each other, listen to each other and improve our knowledge of the world around us. Sometimes after a meeting I want to arrange another one because new ideas are born and I discover new needs. This is important: to get to know people, listen, expand the circle of ideas. The world is crisscrossed by roads that come closer together and move apart, but the important thing is that they lead towards the Good.”

Your Holiness, is there is a single vision of the Good? And who decides what it is?
“Each of us has a vision of good and of evil. We have to encourage people to move towards what they think is Good.”

Your Holiness, you wrote that in your letter to me. The conscience is autonomous, you said, and everyone must obey his conscience. I think that’s one of the most courageous steps taken by a Pope.
“And I repeat it here. Everyone has his own idea of good and evil and must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them. That would be enough to make the world a better place.”

Is the Church doing that?
“Yes, that is the purpose of our mission: to identify the material and immaterial needs of the people and try to meet them as we can. Do you know what agape is?”

Yes, I know.
“It is love of others, as our Lord preached. It is not proselytizing, it is love. Love for one’s neighbor, that leavening that serves the common good.”

Love your neighbor as yourself.
“Exactly so.”

Jesus in his preaching said that agape, love for others, is the only way to love God. Correct me if I’m wrong.
“You’re not wrong. The Son of God became incarnate in the souls of men to instill the feeling of brotherhood. All are brothers and all children of God. Abba, as he called the Father. I will show you the way, he said. Follow me and you will find the Father and you will all be his children and he will take delight in you. Agape, the love of each one of us for the other, from the closest to the furthest, is in fact the only way that Jesus has given us to find the way of salvation and of the Beatitudes.”

More at link

—————————–

So much of this is wrong. The danger is that the Pope speaks for the 1.2 billion Catholics in the world, and he also speaks the world’s language and they will adopt the Pope’s version of Christianity because it is Christ-less. The Pope is fixated on the world, and not Jesus.

Where the Pope said, “The Son of God became incarnate in the souls of men to instill the feeling of brotherhood” this is, we know, NOT the reason Jesus came. He came to seek and save the lost. (Luke 19:10).

Jesus came not to deliver a ‘feeling’ but, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17)

Jesus came to live the perfectly sinless life so that He could shed His righteous blood on behalf of us sinners, die, and be raised by the power of God, conquering death. Jesus came to bring eternal life to sinners, not to allow us to enjoy brotherly feelings. We can do that on our own. What we cannot do on our own is escape God’s judgment for our sins.

It was not men like Pope Benedict who was hellfire and brimstone who are most dangerous, but the flattering ones who speak the world’s language, like Pope Francis. Francis and his soft words are the danger. Lost people will say, “See? I knew it all along! My good is good and your good is good, and we’re all good.” Francis denies the absolute authority of the One Good, which is what Jesus taught. (Mark 10:18). Daniel 11:12 shows us that the antichrist will use this technique of smooth words lulling the lost into a sense of spiritual fulfillment,

“By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action.”

I do not think Pope Francis is the antichrist, though he may be a good candidate for the False Prophet. The point is not to identify a man but to show the danger of the technique. The False Prophet and the Antichrist will use the flattering and smooth words technique to evil perfection, and we see it employed here today.

It is incredible just within one year how this one man has changed the policies and dogma of the Catholic Church so drastically. Everything the RCC has stood for, for thousands of years, are undone by just a few tweets and media interviews. This is because they are not the words of Jesus. Jesus said the world will pass away but His words will never pass away (Matthew 24:35). The ease with which Francis is changing the already corrupt RCC Gospel into ecumenical Christ-less Gospel is a pointed indicator that Christ was never in the Roman Catholic Church to begin with. The Lord’s word is immovable. That Francis can change the perspective of the RCC and its adherents so easily is just another indicator of the nearness of Jesus’s coming. The Pope’s manipulation of the long-held false RCC doctrines to me is a good example of this verse:

“until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” [emphasis mine] Ephesians 4:13-14

Pray for Francis to come to know the true God of Israel, the Ancient of Days who is on His throne, awaiting the moment He will tell His Son go go get His bride. Soon after that moment, it will be too late for those cloaked in the dark, smooth words of a false prophet named Pope Francis.

Posted in creation grace, God

Creation Grace: God as artist

Posted on by elizabethprata

On Sundays I usually put up a photo of mine, showing a piece of the earth. I want to honor God’s creative power. We worship Him on this holy day and part of that worship includes praising His eternal characteristics. He is Creator. As Charles Spurgeon said,

 “Was he powerful? Was he the mighty God when he spake the world out of the womb of nonexistence? Was he the Omnipotent when he piled the mountains and scooped out the hollow places for the rolling deep?”

God is incredibly powerful, we know that. But within His creative power is a beauty and a delicacy. He could have made a world that is utilitarian only, in drab colors of gray and brown. Earth could look like Mars, after all. He could have made all the animals look almost alike. Or all of us amoebas. He didn’t. His imagination, ability to not just create, but to create beautifully, is awe-inspiring.

Each bird has its own call. We have the harsh cry of the bluejay and the tweet of the songster warbler. Each bird has its own movement. We have the flits of the hummingbird and the soaring glide of the eagle.

Each animal has its own beauty, even jellyfish! Even bluebottle flies have a neon iridescence that catches the eye (just before you swat them…). Let’s take a look at creation grace and the beauty within it.

He didn’t have to create colorful fall foliage…but He did
Fall foliage, Crystal Lake, Gray ME. EPrata photo
 He didn’t have to create colorful flowers…But he did
Wildflower, Comer, GA. EPrata photo
From chickens to tapirs to cats, He made them diverse
Georgia Chicken House, Danielsville GA. EPrata photo
Tapir, Amazon. EPrata photo
Barn Cat, Gray ME. EPrata photo
The sun & moon ” for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth” (Genesis 1:15).
He paints the sky!
Sunset, Comer GA. EPrata photo

Sunset Daytona FL. EPrata photo

Sunset Lubec ME. EPrata photo
From the velvet beauty of the magnolia…
EPrata photo

to the sudden deadliness of the pitcher plant…
Bog, Campobello New Brunswick Canada. EPrata photo

to the prickliness of the cactus…

Cactus, EPrata photo

The Lord creates, and He creates beautifully!

If you would like to see some truly beautiful photos of earth taken by talented photographers, here are some links well worth visiting. As you view the photos, praise the Creator who not only made us and made this place to live, but He chose not to make it solely utilitarian, but beautiful, too.

Ten Years of Gorgeous Images of Earth 

Earth as Art: Stunning Images From Space

NatGeo: Extreme Earth

Posted in immutable, purpose, rick warren, spurgeon

Finding God’s will for your life

Posted on by elizabethprata

True Christians are consumed with obeying God and serving Him, because we love Him so much. That’s why so many people say they want to “find God’s will for their life.” Finding God’s will is at the top of their list of ways we want to serve Him. Christians ache when they feel that they are missing out on doing service for God, and they fear. ‘What if I’m not finding it?’ they wonder. ‘What if He wants me to be a missionary in Burma and I haven’t read the signs correctly and I’m just here in Dayton, not doing much?’

Rugendas, c. 1820, “Village of Christianized Tapuyos indians”

The book Radical by David Platt touched on this invisible fear among many Christians. The book Radical is, according to Kevin DeYoung, “an all-out assault on cheap grace, easy-believism, consumer Christianity.”

And is against the Christian laziness that comes with it. I agree that those things should be avoided and denounced. But despite the softening language, Platt’s overall tone is that we should throw it all over, sell all our stuff, and run off to Burma as a missionary.

DeYoung admires Platt but has five concerns of the book, and mentions this fourth: “I worry that radical and crazy Christianity cannot be sustained. If the message of Jesus translates into “Give more away” or “Sacrifice for the gospel” or “Get more radical” we will end up with burned out evangelicals. Even when Jesus said his hard saying (and he said a lot of them) it was not his basic stump speech. His message was repent and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:15). When Jesus challenged the crowds to count the cost or let the dead bury their dead it was to make clear that following him was not all about miracles and wonders, it was about giving him the preeminence. The emphasis was doxological first and foremost. Worship Christ. Believe in Christ. Walk with Christ. And therefore, before you follow Christ be prepared for opposition.”

“I don’t worry for David’s theology, but I worry that some young Christians reading his book might walk away wondering if a life spent working as a loan officer, tithing to their church, praying for their kids, learning to love Christ more, and serving in the Sunday school could possibly be pleasing to God. We need to find a way to attack the American dream while still allowing for differing vocations and that sort of ordinary Christian life that can plod along for fifty years. I imagine David wants this same thing. I’m just not sure this came through consistently in the book.“

Rick Warren, Source

The book was a catalyst for the lurking doubt that rests in many Christians that they aren’t doing enough. That they are missing their purpose. (thanks a bunch, Rick Warren). So what is the answer?

The bible. God wrote down about Himself, what He wanted us to know about Him. He also put in there by the inspired Holy Spirit what He wants us to do and not do, and to take comfort in His promises. His purpose for us is in there.

He has several purposes for us all. ALL.

God wants us to believe. That is our primary purpose in life. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15. Also 2 Peter 3:9 & Acts 22:16).

After belief, we are to be a witness, teaching and making disciples. That is the Christian’s purpose in life. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

Our chief purpose in Christian life is to glorify God. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). This next part is from MacArthur’s outline from his essay “How to live for God’s glory”

  • Confess Your Sins. (1 John 1:9)
  • Bear Fruit. (John 15:8; Colossians 1:10)
  • Give Praise to God. (Psalm 50:23)
  • Be Content. (Philippians 4:11)
  • Pray According to God’s Will. (John 14:13)
  • Proclaim God’s Word. (2 Thessalonians 3:1)

In the past, God made it clear to those whom He chose as to what their purpose was. Moses was to be His prophet. Jeremiah was to preach repentance. David was to be King. He spoke through a burning bush, a cloud, a still small voice, and even a donkey. He said what He said clearly and definitively- and directly.

Just because he isn’t speaking like that any more does not mean He isn’t speaking. Or, rather, has not spoken. Hebrews 1:1-2 says that God’s final word is through His Son–

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”

His Son is the Word and His word can be found in the bible. That is where we find our purpose.

“But what if I am to be called as a missionary? Or a preacher? Or to do a certain work in a certain place as a layperson? How will I know if there is a specific purpose, then?”

Do we think that just because He doesn’t come down to us and speak directly through a burning bush, that we cannot understand that if He has a specific call for our lives that He can’t or won’t make it clear? He is powerful! As Spurgeon praises Him in His power so eloquently,

“He changes not in his attributes. Whatever the attributes of God were of old, that they are now; and of each of them we may sing “As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.” Was he powerful? Was he the mighty God when he spake the world out of the womb of nonexistence? Was he the Omnipotent when he piled the mountains and scooped out the hollow places for the rolling deep? Yes, he was powerful then, and his arm is unpalsied now, he is the same giant in his might; the sap of his nourishment is undried, and the strength of his soul stands the same for ever.”

He has the power to instill in you the burning desire to be a preacher. As He did Paul, 1 Corinthians 9:16, or Jeremiah in Jeremiah 20:9.

Has He given you the gift of teaching? Do people remark on your teaching or preaching, whether you have done it impromptu or in formal settings? (Ephesians 4:11).

Even if we have submitted to His obvious working of circumstances in our lives so that we are now beginning to understand the specific purpose, He will also still sovereignly work to guide you within it! See Paul in Acts 16:6-8,

Mosaic, ‘Man of Macedonia appearing to Paul’

“And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.”

In the next verse Paul received a vision of where He was in fact to go. Though we do not receive direct visions anymore like this, do we not think the Spirit isn’t still working and guiding us within our lives to HIS purpose? Of course He is.

Because that is what it is all about, God’s purpose, not our purpose. We believe, submit, and serve. He guides and organizes the rest. Do we believe that God is so timid that our busy lives can block Him out, and that it is even remotely possible for us to miss a specific purpose He has outlined for us?

No.

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (Romans 8:28-30)

Queen Esther – Andrea del Castagno, c.1450

God had a purpose and He wanted Queen Esther to be a part of its fulfillment. Esther’s uncle Mordecai was talking to her about doing it. It seems that Esther already had an inkling about what she was to do. Mordecai cemented it. We usually focus on the last part of Mordecai’s answer, “for such a time as this” but what about the first part?

“Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14-15)

‘If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place’. So you see, God providentially works all things to the good, and we are not so powerful that we miss His call, and He is not so tenuous that it all falls apart if we refuse it.

God has a purpose. If you know what your purpose is- and you will, because God makes it clear, and you refuse the call to be a missionary or preacher or whatever, God will still fulfill what He wants to fulfill. His plans are immutable.

Our purpose is to believe, witness, make disciples, and glorify Him. We all have that purpose. In addition, He sent the Spirit to dispense Gifts as He wills, so that His purposes will be executed though us and by the fruits we bear by His Spirit’s power. If we are to have a specific call, He will make it known. Moses was 40 years old when we learned he killed a man, and he waited another 40 years until God used him for his last 40. Moses was used by God from age 80-120. So even one of the great patriarchs of the bible was not called to a specific purpose until late in life. However, Moses’s entire life was used of God’s purpose! Moses just didn’t know it. It is the same with us.

Not everyone has a call to run off to Burma or to preach to the masses. Most of us, I dare say, are simply operating in our mundane spheres, planting seeds and bearing fruit. If we have a call to perform a specific purpose, we will understand it when it comes. Until then, rest secure in His providence and His power. It’s not our purpose in life that is the point, but His purposes.

Posted in attributes, God, jeremiah, lamentations

One hundred percent guarantee for how to get out of the doldrums

Posted on by elizabethprata

Tears! Grief! Woe! Famine! Death! Pain! Jeremiah!

The book of Jeremiah “recounts more of his own life than any other prophet, telling of his ministry, the reactions of his audiences, testings, and his personal feelings. … The main theme of Jeremiah is judgment upon Judah (chaps. 1–29) with restoration in the future messianic kingdom (23:3–8; 30–33).” (source)

“Jeremiah Lamenting the
Destruction of Jerusalem” (Rembrandt)

Jeremiah also wrote the book of Lamentations, “No other entire OT book contains only laments, as does this distressful dirge, marking the funeral of the once beautiful city of Jerusalem. This book keeps alive the memory of that fall and teaches all believers how to deal with suffering.” (source)

In the first two and a half chapters of Lamentations, a word that means lament, loud cries, Jeremiah records woe and distress unparalleled in all the bible. “Jeremiah wrote Lamentations as an eyewitness (cf. 1:13–15; 2:6,9; 4:1–12), possibly with Baruch’s secretarial help (cf. Jer. 36:4; 45:1), during or soon after Jerusalem’s fall in 586 B.C. It was mid-July when the city fell and mid-August when the temple was burned. Likely, Jeremiah saw the destruction of walls, towers, homes, palace, and temple; he wrote while the event remained painfully fresh in his memory, but before his forced departure to Egypt.” (source)

Jeremiah opens Lamentations chapter 3 this way:

“I am the man who has seen affliction
under the rod of his wrath;
2 he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light;
3 surely against me he turns his hand
again and again the whole day long.
4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
he has broken my bones;
5 he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
6 he has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago.”

Not that Jeremiah personally was being punished for his sins, but that Jeremiah was eyewitness to the wrath that had come upon the Jewish people, who had refused to repent. Jerusalem was a smoking cinder and the people were carried away.

Jeremiah goes on for many more verses about his afflictions and woes. I can’t even conceive of his hardships. When the siege of Jerusalem occurred, the people were starved to death, literally. Women killed and ate each other, even their babies. (Jeremiah 19:9; Lamentations 2:20;). It was tough and Jeremiah, sensitive to God and to his fellow people, was part of it all.

Jeremiah’s frequent references to darkness is heartbreaking. Things are dark! Then in Lamentations 3:21 it all changes. Jeremiah turns a corner. How? Why? What can possibly get him out of his depression and distress? What can he possibly do or say or think that would lift him from the bible’s nearly deepest recorded personal woe? He makes this statement in Lamentations 3:21,

“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:”

What is Jeremiah calling to mind?

The attributes of God.

He recites the truth of the steadfast love of the LORD, His mercies, His goodness to those who wait on Him, and His salvation.

I can guarantee the following statement 100%: If you are in distress, and you choose to ‘call to mind’ our precious Jesus and His attributes, nature, and character, you WILL feel better.

How can I guarantee this? Because if you fix your thoughts on those things, ‘call them to mind’ as Jeremiah says, you are thinking the best thoughts you can possibly think. There is no thought that is better. No thought that is higher. No action that is more pure.

Jesus is the universe’s greatest treasure. He is the unique individual of all the ages past, present and future. He is the purest, best, most majestic and wonderful Person of all, and all His attributes that come from Him are THE highest.

If you are afflicted with sorrow or trials, no matter what they are, do what Jeremiah did. Call those things to mind. Even better, preach them back to the LORD. Extol His virtues to Him and praise Him for those virtues.

You might try to lift yourself from a depressing time by thinking of your wedding day. Or your honeymoon. Or your last birthday party, or the most relaxing vacation you ever took. Or the accolade you just won at work. NONE of those happy things will ever come close to lifting you like it will if you ponder Jesus and His nature and attributes.

Because as I said, those thoughts are the top, best thoughts you can have. Nothing else compares.

Times are rough for many people now. I think of the Syrian Christians caught in the crossfire of the two-year civil war. Syrian dictator Bashar Al Assad has a point when he says “we are fighting rebels who eat their enemies’ hearts.” The situation must be very similar to the destruction of Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s time. Pray for the Christians there to ponder Jesus all the more.

Even here in America, people are not adjusting well to their new economic circumstances and worried about their future. Many have received a report of cancer in their child or their parent. Many other events and circumstances worry us. However, lift your eyes to Jesus and deliberately call to mind his love, faithfulness, mercies, salvation and all the other wonderful attributes he possesses. If Jeremiah can do it, so can we. His book and the book of Lamentations is, in my opinion, in the bible to show us that no matter the suffering, He is so high and lifted up that when we fix our hearts and thoughts on Him, we will be high and lifted up too.

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Further reading

What are the Attributes of God?

Divine Attributes of God, Spurgeon Archive

God: His Character and Attributes

Posted in government shutdown

What does the US government shutdown mean for Christians?

Posted on by elizabethprata

The United States Government has shut down. This news is being played in heavy rotation on television and radio and the internet. It seems scary that the government has shut down. We have come to rely on the government. The government looms large in our lives. Of the shutdown, (which isn’t really a total cessation of government business, you know) some might ask, ‘what does this mean?’

Here is what it means for the Christian:

“He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;” (Daniel 2:21)

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God” (Romans 13:1)

We know that God is always working. HE is our government yes we are subject to ruling authorities and we do our diligence within the scope of proper Christian understanding and submission. But as far as lasting impact, or even temporary impact, God is our ruler and He governs us. If He has allowed a US government shutdown then he has allowed a government shutdown.

This is not our home.

“For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” (Hebrews 13:14)

We are strangers and aliens here–

“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” (1 Peter 2:11)

The LORD puts confusion into the minds of men who reject Him and also confuses armies. Rejection of God results in futile thinking, so the shutdown to me seems evidence of such confusion and rejection. It is a natural outcome of refusing to bow to God. However all things that happen are allowed by God and are within His will.

There is a season to everything. If the season of America’s ascendancy has passed, so be it. If the Lord sees fit to allow our government to become a Gordian Knot, so be it. There is a season, and it is all part of the cycle of the epochs and ages God is controlling. We look to our government in heaven, and our eternal home for direction and comfort. Not the earthly one.

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;” (Ecc 3:1-3)

Is it the time for our government to break down? Our society? Time will tell. There is a season for everything, after all.

Posted in 1 kings, jeroboam, man of god, prophet

A man of God and an old prophet

Posted on by elizabethprata

In reading 1 Kings 13 an interesting side note to Jeroboam’s life occurs.

Jeroboam was the first king after the split into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. He ruled the northern kingdom. He told people not to go to the temple at Jerusalem and instead built a golden calf in the north and the south and urged people to worship there and offer sacrifices to the idol.

Of course God was not pleased and He sent “a man of God” to tell Jeroboam a few things. (1 Kings 13:1-3). The exhortation made no impression on King Jeroboam, and he stretched out his hand toward the man of God, and said “Seize him!” (1 Kings 13:4).

Immediately the King’s hand shriveled up. The sign that the man of God had prophesied came to pass, and then the man of God told the King to beg the Lord for his hand to be restored. The King did, and the King then asked the man of God to come to the palace and eat with him at table. (1 Kings 13:6-9)

And here it gets even more interesting. The man of God replied to the King that God had said for him not to eat nor drink nor even to return the way he had come. So the man of God refused the King’s food and drink, and went home another way.

You might think the story ends there. But it doesn’t.

The man of God (who is never named) went home another way. So he’s walking along, having accomplished his courageous act. He had confronted the King! He had been used of God in a mighty work! He had escaped without being killed! I guess the man of God was feeling relaxed by now. He might have let out one giant “Phew!” He might even have thought he was safe.

Just then…the enemy comes!

“Now an old prophet lived in Bethel. And his sons came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told to their father the words that he had spoken to the king. And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him the way that the man of God who came from Judah had gone. And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he mounted it. And he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak. And he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.” Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” And he said, “I may not return with you, or go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place, for it was said to me by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.’” And he said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he lied to him. So he went back with him and ate bread in his house and drank water.” (1 Kings 13:11-18).

First: what was an old prophet doing living at Bethel? That was one of the towns where Jeroboam put one of the two golden calves! By choosing to live there it was like he was tacitly approving of the idolatry. At the very least, a true prophet would be tortured in spirit by such daily blasphemy. Not so the old prophet. He had sons and a home and a donkey for transportation, and he lived quite well in idol central.

Second: the old prophet’s sons came to him and told what happened in Bethel that day, and “the words that he had spoken to the king”. Now that is hitting close to home! To use a phrase, ‘something is disturbing the force.’ Evil likes its evil and anything fresh and of the Light makes it very angry. The sons and the old Prophet investigated immediately.

Third: the old prophet still had a choice at this point. If he had a heart for the LORD he would have repented and offered a sacrifice at the Temple for his lax and evil ways. Even when he asked “Which way did he go?” he still had a chance. Perhaps he was seeking the man of God because he wanted first-hand knowledge of the incident to learn more and then to repent. I mean, at some point the old Prophet needed to acknowledge how far he was from God.

Fourth: It was not to be. He deliberately sought out the man of God (and not God Himself) and it was not to learn more and repent. It was to lie. His initial lie was hidden, he at first simply asked the man of God to come home and eat with him. And the man of God is still doing well, because he resisted. He’d been chosen, he performed courageously and he’d obeyed. And now at this point he was still obeying.

Fifth: And here is where satan shines. Just as he did in the garden, using the serpent, the old Prophet lied and said that an angel had told him to come eat with him. The man of God listened. And that was his undoing.

When you trade the word of God for word of man, you’re undone. Perhaps in the man of God’s defense he wanted to honor the old Prophet because of his office. Perhaps he wanted to defer to him because of the man’s age. However,  motivations are never enough to set aside the word of God. The man of God should have resisted again. But finally, finally, he succumbed. Just like Eve listened to an angel, the man of God listened to an old prophet who said he had a message from an angel.

Paul reminds us, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8).

If God says something a person or an angel cannot contradict it. He spoke in His word and we should listen to Him, not dreams and visions, not our desires and not an angel who says something different than the Word does. Only the Word of God is authoritative and thus it is the highest word of all.

Anyway, back to the scene, 920 BC or so. The man of God went with the prophet and ate at table with him. Perhaps the man of God was feeling relaxed or even self-congratulatory, certainly he felt relieved. But God chose to use the instrument of the man of God’s downfall to pronounce his judgment: the word of the LORD came to the old prophet and he pronounced that the man of God will die that day and not lay in the tomb of his fathers, but instead lay a strange land. And indeed when the man of God left the house of the old prophet, a lion came and killed the man of God. And the donkey stood by and the lion did not eat the man of God and did not eat the donkey. The animals simply stood sentinel.

When the old prophet heard the talk of the strange behavior of the animals, he knew what had happened. He went and retrieved the man of God’s body and laid it in his own tomb, and ordered that when he died to lay his body on the man of God’s. Isn’t that justice, the man of God forever entombed with the man of his undoing. Both sinners, and hence the old Prophet mourned “my brother!”

The chapter is rich, and there are many lessons here, and many to learn from men who write better and have a more incisive perspective. But for me, I learned first, not to relax after a spiritual battle. When the immediate job is done it’s not done. Satan comes any time and all the time. He will persist and persist and he will lie and he will confuse you and he will seek you out. Remember, the old prophet saddled up the donkey and specifically asked where the man of God was, and then went to get him.

Prophets (preachers) of today lie. They seek out the unwary and they get them and they in effect offer them to lions. Watch out! Don’t relax!

Through the passage, we also learn that God means what He says. When He says do not eat or drink until you get home, don’t do it. Or whatever the LORD says not to do, don’t do it. If you do, there will be consequences. Disobedience bring consequences! One reason I believe the people of today love their visions and dreams is that they can make up a God to obey more comfortably and obey what comes from their head and not from His mouth. But there are consequences to disobedience.

Sometimes the consequences are immediate, as evidenced by the man of God’s death that same day. Sometimes the consequences are latent, as evidenced by the old prophet. We don’t know what happened to the old Prophet but he didn’t die that day, did he? But he sure knew that God’s word comes to pass, as verse 32 records the old prophet saying, “For the saying that he called out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of Samaria shall surely come to pass.”

Last, I learned that the chapter ends with recording that none of this affected Jeroboam’s attitude. He still installed priests in the high places and it’s inferred that they still sacrificed to idols. Even if the man of God had lived and had not disobeyed God, he would have seen that his message would have had no apparent effect. But God uses his people to show His holiness unto repentance and He uses His people to show that even if they do not repent they are without excuse when His Day comes. Either way, whether it’s accepted or rejected, we still have to proclaim His word.

So that is my foray into 1 Kings chapter 13. The Lord’s word is tremendous. As a matter of fact, it is the only way to grow. What are you reading these days?

Posted in futile thinking, romans, society

Train Runs Over Couple Having Sex on Tracks

Posted on by elizabethprata

Train Runs Over Couple Having Sex on Tracks
“Local police say a middle-aged couple in central Ukraine was run over by a switcher locomotive while having sex on the tracks. According to the country’s Interior Ministry, the woman died at the location while the man was hospitalized after losing both his legs. The victims’ names were not released, but it was reported that the man was 41 and the woman appeared to by thirtysomething. The ministry cited the surviving victim, who said that he and his girlfriend “failed to overcome their natural passion when walking home… and wanted to experience an extreme sensation near the railroad tracks.”

Pack of motorcyclists chase man in SUV, attack him on upper Manhattan street after fender bender on West Side Highway
“Alexian Lien’s Range Rover was surrounded by several bikers on the West Side Highway on Sunday. One biker apparently cut the driver off and slammed on the brakes just before the SUV bumped his rear tire. But when Lien — who was driving his wife, Rosalyn, and their 2-year-old child — stopped, several bikers began to damage his SUV. Lien fled, striking one biker. But the group caught up to him and pummeled him before cops arrived.”

Cops: Daughter, husband kill mom; dad shoots them
“A two-decade family feud came to a violent end when a man shot dead the two home invaders that killed his wife and son, not knowing the assailants included his long-estranged daughter, authorities said Sunday.”

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” (Romans 1:18-21)

THIS is what futile thinking is. This is what it looks like. Dr John MacArthur quoted Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse in his Romans 1:21 sermon and also in his Romans’ commentary–

Barnhouse said,

“Will God give man brains to see these things and will man then fail to exercise his will toward that God? The sorrowful answer is that both these things are true. God will give a man brains to smelt iron and make a hammer head and nails. God will grow a tree and give man strength to cut it down and brains to fashion a hammer handle from its wood. And when man has the hammer and the nails, God will put out His hand and let man drive nails through it and place Him on a cross in the supreme demonstration that men are without excuse.”

When you have a majority of a society rejecting God, and as a result not being able to think straight, there are going to be consequences. There will be evidence of it. When a tiny minority of a society or a culture rejects God, the effects can be dampened by peer pressure, or laws, or hidden from sight. Not so when a majority reject Him, and the noted consequences begin to evidence themselves. Foolish hearts and futile thinking mean people are going to act c.r.a.z.y. And they are. Our God-rejecting society is on a downhill slide in a hellish ride to nowhere, and I cold not be sorrier for the people who reject peace with God and the eternal joy that comes from it.

Posted in bible, bible study, hebrews, Judy Luenebrink

An introduction to Hebrews, by Judy Luenebrink of Grace Community Church

Posted on by elizabethprata

Ladies, you might enjoy this terrific bible study presented by Grace Community Church (John MacArthur’s church) from the Women’s Ministry. Grace Community Church’s Judy Luenebrink is the teacher.

An Introduction to Hebrews (mp3)

A Word document of an outline to the above lesson

Judy Luenebrink’s watercolors page
Watercolors by Judy Luenebrink  

Enjoy!!!