October 5

John 1:43-51

[43] The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” [44] Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. [45] Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” [46] Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” [47] Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” [48] Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” [49] Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” [50] Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” [51] And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

James 2:14-26

[14] What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? [15] If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, [16] and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? [17] So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

[18] But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. [19] You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! [20] Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? [21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? [22] You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; [23] and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. [24] You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. [25] And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? [26] For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Ecclesiastes 3:16-22

[16] Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. [17] I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work. [18] I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. [19] For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. [20] All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. [21] Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? [22] So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?

Jeremiah 10

[1] Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. [2] Thus says the LORD: 

    “Learn not the way of the nations,

        nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens

        because the nations are dismayed at them, 

    [3] for the customs of the peoples are vanity.

    A tree from the forest is cut down

        and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. 

    [4] They decorate it with silver and gold;

        they fasten it with hammer and nails

        so that it cannot move. 

    [5] Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,

        and they cannot speak;

    they have to be carried,

        for they cannot walk.

    Do not be afraid of them,

        for they cannot do evil,

        neither is it in them to do good.”

    [6] There is none like you, O LORD;

        you are great, and your name is great in might. 

    [7] Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?

        For this is your due;

    for among all the wise ones of the nations

        and in all their kingdoms

        there is none like you. 

    [8] They are both stupid and foolish;

        the instruction of idols is but wood! 

    [9] Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,

        and gold from Uphaz.

    They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;

        their clothing is violet and purple;

        they are all the work of skilled men. 

    [10] But the LORD is the true God;

        he is the living God and the everlasting King.

    At his wrath the earth quakes,

        and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

    [11] Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”

    [12] It is he who made the earth by his power,

        who established the world by his wisdom,

        and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. 

    [13] When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,

        and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.

    He makes lightning for the rain,

        and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses. 

    [14] Every man is stupid and without knowledge;

        every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,

    for his images are false,

        and there is no breath in them. 

    [15] They are worthless, a work of delusion;

        at the time of their punishment they shall perish. 

    [16] Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,

        for he is the one who formed all things,

    and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;

        the LORD of hosts is his name.

    [17] Gather up your bundle from the ground,

        O you who dwell under siege! 

    [18] For thus says the LORD:

    “Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land

        at this time,

    and I will bring distress on them,

        that they may feel it.”

    [19] Woe is me because of my hurt!

        My wound is grievous.

    But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,

        and I must bear it.” 

    [20] My tent is destroyed,

        and all my cords are broken;

    my children have gone from me,

        and they are not;

    there is no one to spread my tent again

        and to set up my curtains. 

    [21] For the shepherds are stupid

        and do not inquire of the LORD;

    therefore they have not prospered,

        and all their flock is scattered.

    [22] A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—

        a great commotion out of the north country

    to make the cities of Judah a desolation,

        a lair of jackals.

    [23] I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself,

        that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. 

    [24] Correct me, O LORD, but in justice;

        not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.

    [25] Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not,

        and on the peoples that call not on your name,

    for they have devoured Jacob;

        they have devoured him and consumed him,

        and have laid waste his habitation.

Jeremiah 11

[1] The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: [2] “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. [3] You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant [4] that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, [5] that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, LORD.”

[6] And the LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant and do them. [7] For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice. [8] Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”

[9] Again the LORD said to me, “A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. [10] They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. [11] Therefore, thus says the LORD, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. [12] Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. [13] For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, altars to make offerings to Baal.

[14] “Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. [15] What right has my beloved in my house, when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? Can you then exult? [16] The LORD once called you ‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed. [17] The LORD of hosts, who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.”

    [18] The LORD made it known to me and I knew;

        then you showed me their deeds. 

    [19] But I was like a gentle lamb

        led to the slaughter.

    I did not know it was against me

        they devised schemes, saying,

    “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,

        let us cut him off from the land of the living,

        that his name be remembered no more.” 

    [20] But, O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously,

        who tests the heart and the mind,

    let me see your vengeance upon them,

        for to you have I committed my cause.

    [21] Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, and say, “Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand”—[22] therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, [23] and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their punishment.”

Justice Will Be Done

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19)

All of you have been wronged at one time or another. Most of you, probably, have been wronged seriously by someone who has never apologized or done anything sufficient to make it right.

And one of the deep hindrances to your letting go of that hurt and bitterness is the conviction — the justified conviction — that justice should be done, that the moral fabric of the universe will unravel if people can just get away with horrible wrongs and deceive everyone.

That is one of the hindrances to forgiveness and letting grudges go. It’s not the only one. We have our own sin to deal with. But it is a real one.

We feel that just to let it go would be to admit that justice simply won’t be done. And we can’t do it.

So we hold on to anger, and play the events or the words over and over again with the feelings: It shouldn’t have happened; it shouldn’t have happened; it was wrong; it was wrong. How can he (or she) be so happy when I am so miserable? It is so wrong. It is so wrong! We can’t let it go. And our bitterness starts to poison everything.

This word in Romans 12:19 is given to us by God to lift that burden from us.

“Never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.” What does this mean for you?

Laying down the burden of anger, laying down the practice of nursing your hurt with feelings of being wronged — laying that down — does not mean there was no great wrong against you. There was.

But it also does not mean there is no justice. It does not mean you will not be vindicated. It does not mean they just got away with it. No they didn’t.

It means, when you lay down the burden of vengeance, God will pick it up.

This is not a subtle way of getting revenge. This is a way of giving vengeance to the One to whom it belongs. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. You lay it down. I will pick it up. Justice will be done.

What a glorious relief. I do not have to carry this burden. It is like taking a deep breath, perhaps for the first time in decades, and feeling like now at last you may be free to love.

John Piper 

Don’t Doubt in the Dark

 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” 

HEBREWS 10:23-25

 

PONDER THIS

The closer we get to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the more we need the house of God, and the more we need the people of God. We need to practice separation from the world and communication with the people of God. It’s not always easy, but this is the way God designed us to get through life in this world. We need each other; we need Him.

Remember what you’ve learned. Don’t doubt in the dark what God has shown you in the light. Remember the Word of God and remember who you learned it from. Hold onto His truth and to the community He has given you to learn it with. This is how we continue to stand strong. God has given you a family for a purpose; don’t neglect to gather with them.

How do you invest in the people in your church community? How have you grown with them?

How do you invest in your relationship with God? How have you grown in your relationship with Him?

PRACTICE THIS

Spend time with your church family over a meal or coffee and ask these loved ones to share how they have grown in their relationships with God.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

October 4

John 1:35-42

[35] The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, [36] and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” [37] The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. [38] Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” [39] He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. [40] One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. [41] He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). [42] He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

James 2:1-13

[1] My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. [2] For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, [3] and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” [4] have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? [5] Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? [6] But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? [7] Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

[8] If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. [9] But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. [10] For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. [11] For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. [12] So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. [13] For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

[1] For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

    [2] a time to be born, and a time to die;

    a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 

    [3] a time to kill, and a time to heal;

    a time to break down, and a time to build up; 

    [4] a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

    a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 

    [5] a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

    a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 

    [6] a time to seek, and a time to lose;

    a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 

    [7] a time to tear, and a time to sew;

    a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 

    [8] a time to love, and a time to hate;

    a time for war, and a time for peace.

    [9] What gain has the worker from his toil? [10] I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. [11] He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. [12] I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; [13] also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.

[14] I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. [15] That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.

Jeremiah 7

[1] The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: [2] “Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD. [3] Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. [4] Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’

[5] “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, [6] if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, [7] then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.

[8] “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. [9] Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, [10] and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? [11] Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD. [12] Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. [13] And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, [14] therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. [15] And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.

[16] “As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. [17] Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? [18] The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger. [19] Is it I whom they provoke? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves, to their own shame? [20] Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched.”

[21] Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. [22] For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. [23] But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ [24] But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. [25] From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. [26] Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.

[27] “So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. [28] And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the LORD their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.

    [29] “‘Cut off your hair and cast it away;

        raise a lamentation on the bare heights,

    for the LORD has rejected and forsaken

        the generation of his wrath.’

    [30] “For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the LORD. They have set their detestable things in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. [31] And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. [32] Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it will no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere. [33] And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away. [34] And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste.

Jeremiah 8

[1] “At that time, declares the LORD, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs. [2] And they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have gone after, and which they have sought and worshiped. And they shall not be gathered or buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. [3] Death shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family in all the places where I have driven them, declares the LORD of hosts.

    [4] “You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD:

    When men fall, do they not rise again?

        If one turns away, does he not return? 

    [5] Why then has this people turned away

        in perpetual backsliding?

    They hold fast to deceit;

        they refuse to return. 

    [6] I have paid attention and listened,

        but they have not spoken rightly;

    no man relents of his evil,

        saying, ‘What have I done?’

    Everyone turns to his own course,

        like a horse plunging headlong into battle. 

    [7] Even the stork in the heavens

        knows her times,

    and the turtledove, swallow, and crane

        keep the time of their coming,

    but my people know not

        the rules of the LORD.

    [8] “How can you say, ‘We are wise,

        and the law of the LORD is with us’?

    But behold, the lying pen of the scribes

        has made it into a lie. 

    [9] The wise men shall be put to shame;

        they shall be dismayed and taken;

    behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD,

        so what wisdom is in them? 

    [10] Therefore I will give their wives to others

        and their fields to conquerors,

    because from the least to the greatest

        everyone is greedy for unjust gain;

    from prophet to priest,

        everyone deals falsely. 

    [11] They have healed the wound of my people lightly,

        saying, ‘Peace, peace,’

        when there is no peace. 

    [12] Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?

        No, they were not at all ashamed;

        they did not know how to blush.

    Therefore they shall fall among the fallen;

        when I punish them, they shall be overthrown,

    says the LORD. 

    [13] When I would gather them, declares the LORD,

        there are no grapes on the vine,

        nor figs on the fig tree;

    even the leaves are withered,

        and what I gave them has passed away from them.”

    [14] Why do we sit still?

    Gather together; let us go into the fortified cities

        and perish there,

    for the LORD our God has doomed us to perish

        and has given us poisoned water to drink,

        because we have sinned against the LORD. 

    [15] We looked for peace, but no good came;

        for a time of healing, but behold, terror.

    [16] “The snorting of their horses is heard from Dan;

        at the sound of the neighing of their stallions

        the whole land quakes.

    They come and devour the land and all that fills it,

        the city and those who dwell in it. 

    [17] For behold, I am sending among you serpents,

        adders that cannot be charmed,

        and they shall bite you,”

    declares the LORD.

    [18] My joy is gone; grief is upon me;

        my heart is sick within me. 

    [19] Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people

        from the length and breadth of the land:

    “Is the LORD not in Zion?

        Is her King not in her?”

    “Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images

        and with their foreign idols?” 

    [20] “The harvest is past, the summer is ended,

        and we are not saved.” 

    [21] For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded;

        I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me.

    [22] Is there no balm in Gilead?

        Is there no physician there?

    Why then has the health of the daughter of my people

        not been restored?

Jeremiah 9

    [1]  Oh that my head were waters,

        and my eyes a fountain of tears,

    that I might weep day and night

        for the slain of the daughter of my people! 

    [2] 

     Oh that I had in the desert

        a travelers’ lodging place,

    that I might leave my people

        and go away from them!

    For they are all adulterers,

        a company of treacherous men. 

    [3] 

    They bend their tongue like a bow;

        falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land;

    for they proceed from evil to evil,

        and they do not know me, declares the LORD.

    [4] 

    Let everyone beware of his neighbor,

        and put no trust in any brother,

    for every brother is a deceiver,

        and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. 

    [5] 

    Everyone deceives his neighbor,

        and no one speaks the truth;

    they have taught their tongue to speak lies;

        they weary themselves committing iniquity. 

    [6] 

    Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,

        they refuse to know me, declares the LORD.

    [7] 

    Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts:

    “Behold, I will refine them and test them,

        for what else can I do, because of my people? 

    [8] 

    Their tongue is a deadly arrow;

        it speaks deceitfully;

    with his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor,

        but in his heart he plans an ambush for him. 

    [9] 

    Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD,

        and shall I not avenge myself

        on a nation such as this?

    [10] 

    “I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains,

        and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness,

    because they are laid waste so that no one passes through,

        and the lowing of cattle is not heard;

    both the birds of the air and the beasts

        have fled and are gone. 

    [11] 

    I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,

        a lair of jackals,

    and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,

        without inhabitant.”

[12] Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? [13] And the LORD says: “Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, [14] but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. [15] Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them poisonous water to drink. [16] I will scatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.”

    [17] Thus says the LORD of hosts:

    “Consider, and call for the mourning women to come;

        send for the skillful women to come; 

    [18] let them make haste and raise a wailing over us,

        that our eyes may run down with tears

        and our eyelids flow with water. 

    [19] For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:

        ‘How we are ruined!

        We are utterly shamed,

    because we have left the land,

        because they have cast down our dwellings.’”

    [20] Hear, O women, the word of the LORD,

        and let your ear receive the word of his mouth;

    teach to your daughters a lament,

        and each to her neighbor a dirge. 

    [21] For death has come up into our windows;

        it has entered our palaces,

    cutting off the children from the streets

        and the young men from the squares. 

    [22] Speak: “Thus declares the LORD,

    ‘The dead bodies of men shall fall

        like dung upon the open field,

    like sheaves after the reaper,

        and none shall gather them.’”

    [23] Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, [24] but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”

[25] “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh—[26] Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”

Joy Unbound

“I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:26)

That’s what Jesus prayed the night before he died. Imagine being able to enjoy what is most enjoyable with unbounded energy and passion forever. This is not now our experience. Three things stand in the way of our complete satisfaction in this world.

One is that nothing in this created world has a personal worth great enough to meet the deepest longings of our hearts.

Another is that we lack the strength to savor the best treasures to their maximum worth.

And a third obstacle standing in the way of complete satisfaction is that our joys here come to an end. Nothing lasts. But if the aim and the prayer of Jesus in John 17:26 come true, all this will change. He prayed “that the love with which you, Father, have loved me may be in them.” God’s infinitely well-pleased love for his Son in us!

If God’s pleasure in the Son becomes our pleasure in the Son, then the object of our pleasure, Jesus, will be inexhaustible in personal worth. He will never become boring or disappointing or frustrating.

No greater treasure can be conceived than the Son of God.

Moreover, our ability to savor this inexhaustible treasure will not be limited by human weaknesses. We will enjoy the Son of God with the very enjoyment of his Father. That’s what Jesus prayed for!

God’s delight in his Son will be in us and it will be ours — our delight in the Son. And this will never end, because neither the Father nor the Son ever ends.

Their love for each other will be our love for them and therefore our loving them will never die, nor ever diminish.

John Piper 

No Shortage of Religion in America

“You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” PSALM 16:11

 

PONDER THIS

The way of Jesus is the way of genuine pleasure. But the problem comes when we love pleasures more than we love God.

A church can have several thousand people in worship, but that is a fraction of its membership. Many people watch but don’t get involved. Many have other places they would rather be than in the house of God. They are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. If you look around, resorts, theaters, stadiums, and nightclubs are packed. It’s what you might call a pleasure explosion. When we think about Sunday, we have many other plans we anticipate—our lunch plans, the people we will see; we look forward to many things outside of worshiping God.

There is no shortage of religion in America. Most Americans do not need religion; they need to turn from religion to a commitment to Jesus Christ. Life in Christ is more than church attendance or lip service; it is about a life that looks to Him as genuine pleasure and trusts that He is enough. Let Him reorient your heart. Let Him change how you look at the Creator, Savior, and Helper. He is the source of pleasure and not a distraction from it.

What are some ways you have pursued pleasure over the things of God? Where has it led?

How have you found pleasure walking with God? How can you grow in your walk with Him?

PRACTICE THIS

Confess where you have sought pleasure outside of God. Ask Him to reorient your heart to find pleasure in Him.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Loving Someone Right into Hell

In our foolish attempt to be loving to a sinner, we opt for just saying nothing of their blatant sin. As a sinner we know that we do not like to be told of our own sin. It's uncomfortable, it brings us to examination of our lives . We identify because we also are bent toward sin! So, what do we do? We stay quite. We are commanded to make disciples, give biblical instruction to the lost, pray for conviction of the lost, help the poor, help the sick, care for orphans and so own.  

Lord. make us bold. Give our hearts convicting words with no arguments, just plain talk of consequences to sin. Lead the lost to repentance. Amen  

 

Matthew 28:18-20

[18] And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] 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, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Ezekiel 33:8-10

[8] If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. [9] But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. [10] “And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’

Ezekiel 33:14-17

[14] Again, though I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ yet if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, [15] if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. [16] None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live. [17] “Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just.

1 Timothy 4:16

[16] Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Acts 20:28-30

[28] Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. [29] I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; [30] and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

James 5:19-20

[19] My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, [20] let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.