BibleTrekToday.com

Year: 2009

  • Sunday rest and reflection: the glory of God

    Dear Friends,

    Another needed day of rest, worship, fellowship and refreshing!  I am ready for a great day of resting in Christ and allowing His peace and presence to come into clearer focus in my life.  Life is busy and I often find myself going from one meeting to another and one appointment to another without a break.  Something is always needing attention or fixing.  On the day of rest, I need fixing by enjoying the glory of His presence!

    In reflecting on this past weeks reading in Ezekiel, I am impressed by Ezekiel’s visions of the glory of God.  Ezekiel saw things in heaven around the throne of God’s glory that he had trouble describing in earthly language or word pictures.  How does a finite creature describe an infinite being?  The glory of God was life-changing for Ezekiel.  He was encouraged and motivated to speak God’s message and obey even difficult assignments that would be uncomfortable and even dangerous.

    The saddest part of this past week’s reading was the part where God’s glory reluctantly left the Temple and city that God loved.  God tried over and over to make a place for His glory in the midst of His people.  They refused to honor Him and worship Him in Spirit and truth.  He withdrew His glory to show them what darkness was in them.  It was truly a dark time in the history of God’s people.

    I am thankful that God’s glory now resides in His church among His people.  He has filled His church with His glory.  The day of Pentecost brought a rushing wind and tongues of fire bringing glory back to His living stones in the New Temple.  We are now being transformed by the glory of God living in our midst personally and corporately.  We have new revelations of that glory daily as we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.  The baptism of the Holy Spirit fills us with power to share His glory with others!  Sunday morning worship explodes with God’s glory descending into the midst of His worshiping church!  Would that we do everything we can to welcome the God of glory today!  We never want to see Him take His glory and depart!  In His Love and Glory,  Pastor John

  • x-rated prophetic warning!

    Scripture reading for August 22nd: Ezekiel 16-19

    How many of you are reading this just to find out what was “x-rated” in the Bible?  Ezekiel 16 should contain an “x-rated” warning for graphic and explicit sexual content and violence.  God knows how to use the street language of the day to get the attention of the people.  If you really want the street language in today’s vernacular, you should read this passage in the Message Bible by Eugene Peterson.  I read it to my adult Bible class and many were blushing!

    In this chapter God explains how He saw the nation of Israel and how they were given life by Him.  They had been born in sin and were covered with iniquity but God had mercy on them.  God Himself had given the command “Live” and they received life!  (Ezekiel 16:6-7)  They grew up to become His beautiful bride and He clothed them in fine linen clothes and gave them fine jewelry.  They were given ear rings and nose rings and even a crown for their head.  They were to be a bride of royalty!  (Ezekiel 16:10-14)  In fact they became His queen  and their fame spread among the nations!

    Then a strange thing happened.  God’s Queen decided to become a prostitute.  God stated that she had become proud and trusted in her beauty and fame!  She went up to the high places and  spread her beautiful garments and offered sexual favors to all who passed by.  She took some of her expensive jewelry and made cheap idols and engaged in prostitution with them!  Sex with an idol can’t be too fulfilling!  (Ezekiel 16:15-18)  She worshiped her idols by offering the food God provided to them in idolatrous worship!  She even offered her sons and daughters to the idols by sacrificing them in the fires!  What a strange and twisted mind this beautiful woman had!

    On top of all that, instead of being paid by her lovers, she paid them to come to her!  It was a strange kind of prostitution!  (Ezekiel 16:32-34)  She had paid for favors from the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians and even the Philistines!  All of this behavior was going to bring God’s wrath and the curse of sin upon His people!  (Ezekiel 16:37-40)  She would reap the fruit of her illicit activities by being handed over to her lovers.  Those lovers would strip her and leave  her naked and bare and bring destruction on the land and houses.  God’s hope was to turn His Queen back to Him again.

    As we think about this story, we can listen and be warned ourselves.  Many in the church today are compromising their devotion to Christ and His holy word.  They are justifying their illicit sexual idolatry and claiming to belong to Christ.  They throw their children into the fire by using abortion to satisfy their need to be able to choose not to be responsible for an unwanted child from their immorality.  They claim God’s favor and blessing when they are really under His wrath because they have never truly repented. (Romans 1:18-20)  Maybe it’s time for another reading of this x-rated prophetic warning!

  • Prophetic whitewashers!

    Scripture reading for August 21st: Ezekiel 12-15

    “Because they have led My people astray, saying “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. . . .I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the Lord.” Ezekiel 13:10-11a, 14.

    God hates lies and will judge false prophets!  In this section of Ezekiel, God gives him a message for the prophets of Israel who are leading the people astray with the peace, safety, and prosperity lie.  These prophets were telling the people what they wanted to hear.  This was allowing the people to go on in idolatry and sin and brought God’s wrath upon the nation.

    God likened these lying prophets to painters who whitewashed flimsy walls that were poorly constructed.  The walls looked clean and white, but they were very unstable.  God was going to expose the poor foundation by sending a storm upon the nation that would topple the white-washed walls and bring them down on those who painted them and those who built on a poor foundation.  The crashing walls would destroy those who did such shoddy work and those who tried to make their work just look good.

    Lots of people do things for show, even in God’s House.  Preachers can put on a show too.  They can whitewash people’s walls just to get a crowd.  They can tell them how God wants them rich and blessed and all they have to do is to give some money to the preacher and God guarantees that they will get a hundred times more back.  They can tell people that God is love and won’t send anyone to hell.  They just have to belong to their church or send their money in and God will overlook all their sins.  Others whitewash the truth about the need for repentance from sin and faith in the blood of Jesus Christ.  They offer alternatives that don’t require faith or talking about the cross and the blood!  They try to make them feel good and get them in and out without any arousal of conviction.   Whitewash is being spread around today on the walls of people who have not repented!  These walls are going to crash down when judgment falls! The day of Christ’s return will reveal the foundations!

    Today check your foundation.  Are you firmly anchored on the Rock of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?  Have you repented of your sins and idolatry and found grace through the blood of Jesus?  Are you hungry for biblical truth and sitting under preaching that gives the whole counsel of God, not just the cream and sugar?   A day is fast approaching when the foundations will be laid bare!

  • The Glory departs!

    Scripture reading for August 20th: Ezekiel 7-11

    “In the sixth year, in the sixth month on the fifth day, while I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, the hand of the Sovereign Lord came upon me there.  I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man.  From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire, and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal.  He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head.  The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem. . .” Ezekiel 8:1-3

    Ezekiel had a “hair-raising” experience with a fire-glowing angel.  He was taken about 800 miles away to the north entrance of the temple.  There he saw an image or idol that provoked jealousy–the jealousy of God!  The glory of God appeared to him there as well, just as he had experienced earlier when the Lord had called him to be his spokesman! (Ezekiel 1:27-28)  Ezekiel was called by the angel or very possibly a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ (theophany) to dig into the wall of the temple.  As he dug through the wall he saw a doorway and was told to go in and look.  There he saw many “wicked and detestable” things that had provoked God to jealousy and wrath.  The seventy elders of Israel were worshiping idols right in the temple!

    Ezekiel was told that the elders did not believe that God saw them and that he had forsaken Israel.  He was also shown a group of women who were worshiping Tammuz, a fertility goddess.  He was shown another group of men worshiping the sun.  God had had enough of their unfaithfulness and unbelief and the time of judgment had come.  As the elders had believed in their hearts, so they received.  Ezekiel saw the glory of God go up from above the cherubim where it had been and move to the threshold of the temple.  (Ezekiel 9:3)  The Lord instructed the angel with a writing kit to go through the city and mark all who grieved over the sins of the temple and city.  Then all others were to be killed without pity!

    Ezekiel saw the Lord order an angel to take burning coals from between the wheels beneath the cherubim and scatter them over the city.  Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and they moved to the east gate of the Temple and stopped there.  (Ezekiel 10:18-19)  God was moving out and judgment had been scattered over the city. It was a sad scene and Ezekiel cried out to the Lord for mercy!  (Ezekiel 11:13)  He was given a word of hope that God would send his people away, but would be a sanctuary for those who trusted Him  in the countries where they were scattered.  He would bring them back again to their land and it would be cleansed from the idols.

    The last vision of God’s glory was when the cherubim escorted the glory of God to the Mt. of Olives on the East of the city.  God slowly withdrew His glory from an idolatrous people who would not listen or repent!  Check out your heart today and invite the God of Glory to fill you with His presence and light!

  • The likeness of the Glory of God!

    Scripture reading for August 19th: Ezekiel 1-6s

    When a priest turned 30, he began his full time ministry.  Ezekiel had just turned 30 years of age and he was a priest.  He had been taken into captivity and was in Babylon with a group of exiles which included Daniel and his friends.  They evidently met by the Kebar River to have their Sabbath observances and feast days and while they were meeting, God by His grace opened the heavens and gave Ezekiel a vision of God that changed his life and gave him direction and focus.  He was called by God to go to his people and give them God’s word.  He was warned by the Lord that God’s people were rebellious, obstinate and stubborn.  (Ezekiel 2:1-4)  His responsibility was to give them the word of God.

    The vision that Ezekiel saw of the throne of God was spectacular.  It began with a windstorm coming from the north with a towering thundercloud and flashing lightning and fire in the center.  As it got closer, Ezekiel could see four living creatures.  (Ezekiel 1:4-9)  These creatures had the form of a man but they had four faces and feet like a calf and four wings with hands underneath.  They glowed like bronze and the faces were that of an eagle, ox, lion and man.  Below on the ground, there was a wheel that sparkled and had another intersecting wheel.  These wheels were full of eyes on the rim and enabled the creatures to move in all directions as the Spirit moved  them.  When these creatures with the wheels moved, there was a sound like that of roaring waters, like the voice of God.

    As Ezekiel looked he noticed a glowing throne of sapphire above the creatures and on the throne was a figure like that of a man.  He was glowing with fire and brilliant light surrounded Him.  This light looked like a rainbow and glowed with radiance!  (Ezekiel 1:26-28)   This figure had the “likeness of the Glory of God”!  When Ezekiel saw it he evidently fell to the ground in awe, for the Lord later stood him up to talk with him. He was overcome by the likeness of God’s glory!

    No man has seen God and lived.  The Scripture states that sinful man would die if he could see the full radiance of His Glory.  God grants some men grace to see a glimpse of His glory.  Remember Moses was hidden by God in the cleft of the rock and was allowed to see His backside.  (Exodus 33:18-20)  Now God has sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to show mankind the Glory of God.  “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)  The gift of the Holy Spirit enables us to have the Glory of God revealed to us by the Spirit.  We are being transformed by that grace gift with ever increasing glory!  (2nd Corinthians 3:18)  When Jesus Christ appears and the trumpet blows, we will be instantly transformed into a glorious body, like His glorious body! (1st Thessalonians 4:16-18)  We now carry the “likeness of the Glory of God”!  Think about that and rejoice!

  • New mercies each morning!

    Scripture reading for August 18th: Lamentations 1-5

    Do you enjoy funerals?  How about mourning and wailing over the dead?   Well, this next short book of Jeremiah is a series of five funeral songs about the death of Jerusalem and the captivity of God’s people.  As a pastor, this book is helpful to gain insight into the process of grief and helping families and individuals deal with death and loss.  Grief takes time and energy to process.  Mourning people go through stages ranging from disbelief and shock, to mourning and wailing,  blaming others or God,  to quiet acceptance and finally readiness to move on.  These stages may take various amounts of time to process and work through.  God understands our grief and sorrows for Jesus was a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.  (Isaiah 53:3)

    Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet because he had a tender heart of compassion for God’s people. (Lamentations 1:16)   He had warned them faithfully of the coming judgment and destruction of Jerusalem.  He had witnessed this destruction and now was writing to chronicle the grief process going on in his heart.  Jeremiah was a lot like Jesus Christ, who also wept over the city of Jerusalem as He saw prophetically the destruction that was to come upon it for their rejection of Him as their Messiah.  (Matthew 23:37-39)  God values tears so much that the Psalmist said He gathers them up in a bottle and records them on a scroll.  (Psalm 56:8)  Tears are a sign of caring and compassion and they were modeled by Jesus at Lazarus’ tomb and again over Jerusalem.

    In Lamentations 3, the prophet is recounting his misery and pain and describes it with images that bring Isaiah 53 and the crucifixion to mind.  In the middle of his rant, he turns his thoughts to hope!  (Lamentation 3:20-21)  The cause of this hope is the thought of God’s steadfast love and great compassion and mercy.  Jeremiah states that this mercy is “new every morning” and that “great is God’s faithfulness”.  (Lamentations 3:22-23)  Because God is Jeremiah’s portion, he will wait for the Lord.  The Lord is good to those who wait for Him and put their hope in Him!  It is truly God’s mercy that gives us hope and leads us to repentance!  (Romans 2:4)    His unfailing love and compassion will come through for those in deep grief!

    This funeral lament ends with words of faith and hope and a prayer. God is sovereign and reigns forever.  He will  have compassion and restore them as they pray. Take a moment and offer a prayer of thanksgiving and trust in the Lord and His compassion for you today.  His Son Jesus Christ wept over us and bore our sorrows and tears that we might live in the joy of His love and receive new mercies every morning!

    “You, O Lord, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation.  Why do you always forget us?  Why do you forsake us so long?  Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.” Lamentations 5:19-22

  • Flee from Babylon!

    Scripture reading for August 17th: Jeremiah 46-52

    “Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives!  Do not be destroyed because of her sins.  It is time for the Lord’s vengeance;  He will pay her what she deserves.  Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord’s hand; she made the whole earth drunk.  The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad.  Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Wail over her.” Jeremiah 51:6-8a

    Jeremiah’s prophecies in the last chapters of his book are absolutely amazing and encouraging to every student of Scripture.  God has promised to watch over His word to perform it and we get in on some amazing performances; others are yet to be confirmed.  Jeremiah ends his book with the story of God’s dealing with Babylon because of her treatment of the people of God.  Babylon is to be destroyed suddenly and the people who will do it are named by Jeremiah 70 years before it happens.  The Medes and Persians would carry out God’s purposes and be his war club!  (Jeremiah 51:11, 20)  Jeremiah had earlier told the people that the captivity would last 70 years and that word came to pass!  (Jeremiah 25:11-12)

    Through Jeremiah God calls to His people to flee from Babylon.  Although they will live there for 7o years, they must be ready to return to the promised land and to escape the punishment of God upon that land.  The end of Babylon would come quickly or suddenly.  Jeremiah tells how Babylon will fall.  In Jeremiah 51:36-40, he tells that God will dry up the sea or springs of Babylon.  The officials of Babylon will be aroused and drunk at a feast.  They will be shouting with drunken laughter and suddenly they will sleep forever!  This word was probably known by Daniel and helped him interpret the handwriting on the wall the night that Babylon fell!  The Babylonian officials were drinking from the golden goblets from God’s House in Jerusalem when the handwriting appeared on the wall. (Daniel 5) Daniel was called to interpret and God’s judgment fell before morning!  (Daniel 5:30) It is said that the Medes damned up the river and came in under the wall, taking the city from within!  What a fulfillment of God’s prophetic word!

    This prophecy about the destruction of Babylon was to be read aloud to the captives in Babylon by Seraiah, an aid to King Zedekiah.  When he was finished, he was to tie a rock on it and throw it into the Euphrates River.  It was to sink to the bottom as a symbol of how Babylon would sink at the appointed time!  (Jeremiah 51:59-64)  For a real rush of adrenaline, turn to Revelation 18 and read the whole chapter in light of Jeremiah’s prophecy.  God’s word has multiple fulfillment and speaks to the time of the end as well as to the fall of Babylon in Daniel’s time.

    “Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. . . .Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her; death, mourning, and famine.  She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.” ” Revelation 18:4-5,8

  • Sunday rest and reflection-trust and obey!

    Dear Friends,

    Greetings in the Wonderful Name of Jesus Christ!  Another week has flown by and we have another opportunity to enjoy a Sabbath rest.  We can join with others of precious faith and worship and pray together.  The church is the Bride of Christ and meets together  to prepare for His coming and to reach out to those who are yet to know Him.  The Sabbath is for man’s benefit and blessing.

    As I reflect back on this week’s readings in Jeremiah, I am again encouraged with the simplicity of God’s message to His children.  Trust and obedience will bring blessing!  It is so simple yet it seems to be so difficult for the people of God to trust Him!  We see over and over people who say they want to hear His word and follow His directions turning the other way and doing their own thing.  This always leads to disastrous consequences and they are warned again and again that these consequences will come.  Who will deliver them from these fatal errors?

    A group of people mentioned by Jeremiah and singled out by God for blessing were the Recabites.  (Jeremiah 35)  These people had sworn in a covenant oath to their father Jonadab that they would not drink wine, plant grapes, sow seed, or build houses but would live in tents.  This people had been faithful to their oath for years.  Jeremiah tried to entice them to drink wine and they refused.  They were commended as being faithful to their oath while the Israelites had broken their covenant vows to God to be faithful over and over. (Jeremiah 35:18-19)   These Recabites were rewarded and commended for their faithfulness!  They had learned to trust and obey their earthly father while the Isrealites refused to trust and obey their heavenly father!  Even in their limited obedience, they still needed God’s grace because they too were sinners.

    Thanks be to God for He did for us what we could not do!  We have the Holy Spirit living in us today and God’s power and presence to enable us to live holy, obedient lives of faith.  We have the New Covenant and God’s law written on our hearts and minds as promised through the prophet Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)   We are born again by the Spirit,  living seed of God’s word, and adopted as God’s children.  We are being transformed daily by the Spirit by an ever-increasing glory!  Trust and obedience should be so much easier for us under the Spirit than for those who lived under the law. Check your trust level in Jesus Christ, the one who totally trusted and obeyed on our behalf!  Rest in His complete obedience and grace today!  In His Love,  Pastor John

  • Is there any word from the Lord? (Part 2)

    Scripture reading for August 15th: Jeremiah 40-45

    “Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, “Please hear our petition and pray to the Lord your God for this entire remnant.  For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left.  Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.” Jeremiah 42:1-3

    These Jews were scared and feared the wrath of Babylon because their Babylonian appointed leader, Gedaliah, had been assassinated.  They were thinking about fleeing to Egypt but decided to seek a word from the Lord.  They approached Jeremiah and asked him to pray for them to “your God”.  That’s not a very encouraging sign!  As a minister, many people want you to pray for them and are thankful when you do.  Sometimes I wonder why they are not praying themselves.  Other times I wonder if they are asking something similar to these Jews who asked Jeremiah to pray.

    After this group promised Jeremiah to abide faithfully by what the Lord would say, he agreed to seek the Lord.  They said the right words and seemed so sincere.  They promised to do whatever was asked that it might go well with them. (Jeremiah 42:5-6)  As Jeremiah prayed over their request, ten days passed before the answer came.  He called the Jews together to hear the Lord’s directions.  He made them very clear and presented an obvious choice that did not take a genius to figure out the preferred decision!  If they would stay in the land, God would plant them and build them up.  He would protect them from the King of Babylon and show them great compassion.  (Jeremiah 42:10-12)  However, if they did not obey and chose to go down to Egypt, what they feared would overtake them and they would surely die by the sword, famine and plague!  (Jeremiah 42:13-18)  Just to help them out, Jeremiah emphasizes to them the right choice, “Do not go to Egypt.” (Jeremiah 42:19)

    You would think that a people who wanted prayer and God’s word of direction and promised to obey would easily find the right answer.  However, their words and actions were not really sincere because their hearts were not right with the Lord.  They had no fear of the Lord or His holy word.  They accused the prophet of lying and that God had not spoken through him or sent him!  (Jeremiah 43:2-7)  They proceeded to gather up everyone and head for Egypt!  This is the mystery of iniquity in the heart of sinful man.  Why would a people who knew God’s word and the penalty for disobedience choose to disobey and die?   There is no logical answer!

    As you think about this story today, examine your own life and check out your heart.  Have you sought the Lord for something you know is not God’s will?  When a man or woman of God gives you truth that you disagree with do you go ahead and do your own thing?  Is the Lord “your God” or does He belong to others?

  • Is there any word from the Lord?

    Scripture reading for August 14th: Jeremiah 37-39

    “Jeremiah was put in a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained for a long time.  Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there any word from the Lord?” “Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”  Jeremiah 37:16-17

    When times are tough, many people are curious about what the Lord might be saying.  When you haven’t listened to His word for a long time and have tried to silence the voice of God in your life, it is not easy to hear properly again.  God knows the motives behind our questions.  They may sound like we want to hear, but may be mere curiosity.  Such was this question from King Zedekiah.  He sounded sincere–like he wanted to know and understand what the Lord was saying–but really did not believe that what Jeremiah said was true.

    Sometimes we have another reason for wanting to hear another word from the Lord.  We may hope that God has changed His mind or given a new word.  None of the last kings of Judah wanted to hear Jeremiah’s word from the Lord.  He was in prison because of preaching that word of coming judgment.  In the coming days, a plot to kill Jeremiah came from some of the king’s officials and King Zedekiah did nothing to stop them.  He really did not want to hear the word of coming judgment.  He was hoping for a word of peace and safety.

    Today, people are running around looking for a “word from the Lord”.  They go to conferences and seek out those with prophetic gifts.  They want to hear the latest prophetic predictions.  They want guidance and direction.  We each must check our motives and ask ourselves if we are obeying what has already been spoken and written from the Lord.  If we have been ignoring simple truths, how can we be sure we will be given truth?  In the last days there will be a famine, not for bread or water, but for hearing the word of the Lord!  (Amos 8:11-12)

    Yes, there is a final word from the Lord for these last days;  Jesus Christ Himself is the last word from God for the world.  He offers grace and forgiveness of sins to all who will repent and believe on Him.  He promises salvation, healing and deliverance through Him alone.  Have you responded to this word?

    “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.  The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.  After He had provided purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-3