Best laid plans
Jeremiah 29:11 For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.12 Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.13 When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart,
Online Bible Study Tools, NRSV
A popular TV show in the 80’s, The A Team, often included the line, “I love it when a plan comes together.” I have lived long enough to know that sometimes even the best laid plans do, indeed, go awry. (Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck)
The context of today’s scripture is that false prophets had arisen to proclaim peace and Jeremiah, a true prophet sent by God, is trying to undo the damage done by these prophets. Hananiah, in Chapter 28, told the people that within two years the yoke of bondage under Babylon would be broken. However, that was not God’s plan.
God loves His people. Yet, He allowed Israel to be carried away to Babylon and to live under foreign rule for seventy years. Why? Because sin can not be rewarded. Yet, here in Jeremiah the prophet tells the people to make the best use of their time while in Babylon. Marry, have children, and support the land in which you dwell. Then, in due time, you will be delivered, but only after you have sought after God with your whole heart.
Are you in bondage today? Are you making the best use of your time, or is your time consumed with whining and complaining about your lot in life? Believe me, I have done my share of whining, so I can identify.
But God has a plan, and His plan is greater than anything you are going through right now. Whether your bondage is self-imposed because of personal sin, or you are suffering not through any fault of your own but because the world in which we dwell is a world of sickness and disease and even death, God’s plan is for you to have hope. His plan is for good and not for harm.
Blame God for your circumstances if you must–He is a big God and He can handle your anger and frustration. But don’t lose faith. Seek after Him with your whole heart and soon your hope will be restored.
PRAYER: Father God, we come to you today to thank you for who you are, and to ask for your mercies upon us when our plans disappoint us. Build us up in our most holy faith that we might not be devastated when our plans do not come together, but instead let us know, really know, that your plans are always for our good. Amen
Be transformed, not conformed
Romans 12 (New Revised Standard w/ Apocrypha)
Comforting the Weary
4 The Sovereign Lord(M) has given me an instructed tongue,(N)
to know the word that sustains the weary.(O)
He wakens me morning by morning,(P)
wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.(Q)
5 The Sovereign Lord(R) has opened my ears,(S)
and I have not been rebellious;(T)
I have not drawn back.
6 I offered my back to those who beat(U) me,
my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;(V)
I did not hide my face
from mocking and spitting.(W)
7 Because the Sovereign Lord(X) helps(Y) me,
I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,(Z)
and I know I will not be put to shame.(AA)
I love the book of Isaiah, particularly the middle section where God tells Isaiah to give hope to the exiles because their time in Babylon is almost over. But, the Israelites can not see hope, and Isaiah probably thinks his words are in vain. Yet, he is encouraged by knowing that his words come from the living God, and therefore he does not turn aside but “sets his face like flint.”
Are you Isaiah or are you the exiles? Are you the persevering servant who speaks God’s words regardless of the circumstance, or do you identify with the exiles who had been under bondage for so long they had given up?
Regardless of which group you are in, know that God does love you and He is always available to hear and answer your prayers. When you determine to seek after holiness, part of that process is in reading the Scripture, and the more you read the more you will understand how it relates to your life today. Just as God wanted to offer hope to those whose hope was gone, He wants to offer hope to each of us today. Accept it, believe it, and live it, setting your face like flint toward the glory of God and what He wants to do in your life, and turning your back upon the bondage of the past.
Praise Around the Throne
Rev 7:9-17
Read 9-12
A Multitude from the Tribulation
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying,
“Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying,
“Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
One of the best quotes I ever heard about praise came from Leon Trombley. “It is easier to hold a tempest in a teacup than a heartful of silent praise.” That is so true. And in this scene from the book of the Revelation, we witness the heavenly choir bursting out in praise to our Lord an Savior, silent no more.
We hear the phrase “Praise and Worship” so often that we tend to think of it as one activity. But praise is that activity that leads up to worship. It is the act of letting us show God how much we love HIm, how much we recognize just who He is. Worship, on the other hand, is when we bow before His throne in awe. Praise is often accompanied by instruments, worship often takes place during a heavy silence. Praise is normally sung, while worship can be unspoken.
Have you ever attended church where the services were in a foreign language? It is amazing, isn’t it, that although you may not understand the words, the meaning of the words is easily discernible.
I think of the setting in these verses, and wonder if the praise expressed here will be similar to Pentecost, when each person spoke in his own language, or if there will be something like a heavenly language which every tongue will speak and every ear will understand.
While we will not clearly understand these events as described in Revelation 7 until the veil is removed from our eyes and our understanding, we can know clearly and succinctly that praise and worship are natural events in heaven, and therefore they should be natural events here.
Praise Him, all you children of the earth, for He is good and His mercy endures forever. Amen
Whatever is commendable, think on these things
Phil 4:8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. 10 I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it. 11 Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
What a wealth of information and indeed encouragement is contained in these few verses. Have you noticed that when we think on or dwell on the negative, then it is as though we are operating under a cloud of gloom? We read criticism into things that are said to us, we expect bad things to occur, and we do not give others or ourselves a chance to succeed. Yet, when keep our mind fixed on the things of God, even though our circumstances may not be any different, we develop an ability to react to our circumstances as Christ would.
Contentment is one of those states of being that can bring with it a true peace, and it is only in Christ that we find both contentment and peace. Yet, too often we seek for these these elsewhere, only to be disappointed.
If you are living a life that is lacking contentment, turn to the Holy Scriptures for comfort and guidance and you will begin to experience life out from under a cloud of gloom and instead will dwell in the light of His love.
Seeking Holiness 