"Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!" says the LORD--Jeremiah 23:1
"For both prophet and priest are profane; Yes, in My house I have found their wickedness," says the LORD Therefore their way shall be to them Like slippery ways; In the darkness they shall be driven on And fall in them; For I will bring disaster on them, The year of their punishment," says the LORD." --Jeremiah 23:11-12
In Chapter 23 Jeremiah denounces the leaders of Judah who had refused to believe God and obey His law and in doing so had brought destruction on the nation and scattered the people.The very ones who were responsible to point God's precious people to Him were the very ones responsible for the situation Judah now found herself in. Judgment was imminent. The kings had not protected or provided for the people and the religious leaders had led them astray spiritually and had not provided a godly example. Now there is much more to the chapter but I am going to focus just here on the practical application for us.
Jeremiah Chapter 23 should serve as a warning to us. Who is in our care? How are we influencing them? Are we pointing them to Jesus or to the world? Girls, we are accountable to God for those who are placed in our charge. Examine all your actions in the light of God's word and see where you fall short or where you might be sending the wrong message. Allow the Lord to search your heart. Be diligent to do this daily by immersing yourself in His word and asking Him to show you through His Spirit. Eternity is at stake...God will accomplish His will with or without you but oh, how much better for you both here and in eternity if you were a vessel set aside for His purposes.
Walk with God. Obey Him. Give Him the preeminence. Make sure your word and your deed match. Be diligent to provide a godly example to those both in your care and in your path.
One day, Lord willing, God will be gracious and gift you with children. Speak to them His word. Teach them where wisdom comes from while they are young and want to hear what you have to say. Show them where to go when they need help in time of need. Pray with them and for them. There will come a time when they will no longer want to listen...your window of opportunity is small. It is so easy when we have not heard the truth to listen to false prophets because they tell us things we want to hear. Give them the word..put it in their hearts. Most importantly let them see you live what you believe without equivocation.
Hebrews 4:12 says "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account."
2nd Timothy 3: 13-17 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Deuteronomy 4:9 Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren,
I will end with Deuteronomy 6:7 which says "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." Do this and as they grow His word will be a lamp to their feet and a light to their path. Point them to Jesus and you have done your job.
Love
Mom
Monday, November 29, 2010
Delighting in His Commandments...
Psalm 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
These two verses in my mind are inextricably linked. Delighting to keep the law and knowing that they are not burdensome, comes from loving our God and knowing that He is good...that in Him there is no darkness at all. All He does He does for our good and His glory. The laws He gives us come from His perfect love and once you have experienced that perfect love you will read your bible as a love letter...His love will be evidenced for you in each and every verse. Read Psalm 119. Its theme is the Word of God. In fact, out of 176 verses, there are only two or three verses that do not mention the word of God. As you read, it will be completely and utterly obvious that the psalmist is enamored with God's word. Unabashedly, unashamedly enamored. It is his delight, and he wants it to be ours.
Girls, if we are truly His, we will delight to do His will. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John is not saying it will be easy, but he is saying that even though the path may be difficult at times, it will still be the very thing you love to do. I think of the things that I take delight in. I take delight in taking care of my family...it is not burdensome because I love them. I took delight in nursing my children....why....because I loved them. No one had to tell me to take good care of my first born daughter...that would be you, Suzanne...when I brought her home from the hospital...It was my delight. It was my song. She was all I talked about. She was not burdensome. Was taking care of her difficult at times...you bet! Did I mind? Absolutely not! And it was the same for each and every daughter the Lord graciously gifted me with.
Psalm 119 says this...His statutes (laws) have become my song. WOW! The word of God was so much of a delight to the psalmist that he set it to music. It reminds me of the following verse in Psalm 42:8 "The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me— A prayer to the God of my life."
Girls, The Word of God...it is priceless. It is sweeter than honey...better than my necessary food. It is my hope and my song. It is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. It is my guide and my counselor. It is the rejoicing of my heart! My prayer for each one of you is that you would see the Word of God as David saw it, as I see it and more importantly as God wants you to see it. I pray it is always and continually the background melody that you hear and take delight in all your life.
Matthew Henry said this about meditation on the word of God: "To meditate in God's word, is to discourse with ourselves concerning the great things contained in it, with close application of mind and fixedness of thought. We must have constant regard to the word of God, as the rule of our actions, and the spring of our comforts; and have it in our thoughts night and day. For this purpose no time is amiss."
I am including a list of verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on these two verses...Look them up and be blessed! Here is the list for Psalm 1:2:
But his: Psa_40:8, Psa_112:1, Psa_119:11, Psa_119:35, Psa_119:47-48, Psa_119:72, Psa_119:92; Job_23:12; Jer_15:16; Rom_7:22; 1Jo_5:3
meditate: Psa_104:34, Psa_119:11, Psa_119:15, Psa_119:97-99; Jos_1:8; 1Ti_4:15
day: Psa_88:1; Luk_2:37, Luk_18:7; 1Th_2:9; 2Ti_1:3
Here is the list for 1 John 5:3:
Exo_20:6; Deu_5:10, Deu_7:9, Deu_10:12-13; Dan_9:4; Mat_12:47-50; Joh_14:15; Joh_14:21-24, Joh_15:10, Joh_15:14; 2Jo_1:6
and: Psa_19:7-11, Psa_119:45, Psa_119:47-48, Psa_119:103-104, Psa_119:127-128, Psa_119:140; Pro_3:17; Mic_6:8; Mat_11:28-30; Rom_7:12, Rom_7:22; Heb_8:10
Here are one or two from each to get you started...
From Psalm 1:2 and delighting to do His will:
Psalm 119:72 The law of Your mouth is better to me Than thousands of coins of gold and silver.
Psalm 119:92 Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction.
From 1 John 5:3 which claims God's laws are not burdensome. Look at these! See the promises for those who love His word.
Exodus 20:6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Deuteronomy 5:29 Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!
John 14:21-24 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?" Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.
Be blessed!!
Love
Mom
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
These two verses in my mind are inextricably linked. Delighting to keep the law and knowing that they are not burdensome, comes from loving our God and knowing that He is good...that in Him there is no darkness at all. All He does He does for our good and His glory. The laws He gives us come from His perfect love and once you have experienced that perfect love you will read your bible as a love letter...His love will be evidenced for you in each and every verse. Read Psalm 119. Its theme is the Word of God. In fact, out of 176 verses, there are only two or three verses that do not mention the word of God. As you read, it will be completely and utterly obvious that the psalmist is enamored with God's word. Unabashedly, unashamedly enamored. It is his delight, and he wants it to be ours.
Girls, if we are truly His, we will delight to do His will. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John is not saying it will be easy, but he is saying that even though the path may be difficult at times, it will still be the very thing you love to do. I think of the things that I take delight in. I take delight in taking care of my family...it is not burdensome because I love them. I took delight in nursing my children....why....because I loved them. No one had to tell me to take good care of my first born daughter...that would be you, Suzanne...when I brought her home from the hospital...It was my delight. It was my song. She was all I talked about. She was not burdensome. Was taking care of her difficult at times...you bet! Did I mind? Absolutely not! And it was the same for each and every daughter the Lord graciously gifted me with.
Psalm 119 says this...His statutes (laws) have become my song. WOW! The word of God was so much of a delight to the psalmist that he set it to music. It reminds me of the following verse in Psalm 42:8 "The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me— A prayer to the God of my life."
Girls, The Word of God...it is priceless. It is sweeter than honey...better than my necessary food. It is my hope and my song. It is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. It is my guide and my counselor. It is the rejoicing of my heart! My prayer for each one of you is that you would see the Word of God as David saw it, as I see it and more importantly as God wants you to see it. I pray it is always and continually the background melody that you hear and take delight in all your life.
Matthew Henry said this about meditation on the word of God: "To meditate in God's word, is to discourse with ourselves concerning the great things contained in it, with close application of mind and fixedness of thought. We must have constant regard to the word of God, as the rule of our actions, and the spring of our comforts; and have it in our thoughts night and day. For this purpose no time is amiss."
I am including a list of verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on these two verses...Look them up and be blessed! Here is the list for Psalm 1:2:
But his: Psa_40:8, Psa_112:1, Psa_119:11, Psa_119:35, Psa_119:47-48, Psa_119:72, Psa_119:92; Job_23:12; Jer_15:16; Rom_7:22; 1Jo_5:3
meditate: Psa_104:34, Psa_119:11, Psa_119:15, Psa_119:97-99; Jos_1:8; 1Ti_4:15
day: Psa_88:1; Luk_2:37, Luk_18:7; 1Th_2:9; 2Ti_1:3
Here is the list for 1 John 5:3:
Exo_20:6; Deu_5:10, Deu_7:9, Deu_10:12-13; Dan_9:4; Mat_12:47-50; Joh_14:15; Joh_14:21-24, Joh_15:10, Joh_15:14; 2Jo_1:6
and: Psa_19:7-11, Psa_119:45, Psa_119:47-48, Psa_119:103-104, Psa_119:127-128, Psa_119:140; Pro_3:17; Mic_6:8; Mat_11:28-30; Rom_7:12, Rom_7:22; Heb_8:10
Here are one or two from each to get you started...
From Psalm 1:2 and delighting to do His will:
Psalm 119:72 The law of Your mouth is better to me Than thousands of coins of gold and silver.
Psalm 119:92 Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction.
From 1 John 5:3 which claims God's laws are not burdensome. Look at these! See the promises for those who love His word.
Exodus 20:6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Deuteronomy 5:29 Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!
John 14:21-24 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?" Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.
Be blessed!!
Love
Mom
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
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