I am a Christian, a retired teacher, a mother and a grandmother. I love to read and I love the Lord Jesus Christ! Unless otherwise specified ,all visual illustrations are from the YOU VERSION APP of the Bible.
If the prophet Jeremiah needed God’s help, then who am I to say that I can forge forth on my own and will just let God know if I need Him? No, that old hymn, “I Need Thee Every Hour” is more appropriate for me, and probably for you, too. We cannot stand in a world that glorifies evil and sin without God to strengthen us and stand beside us during the daily battles of life. The reality is that we are weak, but He is strong, just like the song I sing to my grandchildren. My faith and trust in God continues to grow daily as He cultivates in me the image of His beloved Son, but I have not arrived yet. In order to face the day and all it brings, I need God’s wisdom, His grace, His mercy and His strength. God is always there, and like Jeremiah, I need to call on Him for the help that I need.
Today I go to the ophthalmologist for a follow up on the eye infection I have had that lasted almost two months. I am better now and can mostly see clearly (some blurriness at times still), but I am thankful for an eye doctor who knew how to treat the disease and wanted to make sure that it’s cleared up. God heals and sometimes uses doctors to do it. I am thankful for doctors but mostly I am grateful to God!
In my morning devotional, I have been reading the book of Jeremiah and pondering how much alike Israel was compared to the U.S. today.
God continually warns us to make right choices. If we study His Word, we will know the Godly way that we are supposed to take. Unfortunately, many people in the U.S. don’t know God’s Word and don’t want to read and find out what it says. As a result, instead of finding the rest and peace that their soul needs, they are continuing on the “road to perdition.” Satan generally makes his way look attractive, the “easy way” or the “way to riches, fame and glory.” We (and when I say we, I am referring to the people in the U.S.) typically choose any way but God’s way these days. Thus we are lost on a road of our own choosing.
As Christians, we are not lost but we are seeing more lost people every day. At least, I know that I am. I see them in the stores, on the roads and on the little snippets of media that I watch. They are all going their own way. What can we do? Put God’s Word out there for them to read. They may pay no attention to it, but at least they have been warned. Speak God’s Word into their hearts. Again, they may pay no mind to it, but at least they have heard. We cannot change people’s hearts; only God can do that. So, as we sow the seeds of His Word, we need to make sure that we have prayed and asked God to open hearts and minds to Him and to his Godly ways.
As I continue to read Jeremiah, I tend to get discouraged over the state of our nation and how comparable it is to Israel. False gods, a pretense at religion and a lot of pride. But I trust that God knows what He is doing and will make all things right in the end. After all, God has a plan and He is working to fulfill that plan. Jesus already died. Now we are awaiting His return and praying for as many people as possible to take the right path to God. We have to do our part; God has already done His.
The opposite of being humble is being boastful. I know you have met this kind of person, the one who walks around like “they are all that and then some.” This is the person who takes all of the praise that others offer but when someone has constructive criticism, it bounces right off of them. After all, they usually consider themselves perfection walking. I never wanted to be that person but when I was younger, I wore pride like a badge. I was proud of my grades in college, proud of my personal achievements, proud of what I had accomplished without a lot of parental support or encouragement. I can’t remember boasting outright, but if someone asked me how I did in college, I answered with my GPA and the fact that I was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. So, yes, it was boasting. It wasn’t long after my graduation from college that I was introduced to the Lord, so my foray into being a braggart was short, thank goodness! Nevertheless, it was something that was in my past that Jesus forgave me for, among many other things, of course. Since I wrote about humility earlier this week, I decided I should cover the topic of boasting, too. What does God say about boasting?
If you are going to boast, there is only one thing that is worthy to boast about and that is that you have the understanding to know the Lord. And, honestly, I don’t think you can really boast about that either unless you are using it as a testimony to the power of the Lord because even the understanding you have about Him as your Lord and Savior comes from Him. You haven’t done anything, you can’t do anything, and you don’t deserve anything…yet God in His great love and mercy reached out, opened your mind to understand Who He is and what He has done for you and even allows you to boast about having the understanding that He gave you. So, you have done a lot in your life to be proud of? Those crowns will one day be laid at the feet of Jesus, so you may as well begin practicing now by giving Him all of the glory for all that HE has done through you. It is freeing to be released from the burden of boasting, knowing that all comes from God and whatever you think you have done is a result of His power in your life. I could do nothing without Him and neither can you.
This morning, I read my devotional as usual. I’m currently reading the book of Jeremiah and there is a reason he is called the “weeping prophet.” He went around telling everyone to repent and people ignored him, to their detriment. I see so many parallels with what he wrote and with what is happening in nations throughout the world that it saddens me to see such rampant and flagrant sin. Sins that were once shamefully hidden are now “out there” for all to see, flung into the face of God. There is a price to pay and we are just now beginning to pay it.
I also read my daily dose of Dr. Denison and was not at all amused to read that a high school in FL crowned a transgender as homecoming queen. As I said, sin is no longer hidden, but it is flaunted and outrageously proclaimed as right.
So, what are we as Christians to do? We are told to shine our lights to a dark world. But we are also told to “abide.”
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I’m sure since we have all studied science, we know that the moon has no light except what is reflected from the sun. Thus, we have no light unless we are reflecting the Son. We have to be part of the branch of Jesus in order to produce fruit. Frankly, just to be able to stand and say that sin is sin in today’s world requires a close contact with the Lord, an abiding, if you will.
The definition of abide will not surprise anyone, but it is worth pointing out. From http://www.dictionary.com:
verb (used without object), a·bode or a·bid·ed, a·bid·ing.to remain; continue; stay: Abide with me.to have one’s abode; dwell; reside: to abide in a small Scottish village.
We stay in the Lord Jesus. We don’t walk away and join in the darkness, but we stay in His light and reflect it to others. Some may be repelled by the light because they prefer the darkness. But our hope is always that some will be attracted to the light and come to the knowledge that can offer the assurance of an eternal future with Him. We dwell with Jesus. We are not just occasional visitors eating at the table of plenty that He has provided us. We live there! Every day, every minute of every hour. That’s our home, where we should feel the most comfortable. Going out into the world does not mean leaving Jesus behind. He dwells in us, just as we dwell in Him. So, when we are doing our daily activities and interacting with others, we have that light to reflect to others because it is in us.
I fall far short of what I should be as a Christian, but all of the sin in the world is not pulling me away from Jesus. Rather, I am tucking myself in closer to Him, desiring not just His grace and mercy but also His protection from the evil of the world. I desire that protection for all those with whom I come in contact, too. They will not know He is there for them unless I tell them, or unless you tell them. The consequence of sin is death and eternal separation from God. I agree that it is often difficult to share our faith with unbelievers who mock or who walk away as fast as they can. However, if one life is changed, it is worth it.
My prayer for each of you today is to be that light that the world needs and to abide in the Lord so that you can reflect His glory, grace, goodness and mercy. Be the person God created you to be, His beloved child. God bless you, my friends.
www.bible.com/reading-plans/11667/day/2
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