Listening to the Word

Jeremiah 21, 24, 27; Psalms 118; 1 John 2 “In my anguish I cried to the Lord and he answered by setting me free. The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? ...I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done. The Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. Open for me the gates of righteousness. I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.” Psalm 118:5, 6, 17-19 In our life, the tests of the Lord are not meant to destroy us; but rather, to both refine and promote us. Those who pass the tests do so in complete surrender of their will. In humility they cry to the Lord and wait for his deliverance. We testify to God’s presence in our lives through how we respond to these tests. The world fights, defends self, promotes self, and manipulates. The sons and daughters of God respond to his chastening with grace and humility. To them the gates of righteousness will open as the Lord welcomes them into glory. How are we responding to...

Jeremiah 48-49; Psalms 67; 1 John 1   “But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7 If we walk in the light as Jesus is in the light, do we have we have fellowship with Jesus or with one another? Why does John say ‘with one another’? Spiritually, our vertical freedom with God leads to horizontal freedom in our relationships with others. Living free from all known sin in the light of God’s presence will dramatically improve our marriage and our relationships at work, at home, and in every area of our life. If we harbour hatred toward another person we are in the darkness, unable to move forward and unable to discern right from wrong. Hatred and conflict blind us to the light. The good news is that the blood of Jesus which offers us forgiveness is also available in our relationships. We can choose to forgive and set others free as well as ourselves. Are we walking in the ...

Jeremiah 45-47; Psalms 105; John 21   “He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.’” Psalm 105:7-11 We serve and know a covenant-keeping God. If he can break his first covenant with Israel, then he can also break his new covenant with us. However, that is not God’s nature; while we are unfaithful, he is faithful. God’s covenants stand. He also disciplines us for our good. Just as Israel was disciplined, so also the Church is disciplined and we, too, experience God’s judgments. Our response must be to humble ourselves before the Lord and acknowledge our sin, seek his face, and give him glory by telling of his gospel and mercy to us in Christ. We trust in who God is because his...

Jeremiah 26, 35, 36; John 20 “Jesus said to her, ‘Mary’. She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher). Jesus said, ‘Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord!’…” John 20:16-18 John recounted how he was the first to witness the empty tomb of Jesus. However, it was Mary Magdalene who was the first to see the resurrected Christ, to hear him, and to receive the command to ‘Go’. Why did Jesus choose to give Mary this honor, and not John or Peter? Why did Paul, overlook this important fact when he listed those who saw Jesus in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 15:5-8)? Paul claimed it was Cephas who first saw Jesus; however, Paul wasn’t present during those first hours and days following the resurrection. Could it be that Mary’s status as a...

Jeremiah 23, 25; John 19   “’But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word?’...’Therefore,’ declares the Lord, ‘I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me.’” Jeremiah 23:18, 30 Disciples of Jesus, filled with his Spirit, have the opportunity to discern the ‘mind of Christ’ in each situation. We have been given the “Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us (1 Corinthians 2:12).” Yet rather than spending time in the presence of the Lord, we would rather listen to podcasts of each other’s sermons and ‘steal from one another words’ which we can then use. This must grieve the Lord.   Will we receive our inheritance as sons and daughters of the King and seek his face? Will we choose to listen and obey, value purity and holiness, and honor the Word of the Lord? There is no shortcut to being genuine men and women of God. We must spend time i...

2 Kings 24; Jeremiah 22; Psalms 112; John 18   “Jesus commanded Peter, ‘Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?’…Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.’” John 18:11, 36 During the arrest of Jesus, Peter’s violent act of defense against Malchus, the high priest’s servant, sparked an immediate response from Jesus. Peter’s sword was interfering with the cup of deliverance and redemption Jesus was about to drink as he fulfilled the sacrifice of the Passover lamb. Jesus had just offered that Passover cup to Peter at the last supper they had together as disciples, but now Jesus would fulfill that Feast’s purpose for all time. Peter didn’t understand why Jesus would allow himself to be arrested because he didn’t understand yet that Christ’s kingdom was not of this world. Many disciples still don’t understand this reality and like Peter, def...