Listening to the Word

Lamentations 3-5; Revelation 15   “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” Lamentations 3:22-26 Jeremiah understood that only God could deliver him. He could not save himself. There is great freedom when we come to that place of full surrender. Because we know the compassion, mercy, and love of the Lord, we, too, can declare that the Lord is our portion; therefore, we, too, will wait for him and on him. Waiting on the Lord is not passive, resigned faith; but rather, an attitude of humility which seeks the Lord and places our hope fully in him. Jeremiah waited patiently for the salvation of the Lord from the intense persecution he was experiencing from the Jewish community. Ironi...

Lamentations 1- 2; Obadiah; Revelation 14 “I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one ‘like a son of man’, with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand…So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.” Revelation 14:14, 16 The Lord Jesus is one “like a son of man” whom Daniel saw was given all authority (Daniel 7:13). He was seen by John, seated on a cloud. No one sits on a cloud unless they are lighter than a cloud or are living in a realm where gravity is not relevant. The Lord of the harvest, holding the sharp sickle, was seated while harvesting. Who sits while harvesting?   …One who has completed his work. The work of eternal salvation has been completed through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus came to finish, or complete, the Father’s work (John 4:34). Our work is to sow gospel seeds and give testimony to God’s goodness in our lives. It is the respons...

Jeremiah 42-44; Psalms 48; Revelation 13 “Then they said to Jeremiah, ‘May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us’…‘We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord! We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven…’” Jeremiah 42:5; 44:16, 17 Listening to the Word comes with a price. That price is obedience. Jesus commanded his disciples to teach the nations to obey all that he commanded them/us to do. Jesus declared he had been given all authority both in heaven and on earth. When we set our hearts on listening to the Word, we are listening to the Lord of heaven and earth. The Jewish community in Jerusalem feared the Babylonians more than they feared the Lord God. Despite telling Jeremiah they would listen to the Word, when they didn’t agree with it, they stopped listening. Today, we might just as easily change ch...

2 Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 36; Jeremiah 40-41; Revelation 12 “The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets…The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.” 2 Chronicles 36:15, 16, 21 When we ignore God’s Word, whether it comes to us through his messengers, the Bible, or the convictions of the Holy Spirit, we are ignoring God. Israel despised God’s words to them despite hearing God’s messengers repeat a similar message of repentance again and again. They ignored God’s commands related to Sabbath, a Sabbath year, and a jubilee year, so they didn’t stop to rest and worship and they drifted from their trust in God for all they needed. In the fullness of time, God fulfilled his w...

Ezekiel 29-32; Revelation 11 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because it [a great cedar] towered on high, lifting its top above the thick foliage, and because it was proud of its height, I handed it over to the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness. I cast it aside…All the nations of the earth came out from under its shade and left it.” Ezekiel 31:10-12 God’s judgment of Egypt for her pride focused on Pharaoh as the symbol of Egypt. Like a towering cedar tree, Egypt offered shade to nations like Israel. God pointed to the example of once proud Assyria who had been cut down by Babylon to describe how he would deal with Egypt’s pride. Does God still judge nations today for their pride? Do proud nations, like towering trees, get cut down and handed over to the enemy for judgment? Will we intercede for our nation and its standing before God? As nations before God, will we humble ourselves before the Lord and repent for our nationalism, our p...

Ezekiel 25-28, Revelation 10 “The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you...’” Ezekiel 28:11-13 The spiritual power of Tyre was a being perfect in beauty, full of wisdom - the seal or model of perfection. Yet this being and those it inspired became proud of beauty and corrupted by wisdom so they lost their place with God their Creator. To be cut off from God is to be separated from the Source of beauty and wisdom. The Laodocian church also trusted in their wealth and fine clothing, yet they lacked the fellowship with God which was life itself. Pride blinds us to our need for God so that we trust in ourselves. Will we invite God’s perspective on our current state of being? Will we thank God for his creative design and gifts toward us? Will we aff...