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Oct 12, Sat, 3-7 pm - High Pastures Fall
Music Festival - 290 Kings Hwy, Burnsville. Free concert of Gospel
music with many groups & musicians. Food available for purchase. 682-3138 /
www.highpastures.org
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My Lessons and Applications from
Today’s Readings
(Ellipses are mine and are used for contemplation.)
Return to Me, My People! – Jeremiah 3:1 – 4:31 – (Facts: What It Says – Summarized) – “You (Israel) have played the harlot with many lovers…polluted the land
with your harlotries and your wickedness…spoken and done evil things…refused to
be ashamed…THEREFORE…the showers have been withheld, and there has been no
latter rain. Her treacherous sister,
Judah…went and played the harlot also…defiled the land…committed adultery with
stone and trees…yet for all this…Judah has not turned to Me with her whole
heart…but…in pretense, says the LORD.
Then the LORD said to me, ‘Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous
than treacherous Judah. “’ The prophet Jeremiah is told by God to proclaim
to the people 5 times, “Return to Me!” Then the LORD gives the promise: “If you will return, O Israel, says the LORD,
return to Me; and if you will put away…your abomination out of My sight, you
shall not be moved. And you shall swear,
‘The LORD lives…in truth…in judgment…and in righteousness. The nations shall
bless themselves in Him, and in Him they shall glory.” God’s promise: There is
coming that day when “at that time
Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the LORD, and…all the nations…shall
be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of
their evil hearts.”
Precept: The pattern of forsaking God, of continuous, unrepentant
rebellion and idolatry continues with the Chosen People throughout the Old
Testament, even with the prophets and prophecies. All but a remnant refuse God’s call to,
“Return to Me, My People!” Jeremiah continues with Isaiah’s prophecy of the gathering
of other nations – other believers outside of Judaism– into God’s kingdom.
My Bonds Loosed – Psalm 116:15-19 (Facts: What It Says – Summarized) “Precious
in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints. O LORD…truly…I am Your servant (2 times)…the
son of Your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds…I will
offer to You…the sacrifice…of thanksgiving....and will call upon the name of
the LORD. I will pay my vows to the
LORD…now…in the presence of…all His people…Praise
the LORD! Principle: One of the
greatest mercies we are given in Christ is freedom…from bondage to sin,
legalism, even death. In Him, even our
death is precious, ushering us into an eternal life of fellowship with Him in joy and
peace. Soli Deo Gloria.
Focus on Christ – Not Sin, Not Circumstance – Philippians 4 – (Facts: What It Says –
Summarized) This last chapter of
Philippians contains some of the most memorable exhortations of the Apostle
Paul in the New Testament. They are not
only great theology but deep psychological truths. 1) “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” 2) “Let your gentleness be known to all
men. The Lord is at hand.” 3) “Be
anxious for nothing…but in everything…by prayer…and supplication…with
thanksgiving…let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God…which
passes all understanding…will guard your hearts…and minds…through Christ Jesus.” 4) FINALLY,
brethren, whatever things are true…whatever things are noble…whatever things
are just…whatever things are pure…whatever things are of good report…if there
is any virtue…and if there is anything praiseworthy…meditate on…these
things.” 5) “For I have…learned…whatever
state I am…to be content. I know…how to
be abused…and I know…how to abound.
Everywhere…and in all things…I have…learned…both to be full…and
to be hungry…both to abound…and to suffer need.” 6) “I
can do…all things…through Christ…who strengthens me.” 7) And my God…shall supply…all your
need…according to…His riches in glory…by…Jesus Christ. Now to
our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.” Principle:
In Christ…through Christ…because of Christ…we are enabled to endure…to be
victorious…to glorify God…regardless of the circumstance…when we remember to
keep our eyes focused on Him, not on the circumstance, not on sin and evil, but
on Him.
My Lessons and Applications: Do I
remember – have I “learned”, trained
myself through habit - that when I enter into the “sloughs of despond and
depression” that are common to man, to refocus my vision and life – to get back
into the Word, into prayer, into praise in psalms and hymns, to move back into
the gift of fellowship with other “possessing” believers – in essence, to turn my eyes back upon Jesus? Do the books I read, the TV programs I watch,
the radio talk shows to which I listen, focus me on the true, the noble, the
just, the pure, the things of good report, what is virtuous and
praiseworthy? Do I need to know sin and
corruption to avoid it? Yes, but I am
not to meditate, not to study on these things.
Faith that overcomes is built on
the life lessons, the patterns, of the saints, of Christ – not of the
reprobates and their sins and idolatries.
Our call to “shine as lights in the world” in the midst of this
evil, perverse, corrupt world comes from focusing on and reflecting to the world
the life of Christ within each of us. It
is “holding fast the word of life” (Phil 2:14-16)– not the word of
death, decay, corruption, oppression, idolatry.
We have been loosed from these bonds.
Does my freedom in Christ lead to rejoicing as Paul commands, to
empowerment to “do all things through Christ, which strengthens me?” Have I learned and applied “the better way”
of 1 Corinthians 12:31 and Chapter 13?
Am I out of bondage…forgetting those things which are behind…reaching
forward to those things which are ahead…pressing toward the goal for the prize
of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus?” (Philippians 3:12-14)
“If thou
wilt, return, O Israel, saith the Lord…” Jeremiah 4:1
The battle is lost or won in the secret
places of the will before God, never first in the external world. The Spirit of God apprehends me, and I am
obliged to get alone with God and fight the battle out before Him…Nothing has
any power over the man who has fought out the battle before God and won there…I
must get the thing settled between myself and God in the secret places of my
soul where no stranger intermeddles, and then I can go forth with the certainty
that the battle is won. Lose it there,
and calamity and disaster and upset are as sure as God’s decree…This the Great
Divide in the life; from that point we either go towards a more and more
dilatory and useless type of Christian life, or we become more and more ablaze
for the glory of God – my utmost for His highest. Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
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