Saturday, July 27, 2024

Being Politically Incorrect


Jesus had no patience with the ignorance of many, and speaking through Jeremiah, God would today be called triggering or politically incorrect. What is for certain is that in Jeremiah (and Romans 1), God leaves no doubt of where your intelligence goes when you leave him behind.


Jeremiah 4:22 (TLB) 22 “Until my people leave their foolishness, for they refuse to listen to me; they are dull, retarded children who have no understanding. They are smart enough at doing wrong, but for doing right they have no talent, none at all.”


7/28/2024

Sunday, July 21, 2024

God, Joseph and Mary

 

One of the sweetest lessons in the birth of Jesus is Joseph.  Even appearing he is a cuckold, he wants to save Mary from public disgrace.  When he is told in a dream to marry her, he promptly does so. His deep respect for Mary and her reputation mirrors his deep respect for God. 


Matthew 1:18-25 (TLB) 18 These are the facts concerning the birth of Jesus Christ: His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph, her fiancĂ©, being a man of stern principle, decided to break the engagement but to do it quietly, as he didn’t want to publicly disgrace her. 20 As he lay awake considering this, he fell into a dream, and saw an angel standing beside him. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “don’t hesitate to take Mary as your wife! For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a Son, and you shall name him Jesus (meaning ‘Savior’), for he will save his people from their sins. 22 This will fulfill God’s message through his prophets—23 ‘Listen! The virgin shall conceive a child! She shall give birth to a Son, and he shall be called “Emmanuel” (meaning “God is with us”).’”24 When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel commanded and brought Mary home to be his wife, 25 but she remained a virgin until her Son was born; and Joseph named him “Jesus.”


7/21/2024

Saturday, July 13, 2024

Isaiah

 

God called Isaiah to speak for him but there was a catch: NO ONE would listen or care! Isaiah made the commitment anyway and spoke for him. If you are called by God, only he knows the timing in which your work will have its effect and its day.  Answer and speak for him anyway. 


Isaiah 6:11-13 (TLB) 11 Then I said, “Lord, how long will it be before they are ready to listen?” And he replied, “Not until their cities are destroyed—without a person left—and the whole country is an utter wasteland, 12 and they are all taken away as slaves to other countries far away, and all the land of Israel lies deserted! 13 Yet a tenth—a remnant—will survive; and though Israel is invaded again and again and destroyed, yet Israel will be like a tree cut down, whose stump still lives to grow again.”


7/14/2024

Saturday, July 6, 2024

The God of Creation

 

Until God put it in order, the world was a chaotic soup of nothingness and a bottomless emptiness.  So it is with the human mind. Talk to God as much as you can.  Ask him to show you how to a create simple order in your daily life so he can work in you without further delay. 


Genesis 1:1-31 (MSG) 1 1-2 First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss. 3-5  God spoke: “Light!”  And light appeared. God saw that light was good and separated light from dark. God named the light Day, he named the dark Night  It was evening, it was morning— Day One. 6-8  God spoke: “Sky! In the middle of the waters; separate water from water!” God made sky. He separated the water under sky from the water above sky. And there it was: he named sky the Heavens; It was evening, it was morning— Day Two. 9-10  God spoke: “Separate! Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place; Land, appear!” And there it was. God named the land Earth. He named the pooled water Ocean. God saw that it was good. 11-13  God spoke: “Earth, green up! Grow all varieties of seed-bearing plants, Every sort of fruit-bearing tree.” And there it was. Earth produced green seed-bearing plants, all varieties, And fruit-bearing trees of all sorts. God saw that it was good. It was evening, it was morning— Day Three. 14-15 God spoke: “Lights! Come out! Shine in Heaven’s sky! Separate Day from Night. Mark seasons and days and years, Lights in Heaven’s sky to give light to Earth.” And there it was 16-19  God made two big lights, the larger to take charge of Day, The smaller to be in charge of Night; and he made the stars. God placed them in the heavenly sky to light up Earth And oversee Day and Night, to separate light and dark. God saw that it was good. It was evening, it was morning— Day Four 20-23  God spoke: “Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life! Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!” God created the huge whales, all the swarm of life in the waters, And every kind and species of flying birds. God saw that it was good. God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean Birds, reproduce on Earth!” It was evening, it was morning— Day Five. 24-25  God spoke: “Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind: cattle and reptiles and wild animals—all kinds.” And there it was: wild animals of every kind, Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug. God saw that it was good. 26-28  God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.” God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God’s nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.” 29-30 Then God said, “I’ve given you every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth And every kind of fruit-bearing tree, given them to you for food. To all animals and all birds, everything that moves and breathes, I give whatever grows out of the ground for food.” And there it was. 31 God looked over everything—Day Six.

7/7/2024