Hosea 13 - Follow Ephraim Into More Sin

"When Ephraim spoke, people trembled;
    he was exalted in Israel.
    But he became guilty of Baal worship and died.
Now they sin more and more..." (Hosea 13:1-2a NIV)
  
I've said it. You've said it. Our children and our grandchildren have said it. We've told others that the times have changed. This is how we do things today. Everyone does it. It starts with one or two people. We might call it a fad. It explodes and it appears that half the world begins to do what they ought not do. Ephraim was exalted. People listened to him. They followed him. He built worshipped the false god, Baal. The people followed and turned away from god to trust this worthless idol.

I'm not just talking about one thing. I'm talking about all the worthless idols gods we have built up for ourselves. Sports figures, actors and actresses, musicians, politicians; the list goes on and on, even to inanimate objects like money, and television. In many cases we, ourselves, have become our own false gods. Yes, we are one of our biggest false gods.

How much life has been lost in the pursuit and the worship of these false idols? How has our relationship with God and one another been damaged by our pursuit of our own happiness according to our own desires. Happiness, even joy, cannot be found in false gods. It cannot be found searching endlessly after things. It can only be found in a right relationship with God and with one another through Jesus Christ, our LORD.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Jeremiah 14 - False Gods And Droughts

Despite the fact that the LORD tells Jeremiah to quit praying for the welfare of these back-sliding people, Jeremiah continues to pray for them and even attempts to justify them by making excuses for them.

But, the LORD knows the truth and they will suffer what they will suffer and that includes the false prophets who keep promising peace in a place where there is no peace. There is no peace in a land where the people worship false gods. Will the false gods help them? No, they will not. Neither, will ours. We bring the calamity upon ourselves when we turn our backs on God and listen to those who would please our itching ears; when we worship anything other than the one true God.

Yesterday, after spending the day touring local waterfalls and the beach, and a couple of stops at the Aura Jamboree, I brought my grandchildren home to their father. Then, I came home to crash on the couch. Nothing worthwhile on television for sure. I flipped through news channel after news channel wondering in amazement how Martin and Zimmerman was still the top headline of the day since it has been about a week since Zimmerman's acquittal. I flipped through reruns of Criminal Minds and Law and Order and an assortment of other programs; finally flipping to the section of religious programming. About five minutes of bouncing from one false prophet after another telling us how we could get rich in this world was all I could take. Oi! Sometimes, I'm a little slow; but, I finally figured out that it would be best to stop flipping mindlessly through channels and spend some one on one time with God. The latter proved to be much more blessed experience.

And... God's people were, and many still are, listening to the false prophets. Happiness, it seems, is about silver and gold and yes, even green paper with pictures of presidents and from being a spectator of those famous calamities that we call stars that exhibit very poor behavior and lack of faith on that flat screen in our living rooms. Idols come in different shapes and sizes today, but they are still false idols which steer us away from a real relationship with the One who loves us more than all others.

Is your life is empty? Are you living in a drought? Then, hear the prayer of Jeremiah:
"Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain?
    Do the skies themselves send down showers?
No, it is you, Lord our God.
    Therefore our hope is in you,
    for you are the one who does all this." (Jer 14:22 NIV)

Return to the LORD, to the One who loves you. Let your hope rest in Him.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Jeremiah 2 - Return To The LORD

For those of you who have been reading the Bible daily along with this blog, you probably recognize the message of the LORD through Jeremiah. It appears to be pretty predominant in our readings.

 

Return to the LORD and get rid of your false idols! They are worthless!

The LORD says through Jeremiah:
"Has a nation ever changed its gods?
    (Yet they are not gods at all.)
But my people have exchanged their glorious God
    for worthless idols.
Be appalled at this, you heavens,
    and shudder with great horror,”
declares the Lord.
“My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
    the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,    
    broken cisterns that cannot hold water." (Jer 2:11-13 NIV)

The water of life is free to all who would receive it, yet we would rather dig our own muddy pits to quench our thirst. Muddy pits never quench the thirst of anyone. So why would we turn to the work of our own hands, the worthless "unwork" of false idols? Why would we sabotage ourselves in this way?

It is such a sad state that we have become our own worst false gods. In this day of everything is about me and for me.... me... me... me... We have deceived ourselves into thinking that we can take care of our own wants and worship God as we lay around on our couches or whatever it is that gives us momentary pleasure and self-reward and that this is not sin. 

The Word of the LORD according to Jeremiah 2:31-35

"“You of this generation, consider the word of the Lord:

“Have I been a desert to Israel
    or a land of great darkness?
Why do my people say, ‘We are free to roam;
    we will come to you no more’?
Does a young woman forget her jewelry,
    a bride her wedding ornaments?
Yet my people have forgotten me,
    days without number.
How skilled you are at pursuing love!
    Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.
On your clothes is found
    the lifeblood of the innocent poor,
    though you did not catch them breaking in.
Yet in spite of all this
    you say, ‘I am innocent;
    he is not angry with me.’
But I will pass judgment on you    because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’"

Indeed, how many who say they worship the one true and Almighty God would forget their jewelry, yet they forget to give God glory and honor! They forget to worship the One who gave His very life  that we might drink from the waters of life, eat from the tree of life. And, in all this they are arrogant enough to say that it is not a sin.

Return to the LORD and destroy the false images that you worship. They will do nothing for you! They can do nothing! They are worthless! But, the One who can and has, loves you enough to save you by dying for you.

There is just so much more to meditate upon in this second of chapter two of Jeremiah; please don't neglect to read it.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Isaiah 44 - Our God, Not Idols

"Some will say, ‘I belong to the Lord’;
others will call themselves by the name of Jacob;
still others will write on their hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
and will take the name Israel.

“This is what the Lord says—
Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty:
I am the first and I am the last;

apart from me there is no God." (Isa 44:5-6 NIV)

 

Herein, we find the promise of God to call people who were not his people. He will save those who belong to Him. He promises to bless them and their descendents, pouring out His Spirit upon them. 

 

Through the lips of Isaiah, God once again reminds us that He is God. He is the creator of all things. He reminds us again how worthless false idols are. They are fashioned, created, with the minds and hands of mere mortals. How, then can the created create something greator than God who created the world and all that is in it?  It's a puzzle, that man could delude himself so, But, he often does.

 

Worship the Lord Almighty, our Kind and Redeemer and only Him!

 

God's Peace - Pr. J