Listen up, Act right, Do the thing! – In His Word 9-7-2020
Throughout the history of
Israel God the Father has tried and tried again to get the people who He called
by His name to obey Him, to give Him honor and glory where He deserved it and
to worship Him only.
His people continued to try to do things on their own, again and again they
failed because after all God was God and without Him they had no chance to
stand.
Today we Christians consider
ourselves also God’s people and yet we too tend to try to do things on our own.
Let me tell you something, it did not go well with Israel or Judah when they ignored
God and tried to fix things on their own.
Now today we stand on a
promise that calls us to humble ourselves and call on His name, the Name of
Jesus to ask Him to heal our land. We are doing this daily during this time of separation
from one another. We pray asking God to heal the lands, to heal the world, to
fix the sick and strengthen the healthy and we ask Him to fix it mean while we
try to do it our own way too.
When I read through these
chapters, in Hosea and in Jeremiah I see a sad God who wants to help but the
people keep looking to their ‘gods’ or their own way to fix the problems they
have created. God wants to help us today, but He wants us to give Him the glory
where glory is due. He wants us to walk the walk He put before us and follow
His commands and directions as He sees fit for us to do them. Then when we are
obedient to Him, then He will be able to heal our land.
“But since my people refuse
to return to me, they will return to Egypt and will be forced to serve Assyria.
War will swirl through their cities; their enemies will crash through their
gates. They will destroy them, trapping them in their own evil plans. For my
people are determined to desert me. They call me the Most High, but they don’t
truly honor me.
“Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I
let you go? How can I destroy you like Admah or demolish you like Zeboiim? My
heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows. No, I will not unleash my
fierce anger. I will not completely destroy Israel, for I am God and not a mere
mortal. I am the Holy One living among you… Hosea 11:5-9
Look around you. Do you see
people who are seeking God? Out side of your family, or prayer groups, do you
see people praying for God to heal the land? Do you think they even know they
are being warned? Do you think they know that this day, now is the time, to
come to Jesus and follow after Him? Have you told them? Have I?
“Therefore, Jeremiah, go and
warn all Judah and Jerusalem. Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am
planning disaster for you instead of good. So turn from your evil ways, each of
you, and do what is right.’” But the people replied, “Don’t waste your breath.
We will continue to live as we want to, stubbornly following our own evil
desires.”
Jeremiah 18:11-12 NLT
It is time for us to tell the world that Jesus is Lord, it is time for us to share His love, compassion, and kindness. Moreover, it is time for us to warn them that the time is coming and for some may be today that Jesus is calling them to stand before them. Our job is to tell them that Jesus loves them and wants them to be saved, He longs for them to be a part of His family. One way we can do this is to help one another out. We can feed the hungry, we can give a light to someone who has not electricity. We can invite people to share a meal or share a truth with them, or both! We can ask for something to pray with them about and then pray with them right then, instead of saying the common “I’ll be praying for you” and going on our way. Let’s face it, the chance is that we will forget to pray for them if we do not do it right then. Then again, if we stop and pray with them right there, we will touch their lives with the words we use, we will instruct them in righteousness and guide them in how to talk to God.
Share each other’s burdens,
and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help
someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. Pay careful
attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job
well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. Ephesians 6:2-4
Some of us feel as if we have
not the words to say when we want to pray with someone, but when you pray God
will hear your heart, He will reveal what to pray that will help that person with
your words. It’s funny how that works, because when we pray aloud with one or
two people we know that Jesus is right there, but we don’t think about the fact
that He is there to minister to the person we pray for and to us as well. He
will grow our boldness the more we open our mouth to share, He will grow us
closer to Him with every cry of our heart.
He longs to spend time with us, enough that He kept Israel alive even
when He was so hurt by them. He loves us the same today, so let’s bring others
to Him that they can find His love, and allow Him to take their burdens as
well.
How do we do this?
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We
share the love of God first, then the Word second.
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We
feed their souls and remove their burdens in prayer.
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We
walk them to the gates to the path of Righteousness by introducing them to
Jesus.
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Then
we thank God with them for the new beginning they will have in life.
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Make
connections for them, that they may grow Christ and move forward in a healthy
life with Him.
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Give
God the glory because it was not about you, but about Him and His kingdom.
Heavenly Father, help us to
share your love, and give You the glory for all that we can do for them. It is
not for us but that we help one another but for You and the Kingdom of God. In
Jesus’ name, amen.
Suggested reading: 6:1-18, Hosea
11:1-12 and Jeremiah 18:1-23