Posts Tagged ‘Inspiration’


Under Gods Command

 Proverbs 29:1- A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes, will suddenly be destroyed-without remedy.

 Warnings rarely come with countdowns.  We can’t tell when we’ve had our last chance to change.  When we, like the person in this proverb, refuse to consider valid criticism, we leave Ourselves open to sudden disaster.   The moment we realize that a change is necessary is the best moment to take action.  What significant adjustments have been on hold in your life for too long?


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 28:13 – He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.     

 It is human nature to hide our sins or overlook our mistakes.  But it is hard to learn form a mistake you don’t acknowledge making.  And what god is a mistake if it doesn’t teach you something? To learn from an error you need to admit it, confess it analyze it, and make adjustments so that it doesn’t happen again.  Everybody makes mistakes, but only fools repeat them. 


Under Gods Command

 Jeremiah 3:4-5 Have you not just called to me; ‘My Father, my friend from my youth, will you always be angry? Will your wrath continue forever? This is how you talk, but you do all the evil you can.”  

 In spite of their great sin, the people of Israel continued to talk like they were God’s children.  The only way they could do this was to minimize their sin.  When we know we’ve done something wrong, we want to downplay the error and relive some of the guilt we feel.  As we minimize our sinfulness, we naturally shy away from making changes, and so we keep on sinning. But if we view every wrong attitude and action as a serious offense against God, we will begin to understand what living for God is all about.  Is there any sin in your life that you’ve written off as to small to worry about?  God says that we must confess and turn away from every sin.  


Under Gods Command

 Jeremiah 2:31-32 “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 maiden forget her jewelry, a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number. 

 Forgetting can be dangerous, whether it is intentional or an oversight.  Israel deliberately ignored God by focusing its affections on the allurements of the world.  The more we focus on the passing pleasures of this life, the easier it becomes to forget God’s care, his love, his dependability, his guidance, and most of all, God himself.  What pleases you most?  Have you been forgetting God lately?


Under Gods Command

 Proverbs 27:6 – Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.  

 Who would prefer a friend’s wounds to an enemy’s kisses?  Anyone who considers the source.  A friend who has your best interest at heart may have to give you unpleasant advice at times, but you know it is for your own good.  An enemy, by contrast may whisper sweet words and happily send you on your way to ruin.  We tend to hear what we want to hear, even if an enemy is the only one who will say it.  A friend’s advice, no matter how painful, is much more valuable.


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 26:20 – Without wood a fire goes out, without gossip a quarrel dies down.

Talking about every little irritation or piece of gossip only keeps the fires of anger going. Refusing to discuss them cuts the fuel line and makes the firs die out. Does someone continually irritate you? Decide not to complain about the person, and see if your irritation dies from lack of fuel.


Under Gods Command

Jeremiah 2.23-27 – How can you say, I am not defiled, I have not run after the Baals? See how you behaved in the valley, consider what you have done. You are a swift she-camel running here and there, a wild donkey accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in her craving-in her heat who can restrain her? Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves; at mating time they will find her. Do not run until your feet are bare and your throat is dry. But you say, ‘it’s no use! I love foreign gods and I must go after them’. “As a thief is disgraced when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced-they, their kings and their officials, their priest and their prophets. They say to wood, you gave me birth. They have turned their backs to me and not their faces. Yet when they are in trouble, they say ‘Come and save us!”

The people are compared to animals who search for mates in mating season. Unrestrained they rush for power, money, alliances with foreign powers, and other gods. The idols did not seek the people; the people sought the idols and then ran wildly after them. Then they became so comfortable in their sin that they could not think of giving it up. Their only shame was in getting caught. It we desire something do much that we’ll do anything to get it, this is a sign that we are addicted to it and out of tune with God.


Under Gods Command
 
Proverbs 25:18- Like a club or a sword or a sharp arrow is the man who gives false testimony against his neighbor.  
 
Lying (false testimony) about someone is as vicious as an act of physical violence.  Its effects can be as permanent as those of a stab wound.   The next time you are tempted to pass on a bit of gossip, imagine yourself stabbing the victim of your remarks with a sword.  This image may shock you into silence.


Under Gods Command
 
Jeremiah 2:2 – I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown.
 
We appreciate a friend who remains true to his or her commitment, and we are disappointed with someone who fails to keep a promise.  God was pleased when his people obeyed initially, but he became angry with them when they refused to keep their commitment.  Temptations distract us from God.  Think about your original commitment to obey God, and ask yourself if you are remaining truly devoted.


Under Gods Command

 Jeremiah 1:16 – I will pronounce my judgment on my people because of their wickedness in forsaking me, in burning incense to other gods and in worshiping what their hands have made. 

 The people of Judah sinned greatly by continuing to burn incense to and worship other gods.  God had commanded them specifically against this (Exodus 20 3-6) because idolatry places trust in created things rather than the Creator.  Although these people belonged to God, they chose to follow false gods.  Many “gods” entice us to turn away from God.

 Now let’s relate this to today.  Material possessions dreams for the future, approval of others, and vocational goals compete for our total commitment.  Striving after these at the expense of our commitment to God puts our heart where Judah’s was-and God severely punished Judah.