Most of the people who read my posts live in the most wealthy country that has ever existed. In the United States, people we call poor would be wealthy in many parts of the world. We eat ourselves to excess, house ourselves to excess, clothe ourselves to excess, and we often play and travel to excess. But when we compare ourselves to others in this country, we are often blind to just how well-off we really are.
That is both a blessing and a potential curse. It’s a blessing because we have tangible things we can thank the Creator for. He is the source of every good blessing.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17 ESV).
It is certainly a blessing when we know that our family will eat, will be clothed, and will have shelter. But the danger comes when we have those blessings in such abundance, we wake up each morning expecting them to be there. When God blesses us that much, do we wake up assuming that the blessings will still be there?
If we do, we risk enjoying God’s blessings without being truly thankful for what we have. Even worse, we start to lose appreciation for the truth that we only have what we enjoy because God allows us to keep our blessings each day.
Without God’s daily providence, we will wake up with everything taken away from us. We may think, “Yeah, I know that’s true, but it’s not likely to happen. I mean, I have so much stored up, the chance I will not be able to enjoy my abundance is extremely remote.”
That may be true, but it harbors a heart that diverts its eyes from the Creator to our own selves for security. Jesus tells a parable of just such a man.
“And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully,
and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’
And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”‘
But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’
So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16-21 ESV).
This man woke up every day rich and yet forgot to keep God in mind. In this case, God required his soul, and the man enjoyed none of what he stored up. This man forgot that all blessings flowed from God, and God alone was sovereign over who had what. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away (Job 1:21).
There is a story in 2 Kings that shows just how much we need to appreciate God’s daily providence. No matter what the daily reality is, nothing is certain when God is concerned. In 2 Kings, the Syrians lay siege to Samaria, and the people are scared and hungry. Food was scarce.
“And there was a great famine in Samaria, as they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver.” (2 Kings 6:25 ESV).
But the prophet Elisha makes this bold proclamation:
“But Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD: thus says the LORD, Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.” (2 Kings 7:1 ESV).
The next verse tells us how the king’s captain scoffed at Elisha’s prophecy.
“Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, “If the LORD himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” But he said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” (2 Kings 7:2 ESV).
The captain looked at their current circumstances and did not ascribe the power to God to give and take away. His faith was in what he saw. Thus, Elisha told him that he would see the fulfillment of this word, but he would not taste the food. And that’s exactly what happened. God scared away the Syrian army, and they left everything behind, including the food.
When the people of Samaria learned this, they made a stampede to the plentiful bounty, trampling the captain to death before he had the opportunity to take a bite.
“Now the king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. And the people trampled him in the gate, so that he died, as the man of God had said when the king came down to him.
For when the man of God had said to the king, “Two seahs of barley shall be sold for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria,”
the captain had answered the man of God, “If the LORD himself should make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?” And he had said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”
And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate and he died.” (2 Kings 7:17-20 ESV).
These biblical stories teach me a powerful lesson. When I wake up and open my full pantry, I thank God that His province for me and my family extended another day. I truly wake up each morning without expecting anything so I can be thankful for everything.
When my children wear warm clothes, I thank God for clothing my family that day because I know that at any time, He can withdraw His providence from me and nothing I plan for will mean a thing if He does.
When I wake up with a roof over my head, I thank God that day for His providence because I know that any day, in His sovereignty, He could choose to take away my house.
I didn’t always approach my daily prayers this way. I used to assume that I would have the things I built and saved by my own hands. But God has taken things away from me that I thought were safe. He has taught me that I need to rely each day on Him regardless of how much He blessed me with yesterday.
I counsel that we learn to be thankful every day for the Lord’s providence, that we fight the urge to assume we will always have tomorrow what we had yesterday, and that we always respect God’s power and ability to give and to take away at His will.
Let us be thankful for the overflowing blessing that pours from God into our cups, but let us truly be thankful and never take them for granted.
The time had come. Judgment was at hand.
God had sent prophet after prophet to warn Judah, but they refused to listen.
The people’s heart was so cold they persecuted the prophets sent to them.
But even as judgment was imminent, God still had compassion upon the people. He still wished to extend grace and not judgment.
Though His anger was kindled, it was not enough to quench His love.
To the bitter end, the Lord desired to save and not to condemn.
Today, judgment is imminent. The Lord’s anger is kindled against those who rebel with no desire to repent.
But His love desperately wishes to extend grace to us and not condemnation.
Yet, with a heavy heart, our God will let us walk into the condemnation we seek if we refuse to turn to Him with all our hearts.
Satan has a strong grip on our society. Today is the day we must choose which side we are on.
Let us take our stand with Jesus and accept His grace, unlike the people of Judah, who accepted condemnation and not salvation.
“Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today.
It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.” (Jeremiah 36:2-3 ESV).
Every generation has its moment to stand for Jesus and His kingdom. Change is in the air. Perhaps this generation of kingdom disciples is about to take up a new mantle.
Lines are being drawn. Those in power from the local to the national level are adopting philosophies that run counter to the teachings of Jesus.
While I do not equate this with the mark of the beast in Revelation, many of us may soon find it difficult to buy and sell unless we renounce our Lord and confess a doctrine of diversity that accepts all sorts of evil.
Historically, we see the persecution of the church come in waves. We have lived in relative peace and safety for generations, but that is changing.
The wheat shall be separated from the tares. The sheep from the goats. The devoted from those who pay lip service.
We see the signs. Unless good people can curb the trajectory, it doesn’t take a prophet to see what is coming.
Now is the time to ground our faith.
Now is the time to make our faith our own.
Now is the time to draw close to Jesus and draw on His strength and the strength that the Spirit promises to believers.
Now, the choice we make is ours. But the day is coming when we may be forced to publically take a stand and choose a side.
God, in His graciousness, has given us this time of peace to prepare for possible hard times ahead.
I pray that I am wrong and God extends our time of peace. But when we look at the rest of the world, we see our brothers and sisters suffering tremendously already.
May we all work to be the salt and light this world needs as the powers of darkness tighten their grip on our society.
No matter how dark the days may get, let us always remember Jesus has already secured victory for us on the cross.
We must never forget.
I have plenty to worry about on the day of judgment.
The only hope I have is the grace of God.
The “I will” statements of God in Jeremiah 51 showcases God’s sovereignty. Throughout the chapter, God repeatedly mentions, “I will {do this or that}...”
No one can make so many deterministic statements with impunity unless that Being has absolute sovereignty. God controls all, and His purposes will always be fulfilled.
I challenge you to read Jeremiah 51 and focus on all the times God says He will do something. These are big, massive “I wills” that cannot come to pass unless the One declaring them has absolute power to fulfill His declarations.
The nations would thwart God’s “I wills” if it were in their powers.
The spiritual powers that war against God would stop His “I wills” if it were in their power.
Yet God boldly and openly declares what He will do as if daring anyone to try to stop Him if they could.
Because of God’s “I wills” in Jeremiah 51, we get to see if God is all He claims to be or if He is a being whose bark is bigger than His bite.
Well, history vindicates God’s sovereignty. The nations could not stop one “I will” of God.
None of the spiritual principalities or powers could keep one “I will” of God from coming to fruition.
The next time the power of evil in our society plays its seductive song to us, read Jeremiah 51 and remember, when God says, “I will,” then it will come to pass.
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:3 ESV).
I believe God cares about the “little” things we pray for more than we often think.
I believe God loves watching us grow, explore all aspects of His creation, and see the wonderment in our eyes as we experience the unexpected joys that come our way.
I believe when we are hurting, it breaks God’s heart, and He desperately wants us to crawl into His arms and trust fully that He will not let us go through it alone.
I believe God is very forgiving of our missteps, very patient as we grow, and very supportive as we transform into the new creature He wants us to become.
I believe when we pray to God, we have His undivided attention for as long as we wish to speak to Him.
I am in the book of Ezekiel in my daily Bible reading. Judah is in captivity, and the Lord is still prophesying to the people. But the people are not listening to the prophecies. In fact, they claim that the prophecies are false.
“Son of man, what is this proverb that you have about the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days grow long, and every vision comes to nothing’?
Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.’ But say to them, The days are near, and the fulfillment of every vision.” (Ezekiel 12:22-23 ESV).
This sounds a lot like the people of our day concerning the return of our King. Peter says that we have the same problem that the people of Judah had in the days of Ezekiel.
“knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:3-4 ESV).
But to the people of Judah in captivity, God says His words are coming to pass much sooner than they realize.
“For I am the LORD; I will speak the word that I will speak, and it will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 12:25 ESV).
Peter tells us the same thing today:
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” (2 Peter 3:10 ESV).
God gives us warning today. His words may seem distant because it has been thousands of years since the promise of His return was made. But that is not because God is slack concerning His promises. Rather, it is because of God’s love. He is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish but that all come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come...
I am in Ezekiel in my daily Bible reading. Boy, things are not much different today than in Ezekiel’s day. Even then, people found fault with God. They ignored their own sin and made charges against God that He was not just.
“Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just.” (Ezekiel 33:17 ESV).
Have you heard it today? I have. People who turn their hearts away from God claim that if there is a God, He is not a just God. They point to His justice and His expectation of moral living. To many people, God is an overbearing, restrictive God.
We tend to blame God when our lives run counter to His will. Rather than submit to Him, we cast blame on Him. We make Him the evil one while we justify ourselves.
In our eyes, it is not us who is unjust. God is not just. He is the one Who isn’t fair. He is the one Who unfairly discriminates.
But the truth always vindicates God. Man makes excuses while God speaks truth. Man points the finger while God judges in righteousness. In the end, no amount of blaming God will move the needle in favor of the rebellious person.
God is just, and God is gracious. God is fairer than what we deserve. We seek to do what we want without answering to our Creator.
So we claim that it is God Who is not just.
The day is coming when the proud will quake in the presence of Jesus.
Those who speak arrogant words against God will be silent when awed in His presence.
I do not think the rebellious will truly understand how overwhelming the presence of the mighty God will be.
No words can truly prepare us to stand in the presence of God.
But Ezekiel tries...
“The fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the people who are on the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence. And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground.” (Ezekiel 38:20 ESV).