Episode 206

(Photo courtesy of flick’r)

Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened. Jonah 3:9-10

Jonah wanted a well earned punishment for Nineveh but God does not delight in the destruction of his creation. He delights when man repents, sees the error of his ways, turns from doing evil, seeks God's forgiveness and serves Him.

Episode 205

Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. Jonah 2:4

Jonah made a bad choice in attempting to run away from God’s presence and now in the belly of the whale, when he needed God to intervene the one thing he really wanted was to be in His presence once again.

Episode 204

So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Jonah 1:15

Choosing to run away from God has never proven to be a good or manageable idea, a fact Jonah would quickly attest to.

Episode 203

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalms 118:24

We can rejoice for our God never, ever fails us.
We may face setbacks, discouragements and challenges but we have not nor
will we ever be defeated with the Lord on our side.

Episode 202

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11

The bright lights, warm smiles, and excited shoppers can only mean only thing. Itis Christmas time again. We celebrate the birth of the Christ Child, God’s precious gift to us, mankind.

Episode 201

Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars,
from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD. Obadiah 1:4

Not only did the Edomites have an inflated sense of their own worth they failed to respect God’s people. Like most sins theirs was gradual

Episode 200
But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! Amos 5:24

Like Amos King was about exposing sin and injustice. While other pointed to the bearer of the message and itemized their shortcoming God kept pouring words of truth from their lips.

Episode 199

Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Amos 5:14

The cry goes forth today just as it did then, justice must prevail, fairness must be a part of our government and our courts. Evil cannot be the order of the day nor the exploitation of the innocent.

Episode 198

Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared— who will not fear? The Sovereign LORD has spoken— who can but prophesy? Amos 3:7-8

Who can but speak the words of truth when the Lord has spoken? Amos was compelled to go to the people and speak the words of the Lord. He was not a member of some elite group but he was the messenger of God for that hour.

Episode 197

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. Joel3:14

Could there be a day of decision for each of us? Could it be the day we decide if we are a friend or an enemy of God? Multitudes, great multitudes, stand now faced with the greatest single question that they must ever consider. Will we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, will we serve him?

Episode 196

“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Joel 2:12-13

God is less interested In our public displays of sincerely and righteousness than the reality of a truly repentant heart. He is not moved by the appearance of repentance but by a heart that is broken and contrite.

Episode 195

What is the price for so great a deliverance?
The prophet, Joel, brings warning and a way of escape.

Episode 194

“O Ephraim, what have I to do with false gods? It is I Who answer and take care of you. I am like a green cypress tree. Your fruit comes from Me.” Hosea 14:8 (New Life Version)

The true and living God has nothing to do with false gods, produced by the hands of men, powerless and useless. These are not to be compared to the God of Jacob.

Episode 193

But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.
Hosea 12:6

You have tried it your way. You have searched out other gods and they have failed you. Now remember Jacob, remember God’s convent with his people. Remember who you are and God’s great love for you. On your own you have failed, turn back to the Lord.

Episode 192

They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up. Hosea 8:7

Plant and expect to reap. Will it be that which is good, honest, faithful, merciful and godly or that which is impatience, self-righteous and sinful?

Episode 191

“What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears." Hosea 6: 4

The love of God's people is described like dew in the morning, beautiful, pleasant for the moment but also not substantial, it is fleeting and temporary. When the heat of any stress is applied to the situation the love simply evaporates.

Episode 190

The LORD said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulterous. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” Hosea 3:1

Hosea was directed by God to show love to Gomer despite the fact she was loved by another. Would anyone condemn him if he just walked away from the marriage? probably not.
But God wanted this relationship to show to the people His love for them in a way they could understand. The Lord would purchased them back and love them. He would in due time fully restore every aspect of the relationship with His people. Hosea chose to not only purchase his wife back he chose to love her.

Episode 189

My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge..." Hosea 4;6a

The people perish for lack of knowledge. Was it knowledge of the culture, days and seasons? Was it the knowledge of the natural world? No, this knowledge was all about knowing God, the discernment that comes from being close to God and hearing or heeding his words and his teaching.

Episode 188

When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the LORD.” Hosea 1:2

Are you seeking God for an opportunity for greater service to him? Remember Hosea. Understand that great service walks hand in hand with great sacrifice. Great blessing and spiritual intimacy with God come at a great cost.

Episode 187
(Image courtesy of Bing.com)
Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.” Daniel 10: 12-14

God lifted the curtain of time and revealed to Daniel events of the future in a vision. It was unbelievable and yet undeniable. God is indeed the God of history and all time.

Episode 186

Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. ..Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.Daniel 5: 5;17

(Rembrandt’s version of handwriting on the wall courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belshezzar)
The King offered Daniel prestige and recognition if he would interpret the writing.
Surely this would be a fitting reward for such a task. Daniel was not interested in
the the offer of prestige but simply wanted to do God’s will and speak truth.

Episode 185

“This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me what it means, for none of the wise men in my kingdom can interpret it for me. But you can, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.” Daniel 4:18

Open your heart and dream again. Allow that dream to grow and develop
Ask God to bring your dream to fruition. Dream big, Dream faithfully
Dream with God and watch your dream come true.

Episode 184

There are choices to be made. Daniel was faced with the choice of a lifetime. His job was high profile in the kingdom but his faith was not just talk, it was a life style reflected in how he lived and worked every day.

Episode 183

Again, someone has set a date for Christ’s return and the day has come and gone. The earth and its people are still here. 89 year old Harold Camping, founder of Family Radio, which airs on 66 U.S. stations, was in his own words, “flabbergasted.”

Episode 182

Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise is to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.” Daniel 3:28-29

Nebuchadnezzar’s failure to submit himself to a God he acknowledged and respected might have saved him from some of the experiences to come but now he comes face to face with the reality of God and will not ask the critical question, what must I do? How can I become a servant to this great God?

Episode 181

One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!” But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”Luke 23:39-43 (New Living Translation)

The voice of the second criminal was softer and kinder. He did not deny his guilt. This repentant criminal knew in his heart that this Jesus was different. And Jesus stopped and saw what no man could see, a repentant soul ready for the kingdom.
(image courtesy of http://clipart.ochristian.com/)

Episode 180

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18(New Living Translation)

Three young men respectfully and without hesitation refused to bow down to an idol god and were sent to what should have been certain destruction. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego teach us much about faith and courage.
(Image courtesy of the La Vista Church of Christ)

Episode 179
(Photo courtesy of Joys of Christian Meditation)
Daniel went and asked the king to give him some time so that he could explain the dream’s meaning. Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah about this matter. He told them to ask the God of heaven to be merciful and to explain this secret to them so that they would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise advisers in Babylon.
Daniel 2:16-18.

Drinking buddies are a type of friendship. Some use a euphemism,
friends with benefits to describe a relationship that exist only for mutual
convenience and gratification. We have shopping friends, workplace friends,
and sports buddies but in times like these we all need praying friends.

Episode 178

(image courtesy of http://karenswhimsy.com/)
The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.” Daniel 2:47

God revealed the dream and the interpretation to Daniel. When he shares this with the king the king willingly acknowledges the greatness of Daniel’s God. Daniel was promoted and at Daniel’s request the king also elevated Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

Episode 177

At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead. Daniel 1:15-16

Nebuchadnezzar understood the importance of surrounding himself with the best and brightest. He also understood that if he could win the allegiance of the youth they would be a powerful addition in his government. The captive Hebrew youth would be taught everything they needed to know to be successful but would they remember their God or take on the gods of the Babylonians?

Episode 176

... “And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE.” Ezekiel 48:35

Do we think God will continue to overlook our sins and forgiven them when we choose to live a life of spiritual adultery? We too must repent and return to God. When we do we can live in that city, The Lord Is There

Episode 175

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.
Ezekiel 37:4-5

When everyone has given up on us and we have given up on ourselves, when the situation is clearly insurmountable and the goal laughable,when the dream God has given us is as dead and as dry as those bones,this is when God speaks to us.
“You will achieve your goal."

Episode 174

I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice. Exekiel 34:16

To be a shepherd is to be a leader. It is an opportunity to help others. It is a calling not to personal gain and well being but to protect the flock. It is the joy of knowing that through your actions the flock has been preserved.

Episode 173

I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. Ezekiel 34: 26

There shall be showers of blessings in your life, in your ministry, in your place of sorry, in your days of want and need, in your time of loneliness. There shall be showers of blessings. The Lord has promised and he cannot lie.

Episode 172

But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die. None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live. Ezekiel 18:21-22

God, who knows all things, can and does choose to forget. God does not remember our sins when we turn to him. Does he fail to recall the wrongs we have done? Is there a lapse in one who knows what has been, what is, and what will be? That is not the case at all. God chooses not to reference or to entertain these pass events.

Episode 171

Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!”Ezekiel 16:6

The world celebrates the second chance given to Ted Williams, a native of New York who was living in Columbus, Ohio. A chance meeting of the formerly homeless man with a reporter from the local paper gave him the second chance he had prayed for. In today’s lesson Ezekiel retells the story of our rescue. How will we use our new opportunity?

Episode 170

I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 11:19-20

The prophet reminds the people in our passage for today that God can and will restore. The rebellion, the sins against him can be forgiven. If His people would obey His commandments and keep his law they will indeed be restored.

Episode 169

And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21 New King James

The season is about love, love of family, love of friends and most of all the love of a Heavenly Father who offered his only Son for a world hopelessly lost in sin.

Episode 168

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

God’s tomorrow is a day that is fresh and new with hope and joy, pregnant with the promise of the Lord, ready to be born anew in the lives of believers. These are promises, not only for then but for now, for us in our dark night of suffering, of pain and except for the Lord’s words, despair.

Episode 167

"In those days, at that time"—God's Decree—
"the people of Israel will come,
And the people of Judah with them.
Walking and weeping, they'll seek me, their God.
They'll ask directions to Zion
and set their faces toward Zion .
They'll come and hold tight to God,
bound in a covenant eternal they'll never forget. Jeremiah 50:4-5 (The Message Bible)

Like the twists and turns of an action movie the book of Jeremiah paints a picture of suspense, hope, hope dashed to the ground, and foreshadowing of times to come. The reader almost want to yell out the Babylonians are coming, stop, change, listen to the prophet.
It was all to no avail. The people had a heart fixed to do wrong.

Episode 166

We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm.
The women added, “When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands know that we were making cakes impressed with her image and pouring out drink offerings to her?” Jeremiah 44:17; 19

Bernie Madoff, financial advisor and others who have cheated people of billions surely had some lovely days when things were doing very well for them. God frequently does not cut us off instantly but allows repeated opportunities for repentance. The absence of swift punishment is not a blessing on wrong behavior. The women of Israel didn’t understand that God was allowing time for them to repent.

Episode 165

If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I have relented concerning the disaster I have inflicted on you. Jeremiah 42:10

We sometimes find ourselves in situations of our own making. Jeremiah knew that some wanted to try and return home but he counseled them according to the Word of the Lord. You are not in a place where you want to be but the Lord can bring you through this. If you will allow the Lord to use you in your situation he will restore you, build you up and you can be great again.

Episode 164

So there is hope for your future," declares the LORD. "Your children will return to their own land.” Jeremiah 31:17

God does not promise us a future without pain, challenge, suffering or need. He promises us His presence, no matter how dark the day, or how discouraging the circumstances. When we are ready to give up we can take heart because God is there and he will provide for his children.

Episode 153

"Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!" declares the LORD. Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: "Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done," declares the LORD Jeremiah 23: 1-2

The founders encouraged religious faith but not religious tyranny. Democracy itself was an experiment in which the government believed that the morality and faith of the people would help to keep government in order through the function of representative government.

Episode 162

But if I say, "I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,"
his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. Jeremiah 20:9

Jeremiah was the prophet least likely to succeed. He was an outcast, among his own people. His life was at risk, his ministry mocked and if the reward of good preaching is converts well one can understand how he felt.
What kept him going? He could only describe it as a fire. No, not a fire from which one could escape but a fire down in the pit of his bones that drove him on.

Episode 161

My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes. Jeremiah 16:17

The prophet warns, he pleads, he weeps for the people but they continue on their own chosen path.
Are we like they, worshiping the gods to numerous to count, the gods of money, position, status, or even fame? Have we built our altars not to the living God but the gods of this world? Let us examine ourselves, our lives and our commitment today.

Episode 160

"Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching, and say to them, 'This is what the LORD Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter's jar is smashed and cannot be repaired...
Jeremiah 19:10-11a

Jeremiah illustrated a simple truth with the potter’s jar. One jar was still soft and pliable. It could be reshaped but the other was hardened and could only be broken but it could not be remolded. How important it is that we keep our hearts open to the will of God. When our heart is tender and open to Him it is then that the Lord can use us.

Episode 159

Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people? Jeremiah 8:22

Jeremiah raised the question to which everyone already knew the answer at least they thought they did.
Is there no balm, no healing medicine in Gilead? My people suffer from an illness to which there is a cure and from which they need deliverance. The answer is so close and somehow it is missed as they continue on their journey to hurt and destruction.

Episode 158

The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved." Jeremiah 8:20

As we see the work of God in our lives we begin to realize how great His love is for us and we pause. Like a child who hears the voice of a parent calling them home in the evening, we turn and follow the voice that represents the one who loves us more than anyone. It is the voice that can always be recognized even in a crowd of competing sounds.

Episode 157

For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Jeremiah 4:3

In our natural state we all seek the pleasures of this life. We serve the gods of greed, desire, selfishness and carnality. This unrepeated heart of ours must become subject to the Lord. Come with a contrite heart saying to God, “Forgive me for my rebellion against you.”