October 15th One Year Bible Readings

Jeremiah 26:1-27 ~ 2 Thessalonians 3:1-18 ~ Psalm 85:1-13 ~ Proverbs 25:16
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Old Testament - Today in Jeremiah 26 we are reminded again how tough it is to be a prophet - the people of Judah want to kill him!  It is an interesting series of events with the courts and priests. It reminds me of some ways of Jesus and his last hours. Except that Jeremiah of course gets reprieved. However, at the end of the chapter we hear about the prophet Uriah and he was not so fortunate. He was chased into Egypt (interesting escape into Egypt parallel w/ Christ's early life), captured and killed. The lesson for us in this chapter 26 may be this - when we are confronted with a call to repent from sins, do we?  Or do we rage back and accuse the accuser of sins?  Do we repent or do we deny?  Do we return to the Lord?

Jeremiah Chapter 27 seems to be a chapter of "obedience" to me. Jeremiah is called once again to be obedient to preach - and to wear an ox yoke this time!  And the people of Judah are called to be obedient to the Babylonian conquest. Let it happen. Be exiled. And eventually you will return. Fight this call to obedience - and you will die. I know obedience is not a very popular term in our culture today. But, I do think it is still so relevant to our relationship with God. In what area of your life is God calling you to be obedient? Will you be obedient?  Below is a portrait by Guy Rowe of Jeremiah's obedience of wearing a yoke from today's readings:

New Testament - Second Thessalonians chapter 3 is a nice closing chapter to this 2nd letter of Paul's! The first few verses remind us of the need to pray. Pray for those doing the Lord's work! How are you doing in praying for your pastors, your church, other ministries you support?

Paul then goes into an exhortation for proper living. These verses remind me of the importance of work in our lives. We are not called to be blissful aesthetics - but called to work. Paul worked hard during his time of ministry. He was at times a "tentmaker" - making a living during the day and preaching and conducting ministry in the evenings and weekends. How are you doing with work these days? Are you giving your all, your 100% for the hours you are at work?  No matter where you are working - are you working as if you were working for God?

Bible.org's commentary on today's readings in Second Thessalonians chapter 3 titled "Final Exhortations Regarding Idleness in the Church" is at this link.

Psalms - Psalm 85 is awesome today!  So many great verses... I love verse 8 - "I listen carefully to what God the LORD is saying, for he speaks peace to his people, his faithful ones. But let them not return to their foolish ways."   I like that thought - God speaks peace to his people.  Are we listening carefully to what God is saying?  Are we receiving his peace into our hearts?   And so importantly - are we not returning to our foolish ways?  Verse 6 reminds me of the Jeremy Camp tune "Revive Me", which is an amazing tune - "Won't you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?"   Do you need God to revive you?  Will you pray for revival?

Proverbs - Today in Proverbs 25 verse 16 we read – “If you find honey, eat just enough— too much of it, and you will vomit.”  This is a great teaching about not eating junk food!  :) Well, a little bit is okay on occasion – but not too much!  Seriously, I do think we should be mindful of what we are eating.  There are so many studies out there that show that so many of us are not eating well.  We are eating way too much “honey.”  I simply pray that each of us realizes that our body is a temple that is indwelled by the Holy Spirit.  We should not worship our bodies.  But we should not neglect them either.  Let us care for our bodies so that we may serve God and serve others for a long time in this life.  God has so many great things for you to do in this life – please eat healthy and exercise regularly so that he can work through you fully and for a good length of time!  I think the culture sells us junk food – just like it sells us sexual immorality or materialism.  These things might seem appealing on the surface initially – but give them too much attention and they can literally kill you.  Leave the junk food alone.  Eat God’s good food that is good for you!  How are your eating habits these days?  How is your exercise life?  Is God calling you to improve in either your eating habits or your exercise habits?   Why might it be a very good idea to improve your eating habits or exercise habits?  Will you do so?  Today?

Worship God:  I mention Jeremy Camp's song "Revive Me" in the Psalm 85 reflection above.  Unfortunately I couldn't find Jeremy performing that song on YouTube.  However, I did find a video for his song "I'll Take You Back," which I think works well for the call to repentance from our readings in Jeremiah today.  This song and video also reminds me of Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son!

Have you allowed God to take you back?  Click here and be taken back!

Please join me in memorizing a verse of Scripture today:
"If you find honey, eat just enough—too much of it, and you will vomit."  Proverbs 25:16 NIV

Comments from You:  What verses or insights stand out to you from today's readings?  Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!

Grace, love, peace, and joy!
Mike

Comments

[R]

Jeremiah 26:1-27: 2

Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? (Galatians 4:16 HCSB)

Jesus told them, "My time has not yet arrived, but your time is always at hand. The world cannot hate you, but it does hate Me because I testify about it--that its deeds are evil. (John 7:6-7 HCSB)

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Romans 1:25 HCSB)

As I read through today’s text a multitude of scriptures from different books of the Bible crossed my mind, then I realized that God’s message has been the same through out time: God is the Truth, the only truth. Man has been given the freedom to choose Truth or a lie from the time in The Garden to our present day, Truth is crying out to us to not only to be heard but be listened too and applied to our lives. The choices given to us have always been, life or death, even when it seems like there are many choices and roads to go down only one leads to life. If you do not choose life, all other roads lead, no matter the terrain, to death the exact opposite of the other view that all roads lead to God.

Funny how we are presented the argument that there are many roads leading to God, yet God says there is only Him or no one. He is the only God. In chapter twenty-six, we see Jeremiah positioned at the front of the Temple to give the “worshipers” the Truth, which they quickly reject. What saved the prophet is the recognition that he is speaking, “Thus saith the Lord …” Interestingly, the message is not given its rightful place because He has stated that the Lord gave him the Words, it is only tolerated because Jeremiah has evoked the Lords name. They are hearing and not listening—and because they haven’t listened, it is not applied to their lives.

Mike asks the question regarding obedience, what part of our lives do we need to submit to God’s obedience. I don’t think that you can be partially out of or in obedience nor more than you can be a little bit pregnant; you either are or are not. You are either submitted to God’s yoke that is easy and light or you are submitted to the hard yoke of sin no matter how it is disguised.

In the 27th chapter, Jeremiah is told to become a performance artist by wearing a wooden yoke to symbolize the yoke that Babylon will first place on the nations, then place on Judah because the nations and Judah failed to submit themselves under the yoke of God. God states His authority to do this by declaring, By My great strength and outstretched arm, I made the earth, and the people, and animals on the face of the earth. I give it to anyone I please. (Jeremiah 27:5 HCSB). He is the Creator and He can do as He pleases. Paul declares this very same principle in the book of Acts when He is hanging around Athens observing all the gods they had built statues too,

And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; (Acts 17:26 KJV)

God stands in control of the nations and their boundaries even when to us it appears that chaos is the rule of the day.

Since Truth is not welcomed, the world loves the prophets of lies. I notice that in the text, the false prophets are called, “your false prophets”(27:9). If these false prophets belong to the people they are prophesying too, then they will speak to them what the people want to hear. A lie does not become truth when the lie is repeated over and over again so that people deceive themselves into believing what is false.

When there are brave souls who are honest enough to speak out against the lie, they are considered treasonous. The game is to go along to get along, loyalty to the person, ideal, or concept instead of to the Truth. Funny thing about lies, liars and loyalty, loyalty can only be anchored to the Truth, which is a Rock. Loyalty to a person not grounded on the Truth will have you being tossed to and fro because you and it are not grounded.

A technical objection is the first refuge of a scoundrel.
Heywood Broun, ''Jam-Tomorrow' Progressives,' New Republic, December 15, 1937
US journalist (1888 - 1939)

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
Samuel Johnson, quoted in Boswell's Life of Johnson
English author, critic, & lexicographer (1709 - 1784)

Jeremiah was accused of being what both of the above quotes state. Have I done the above when I am confronted with Truth? And truth is confrontational, especially the truth about oneself. Have I used technicalities to try to wiggle out of dealing in Truth? Have I accused the person bringing me Truth of being against God, country, mom and apple pie?

For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will accumulate teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear something new. (2 Timothy 4:3 HCSB)

There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification. (1 Corinthians 14:10 KJV)

[John]

"THE LIE"

One can not miss any days in these short epistles or you fall too far behind. There is a concept that I wanted to point out from 2Thessalonians that may be missed if one does not want to read my longer posts :)
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"THE LIE"

2Thess2:11 "For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie"

If you accept God's Word, there is a time in the end - "the day of the Lord" when the times of great turbulence (Tribulation) will occur. Paul is describing that time and how sin will abound, and those who perish (condemned) will do so because they refuse to love the truth (Christ) and be saved.

So what is God going to do in vs. 11 - trick people? I don't think so. The word delusion - Gk. "plane" can also mean an error that is acted upon.

Huh? I think it is the same thing God did to Pharoah, and what Paul describes in 1Cor in giving one over to Satan. The people have a predisposed position to evil - God is just giving them their way and allowing the work of Satan and the anti-christ to flourish for a time. As it flourishes the people who are hardened of heart will embrace that time and seal their fate. "believe the lie" in this verse uses the same Greek word for believe (IN Christ) - "pisteuo" with the same connotation. The people will acknowledge, believe and TRUST in "the lie". It will be their faith and the cause of their destruction.

[NOTE: BTW you don't have to be in end times to believe THE LIE. Today there are people who embrace "THE LIE" and their fate will be the same as the wicked at the end.]

There will be people saved during that time, and they will not be fooled.

[NOTE: This is where I think the national "stubborness" of the Jewish people will turn out to be a benefit. A remnant will refuse to believe the anti-christ is God, and flee - to eventually be saved when they call on the Lord.]

So what is "THE LIE"?

I am so glad that the NIV uses "the lie" instead of "a lie"(KJV) - (No greek word for "a" or "the" is present, just infered by the translators.) It is not just a lie, but "THE lie" that has been around since the beginning. If you believe in Satan as an entity instead of a "nebulous evil force" this becomes an easy question. The roots are back in Genesis3. Satan whether you hold to the concept of "the shining one" (I posted earlier), or as personified in a serpent sets up the lie here:

Gen3:1b "He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" NIV

and here...

Gen3:4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman." NIV

C'mon Eve - did God really say that? Satan wants Eve to doubt God's Word. If he can get Eve to doubt God's Word he can spring "THE LIE" on her.

[NOTE: It is no different today. If Satan can get people to doubt God's Word (the Bible) - by: it's outdated, bad translations, bad copying, good back then - but not now, written by men, pure mythology or mixture of myth and history,etc. It is much easier to set up THE LIE from Gen3:4

"and you will be like God"]

That is it - "Humanism" in all its glory. 'You can do it. The power is in you. Release yourself to the cosmos (not Jesus, but some nebulous good force)and good will come. You control your future, your destiny. You can pull yourself up by the bootstraps. YOU, YOU, YOU can do it. You can be a GOD.

"You can be God in your own world. Really! You can run your own life. You can do whatever you want." - Ray Stedman

That is THE Lie. The one that appeals to mankind's heart and pride. If you believe THE LIE there is no need to turn to God, to repent, or accept Jesus as your Savior - YOU are above that kind of childish weak thinking where you have to rely on God for Salvation - use the Bible as a crutch in your life. You are smart, have it together, do good things, life is good, your religion says you control your destiny, your religion says - don't believe the Scriptures are inerrant - we will tell you how to interpret God's plan as it has been revealed to this religion - you don't need God or His Word as the final authority.

If any of this sounds like you, I can only pray and say this - stop reading the bibleblog here. Pick up your Bible and go back and read the Gospel of John. Read it several times. Get a good commentary that explains symbolism, history, and context of pasages. Read it as "the Truth", and pray to God to reveal the Truth to you. If you do that and do it with a sincere heart, turn back to God - I believe He will show you the Truth. You don't need me to tell you what to do - God will show you.

DON'T BELIEVE "THE LIE"!

[John]

2Thess2

I am going to skip 2Thess3 (Wait until next year :), but I think 2Thess2 is good because it gives a clearer, less muddied by symbolism, picture of end times than Revelation.
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2Thess2:1a "Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ"

There is a lot of confusion around the word "coming". Many people see it and say "aha" - that is the second coming of Christ - there is no early rapture of the Church.

Maybe, but again the "rapture is not precluded. "coming" in Gk. "parousia" can mean appearance. The "Second Coming" is usually referred to as "in the day of our Lord" or the return of Christ. Here coming can mean just - "appearance". So Christ can make an appearance (seen only by believers when "snatched up"), and it may not necessarily be the Second Coming.

The Thessalonians here are not just upset - they are shaken out of their minds - "really scared" - they thought they had missed the "snatching up" (Rapture) by the Lord, and were in end times (the day of the Lord - Tribulation and Second Coming). Paul tries to soothe their fears - 'don't let anyone deceive you...haven't I taught you, etc'

So what did Paul teach???
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The day of the Lord (not a day, but a time period) will not occur until:

1)there is the rebellion (NIV), the falling away (KJV)

Interestingly, if you go back to the roots of the Greek word for "rebellion" ("apostasia") you can translate this word as "the departure". The article "the" is a separate Greek word, and points to a particular event. The question is in Paul's previous teaching (to which we are not privy) would the Thessalonians recognize "the rebellion" against God as opposed to the constant rebellion going on since time began. Or is it something they would recognize - "the departure" - snatching up?

Just food for thought. that the day of the Lord will not occur until "the departure".
http://www.pre-trib.org/article-view.php?id=165

2) until the man of lawlessness (or sin)is revealed. In Greek is clearly a "human" and most would acknowledge it as the anti-christ. (and BTW in the Greek is human, but could be male or female.)

3) who will exalt himself over all that is called God or worshipped.

Just like Lucifer, the morning star, in Isaiah 14. Of course it helps if you believe in a "real" satan.

Is14:13a "You said in your heart,
"I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;

That has always been satan's wish - to be worshiped and exalted above God. He does get the first from all to many people - but never will the second.

4)sets himself up in God's temple and proclaims himself God.

Paul wrote this before the destruction of temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Lends creedance to the belief that the temple will be rebuilt again - in fact all the inner parts of the temple are done and in hiding. Some of the outside work is done (pre-fab) and in hiding until the right time. Regardless none of this has happened yet, so the Thessalonians should calm down.

[NOTE: All this is also described in Revelation - so that while John had a more complete picture - Paul (and other apostles??) were also taught this by the Holy Spirit (or perhaps Jesus Himself).]
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Paul had taught more - again we are not privy to that teaching - but must extrapolate:

2Thess2:6-7 "And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way." NIV

The Thessalonians should know this and so should we. It is the Holy Spirit - whom Jesus said he would send in John14. It is the Holy Spirit - whom Paul in Romans7 declared was the only way to fight the flesh by yielding to God and accessing His power (Rom12:1-2). It is the Holy Spirit that indwells the saints and intercedes for us in prayer.

The Holy Spirit and we who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit is stopping complete "sin" on this earth. The secret or "mystery" of sin is just that that has not been revealed (yet) - perhaps satan???? He (Holy Spirit) is here now and will be here (denoted by the Greek verb tenses of Present Active Participle), until He is pulled "out of the midst".

This is interesting as the verb tense changes here to Aorist subjuctive. The Holy Spirit will be pulled out by another (GOD)and it is not just pushed aside as "out of the way" implies. But the literal Greek is "out of the midst" - implies out of the picture - "snatched up". Sound familiar? Neat thing here is that since we are each indwelt by the Holy Spirit we either go with Him, or stay behind - but Jesus said:

John14:16-17 "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth."

So in the future the Holy Spirit will be pulled out of the midst by God (a completed action, but unknown when it is completed)- I would say that according to Jesus - we are going also :) Just another added thought about the Rapture.

Once that happens the lawless one (human) will be revealed:

2Thess8 "And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming."

[ASIDE: I had to post this - because I am always less than amused when certain pastors or faiths teach Jesus went down to Hell after the cross and fought with satan and his minions for the keys to heaven.

Really? Forget that this misses the point of Christ saying on the cross - "It is finished!". This denies the power and sovereignty of God who afterall created everything.

How can one possibly think that the Creator of the Universe had to wrestle a "fallen" angel for any keys? In revelation it is said he is destroyed by the "word" from His mouth - here the lawless one who will be indwelt by satan at this time, will be overthrown by the "breath" of Christ and destroyed by the splendor of His coming.

Wrestled with satan after the cross? - I can not be dogmatic about what Christ was doing those three days - but I am absolutely sure it was not wrestling with satan.]
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The secret power of lawlessness is already at work - today.

- coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan: satan is the origin. Eph 6:12 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

- Satan gains a following with counterfeit miracles.

- Satan employs various forms of deceptive evil; things that offer what seems good but which are ultimately destructive. - drugs, alcohol, perverted sex, adultery, etc. That is why outlawing "sin" never works - "prohibition", "war on drugs", pornography and child pornography, etc. It does not work, because there is always a market for the "deceptive evil" - those that can rationalize, accept and embrace the evil.

- this approach makes its appeal to those who "refuse to love the truth," who have no time for the Scriptures, who refuse to judge themselves and will not listen to anyone who, even lovingly, tries to point out that what they are doing is wrong. Such people have set their feet upon a downward slant that will end in destruction. - Ray Stedman

- THE LIE (see above post)

It is bad today, but when the Holy Spirit (and the church) is pulled out of the midst - it is going to be infinitely worse.

Why is it at work today?
1) Because satan hates mankind and wants no one to turn to God.

2) Satan is not all-knowing. What are the implications of this? The anti-christ does not have much time to work - seven years - so the "human" can not be a child.

So Satan must always have a candidate ready for when the Holy Spirit is pulled out. May explain that while Evil is present there is always some really bad evil - Nero, Hitler, Stalin, etc. You can go back in time and find some really nasty guys and complete the list yourself. But these never came to Satan's fruition of full anti-christ because the Holy Spirit would not allow it. There will come a time when one of these guys will be unleashed - with the full force and cunning of satan - that time will be when the Holy Spirit and the "body of Christ" is gone.
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With all this upbeat info - Paul closes telling the Thessalonians to be thankful. Why?

2Thess2:13b " because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth."

Literally - from the beginning God "took you for himself" to be saved through the consecrating (setting apart) work of the Holy Spirit and the acknowledgement, belief and trust in the Truth (CHRIST).

Just another verse for those requesting verses backing the idea of "election".

God chose you - so stand firm in the teachings of the WORD of God.

[Vance]

2 Thessalonians 2
3
Don't be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed--the one who brings destruction.
4
He will exalt himself and defy every god there is and tear down every object of adoration and worship. He will position himself in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.

9
This evil man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles.
10
He will use every kind of wicked deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction because they refuse to believe the truth that would save them.
11
So God will send great deception upon them, and they will believe all these lies.
12
Then they will be condemned for not believing the truth and for enjoying the evil they do.

13
As for us, we always thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation, a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and by your belief in the truth.
14
He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalm 84
5
Happy are those who are strong in the LORD, who set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
6
When they walk through the Valley of Weeping,[ Hebrew valley of Baca ]
it will become a place of refreshing springs, where pools of blessing collect after the rains!

~~~

NOTE: Consider this –

Andrew Murray is an excellent man of God—with our Lord Jesus in heaven.
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia): While on earth, he was father to eight adult children (four boys and four girls). Also, he was the champion of the South African Revival of 1860.

As I reflect on the antichrist, note this in 2 Thessalonians 2:
4
He will exalt himself and defy every god there is and tear down every object of adoration and worship. He will position himself in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.

In light of who man is (and is NOT) and Who God is, consider Andrew Murray’s words:

“God proposed to make a man in His own image and likeness. The chief glory of God is that He has life in Himself; that He is independent of all else, and owes what He is to Himself alone.

If the image and likeness of God was not to be a mere name, and man was really to be like God in the power to make himself what he was to be, he must needs have the power of free will and self determination.

This was the problem God had to solve in man's creation in His image. Man was to be a creature made by God, and yet he was to be, as far as a creature could be, like God, self made. In all God's treatment of man these two factors were ever to be taken into account.

God was ever to take the initiative, and be to man the source of life. Man was ever to be the recipient, and yet at the same time the disposer of the life God bestowed
* dispose [regulate] according to the Miriam-Webster Dictionary: to govern or direct according to rule *

When man had fallen through sin, and God entered into a covenant of salvation, these two sides of the relationship had still to be maintained intact. God was ever to be the first, and man the second.

His [man’s] absolute dependence upon God was not to be forced upon him; if it was really to be a thing of moral worth and true blessedness, it must be his deliberate and voluntary choice.

…there came the New Covenant, in which God was to reveal how man's true liberty from sin and self and the creature, his true nobility and God-likeness, was to be found in the most entire and absolute dependence, in God's being and doing all within him.

In the very nature of things there was no other way possible to God than this in dealing with a being whom He had endowed with the Godlike power of a will.”

~~~
The antichrist and all who follow the antichrist spirit (even today) see man’s “Godlike power of a will” as proof that there is no God. They see “Godlike power of a will” in the context of the “survival of the fittest”—in evolution where man, being like god, willed to overcome.

I see man’s “Godlike power of a will” differently than the antichrist. Yet, it takes the determination to seek the Lord and not be deceived by the human heart and by the deceitfulness of sin and the devil.

Psalm 84
5
Happy are those who are strong in the LORD,
who set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

We can choose to be like the Lord Jesus. And “non-choice” is not an option; for this is NOT choosing to be like the Lord Jesus—the Perfect Man (complete submission to the loving Father) and the Perfect God. Of course, we could NEVER do this by ourselves. And we cannot do it without true, deep repentance. If we could, we would not need Jesus or salvation.

I like Andrew Murray’s words:
“…there came the New Covenant, in which God was to reveal how man's true liberty from sin and self and the creature, his true nobility and God-likeness, was to be found in the most entire and absolute dependence, in God's being and doing all within him.”

I see this as stating in a different way what God said in 2 Thessalonians 2:
13
As for us, we always thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation, a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and by your belief in the truth.
14
He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Vance

[Diana]

Jeremiah 26:3-6
3 Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings.’ 4 And you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: “If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, 5 to heed the words of My servants the prophets whom I sent to you, both rising up early and sending them (but you have not heeded), 6 then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.”’”

[lisa]

Reading about serving the Babylonian king in the OT today reminds me of: TODAY Now as then we have served other gods as His people. If we are hurled into the new morality of the liberal view after this election, we will be taken captive-for a while. I personally pray for God's mercy because I've fallen into the trap of "we should love everyone" Yes we should love others enough to speak the truth in love. If it is not God's plan, it will never work. My own spiritual laziness and lack of keeping the vision in front of my face has kept me and my family from the very best.(not to mention the potential of the increase of God's kingdom in my obedience) God is faithful when we are not, but He is so pleased with our obedience that he changes the course of the world's agenda for His kingdom's sake. He turns the heart of the king while making the sun to shine and all of the other wonderful things He does to say "I'm faithful and I love you" to us who are created in His image. Have you read "The Shack"?